Way back in September, I wrote in this blog about how cool the new modern day pirate is. I must say, I should serve some time in the brig for this post. As this new pirate problem continues to escalate, I think it's time we look past the "Holy Shit, Pirates!" mindset and really take a look at what is going on here. POVERTY.Somalia is a country roughly the size of Texas and has a national GDP that is not even close to that Lone Star (and apparently seccesion happy) state in the South. These pirates are born out of poverty and a lack of stable government, and while as I stated before, it's tough not to get a little excited about badass naval SEAL snipers and daring sea battles, the fact of the matter is, this is a serious problem. Not necessarily for the ships, but for the people of Somalia.
The answer to stopping piracy is not in more naval battles or gunfights, but on the shore. As my Dad put it, you can't just string up the bodies of the pirates in the port as a sign. Instead do what somebody did in the Caribbean. Instead of robbing the boats, just invite them to your docks, charge high prices for trinkets and drinks, and rob people of their loot legally.
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