“Piracy is a romantic activity”

The United States Court of Appeals called it “pirate”. “I am officially a pirate. But that doesn’t bother me, because hackers don’t bother with bureaucracy and they do what needs to be done” says Paul Watson, founder of the Sea Shepherd association. For him, the history of piracy has reached us “distorted” And “all pirates are good pirates”. He recalls that at the time of the Caribbean pirates, they certainly stole gold, but from the Spaniards, who themselves had “stolen from the Indians”. “So these are not crimes” says the activist committed to protecting the seas and oceans. Also, he describes that within piracy, in the 17th century, “there was no discrimination based on gender or race. There were female pirates. There were pirates of all races. And when they got on the boat, they were equal and could rise to the level of their skill. It was unheard of at the time.”

“They are the real pirates”

Paul Watson also recalls that the founder of the American Navy was John Paul Jones, “the pirate”. Piracy is, according to him, “a completely misunderstood story”. He also explains that he is in the process of writing a book whose title is “The Virtues of Piracy”. For him, “piracy is a romantic activity” and already in the 17th century, “piracy was a form of anti-establishment activism at the time”. Finally, he concludes by affirming that today, “we are talking about pirates from Somalia. They are not pirates. These are impoverished fishermen who are forced into piracy because the real pirates, the Asian and European fishing fleets, have arrived and taken everything. And they plunged them into poverty. They are the real pirates”.