SERVING FREEDOM: A BRIEF ESSAY ON A PIRATE'S TRUTH

                              But what a ship is... what the Black Pearl really is... is freedom.
                             Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl

Intriguing, eye-catching specimens, pirates and privateers have never ceased to exist. Many of us have probably heard about famous historical figures such as Benito de Soto, Nathaniel North or Sir Francis Drake who became very recognized in the English-speaking world for having circumnavigated around the earth as well as defeated the Spanish Armada in 1588. According to research, Drake detested the Spanish and possessed a febrile desire to obtain riches from them. He was considered a heartless pirate in the eyes of the Spanish and a “privateer” by English historians. There exists a common, prefabricated thought that regular pirates proceeded in criminal and immoral ways, randomly assaulting, killing, and stealing commodities from another ship’s crew. In contrast to pirates, privateers may have even been regarded as devoted and patriotic fellows as they held a Letter of Marque (lettre de course) that legally authorized them to capture “enemy” ships, which, later on, would face the courts for judgment and trade. It all had to do with the question of holding a permissible license -to assault, to steal, and to kill. Liars, privateers must have been none other than the same old pirates whose hardhearted actions had become deviously embraced by political powers.

Current privateers operate in the same blurred, dishonest fashion than their predecessors did. They seem to act in the name of Justice, and all the while they steal, manipulate and/or destroy people’s souls in order to secure and position themselves, social, political and financially. Are we to call them privateers or Pharisees? I’ve read about a man who was imprisoned many years for a crime he didn’t commit. Authorities had offered him freedom if he would’ve lied by admitting that he did it. But, the man refused to lie. He stood on the truth and stayed where he was. Eventually, evidences proving his innocence were found and he was set free at the age of 50. (I would dare say that he had been freed from the moment that he decided to hang on to the truth even though he felt subjugated by his circumstances). Yet, something in the man changed while he was in prison. He had become a light heavyweight champion, and two years after having been released, he won an important fight in a professional boxing competition, which inspired him to keep pursuing his dreams.

If I were to choose, I’d rather be a pirate than a privateer. Despite what moral, decent, and legalistic people think, some pirates worked and still continue to operate in faithful and caring manners, at least with their people. They say that earlier pirates had an intrinsic, unadulterated model of organization that resembled a democratized society. A modern pirate, for instance, might willingly sacrifice himself, not with the aim of collecting more wealth or to assure a social standing as a treacherous, self-interested privateer. On the contrary, a caring pirate would go through a process of disguise, which often ends up a very aching, distressing and misunderstood procedure, for the purpose of freely serving his people. Having the opportunity to meet a thoughtful pirate, in battle to share his gathered treasure –money, influences and stories that are as cunningly fictional as they are unfeigned- with the less fortunate is a blessing, a mind-blowing gift. Gaining access to gentle pirates is not easy, but we can be sure that they exist. If we opened our eyes, we would begin to learn the invisible yet priceless means, with which they contribute to adding to and enhancing our lives in this day and age.