What's with the piracy?

I discuss current events with my children all the time. I’m a bit of a news junkie, and I like to hear them think through what’s happening in the world. Lately, we have been talking about the pirates.

These groups that are getting the world’s attention by hijacking ships in and around the horn of Africa bewilder me. The kids and I were in a deep conversation about what would motivate piracy (which led to debating political instability) when my 9 year old daughter (who had been mostly listening) said, “There are still pirates?”

Admit it. When these stories hit the global news wires, you wondered the same thing, didn’t you? PIRATES!?!?! I mean, I love Jack Sparrow, so this was a little hard to believe really.
I guess the real question, though, is why would someone choose a profession that is based on stealing from others?

Then I started to think about the many forms of piracy. We steal music off the Internet, don’t we? My oldest son had a friend at school tell him of a website where you can watch movies that are currently in theatres. I didn’t believe it, of course, so we checked it out. Basically, people go into theatres with a video camera and record the entire picture (think Seinfeld). You can hear the other moviegoers laughing or asking for the popcorn bucket. Craziest part, however, was that there were no advertisements on the site and the movies are free. Why? What’s in it for the pirates? I have since concluded that people do it just to simply prove they can – I cannot uncover any other logical reason.

Here’s the thing: the recent stories have forced me to look for the pirate in me. No, I am not going to hold an automatic weapon to the head of a ship captain, but what do I do to simply prove I can? Do I steal from others – maybe not money or cargo, but do I steal joy or credit?

Wendy Sparrow.