ST Alpha - "The problem with "putting the fear of God" into the pirates is that you have to put enough fear to counteract the desperation of their situation" (Reading a Post)

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The problem with "putting the fear of God" into the pirates is that you have to put enough fear to counteract the desperation of their situation

Posted by Beryllium (aka grayman) Nov 19 '08, 10:17

They might well go willingly to their deaths so as not to disobey the orders of the people who are organizing their sustenance - or, indeed, the people who may be threatening their families.

Responses:

I blame Steve Zissou. -- nm - David Nov 19, 10:31 1
- *someone remind me to rewatch this over break.* -- nm - pilgrims and indians love mandy lane Nov 19, 10:37
Oh quit with the "They're only doing it because they are desperate," stuff. There are millions of desperate people in the world. Most don't resort.. - Name Withheld By Request Nov 19, 10:25 26
- I'm simply applying the same logic that is used to recruit teens into inner-city gangs. Because that's exactly what's happening in Somalia. - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:28 22
  - Well, I dunno about Vancouver gangs, but Winnipeg teen gang members are usually doing it for fun and profit more than "I had no other choice." - Name Withheld By Request Nov 19, 10:30 5
    - I'd just call it a different kind of desperation, especially if I saw the rest of my life stretching before me in a shitty, dead-end job. -- nm - mafic Nov 19, 10:32 1
      - Again, the vast vast majority of those in such a situation do not resort to crime. - Name Withheld By Request Nov 19, 10:48
    - Did you ever watch the first Ninja Turtles movie? -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:31 2
      - I applaud this post for bringing a smile to an otherwise deadly serious thread. - Name Withheld By Request Nov 19, 10:34 1
        
        Except it does have basis in reality: A gang is an organization. A tribe is an organization. A corporation is an organization. - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:36
  - Somalia is COMPLETELY different. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:28 15
    - Non-governmental civil war has lead to a Warlord-state, right? How is that different? -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:30 7
      - how is that like America, exactly? or even Afghanistan? -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:30 6
        
        The warlord-state. That's what gangs are. -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:31 5
        
        the last I checked, the US does in fact have a government. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:33 4
        
        technically, so does somalia. its control just doesn't really extend to where the gangs operate. -- nm - mafic Nov 19, 10:35
        
        So ... because America has a government, and Somalia does not, you refuse to see any similarity between gangs and tribes? - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:35 2
        
        if you really think it is the same, this discussion can go nowhere. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:38 1
        
        There's no good guys and there's no bad guys. It's just ... it's just a bunch of guys. -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:39
    - yeah. more guns, less food. -- nm - mafic Nov 19, 10:29 6
      - and a lot less government. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:30 5
        
        and far longer history of far more intense tribalism. - Mel Profit Nov 19, 10:32 4
        
        yep, in other words ... totally different. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:33 3
        
        it's a difference in scale rather than structure, but the underlying dynamic is similar, is it not? -- nm - znufrii Nov 19, 10:37 2
        
        I do not think so. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:38 1
        
        It would make a very interesting sociological paper, I think... -- nm - znufrii Nov 19, 10:44
- they're doing it because they can. there is no law enforcement. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:26
- I agree with Name Withheld By Request-cumber. -- nm - TWuG Nov 19, 10:26
- Well, to all the people who want a non-governmental Anarchist state, they should look to Somalia as a reason against it. -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:26
Then you go after the organizers. -- nm - Dr.Vermin Nov 19, 10:18 5
- see people. now this is the sort of thing i'm talking about!....nm - x Nov 19, 10:21
- or you just pull back and nuke them from orbit. it's the only way to be sure. -- nm - znufrii Nov 19, 10:21 1
  - ohh, radioactive pirates. that gives me an idea. -- nm - Uwe Boll Nov 19, 10:21
- it must be great to be able to solve problems in a decades-long war just like that. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:20 1
  - It is. -- nm - Dr.Vermin Nov 19, 10:24
i think clearly the thing to do is to come up with facile suggestions about how easy it'd be to fix the problem from behind our keyboards!....nm - x Nov 19, 10:18 19
- Nothing facile about it. There is currently no downside for the pirates. Make one. Make a big one. - TWuG Nov 19, 10:21 14
  - alienating civilians has worked so well for you in the past. -- nm - mafic Nov 19, 10:34 2
    - They're Somalis, they don't matter. If they mattered they'd have formed a government for themselves. -- nm - TWuG Nov 19, 10:36 1
      - nah, they just don't matter till they take down a building or two. -- nm - mafic Nov 19, 10:38
  - nope, pretty facile...nm - x Nov 19, 10:23
  - Don't worry about the innocent crew members and villagers. -- nm - VMan Nov 19, 10:23 7
    - Collateral damage. -- nm - TWuG Nov 19, 10:27 5
      - not when we know t hey're part of the target. This is the worst idea I've read since znufrii had an idea. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:28 4
        
        It gets better. We should nuke Somalia. Hit every population center. Cordon the coast and destroy any fleeing vessels. -- nm - TWuG Nov 19, 10:34 1
        
        I love your way of thinking. -- nm - General Ripper Nov 19, 10:38
        
        gee, thanks. - znufrii Nov 19, 10:30 1
        
        ;P -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:31
    - Glass it. Glass all of it. -- nm - High Templar Tassadar Nov 19, 10:25
  - and if they know we wouldn't bomb an oil tanker, they'd steal only oil tankers. -- nm - loosilu Nov 19, 10:22
  - which only makes them more desperate -- nm - znufrii Nov 19, 10:21
- let's solve health care too! -- nm - ty97 Nov 19, 10:20 1
  - duh. obviously, if people would stop getting sick, then the healthcare problem would go away. -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:21
- Exactly! I know. Random plague ships. If they know that they could not only infect themselves, but their entire country, then that should stop them! -- nm - decline Nov 19, 10:20
- save somalia, save the surrounding international waters -- nm - Beryllium Nov 19, 10:19

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The problem with "putting the fear of God" into the pirates is that you have to put enough fear to counteract the desperation of their situation

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