IFC: Somali Piracy May Not Be All That Bad

There is this clip on the YouTube by the IFC's Media Project and they talk about Somali piracy. They want us to re-examine our attitude towards the media--"they often lie to us"--and they use this piracy thing as an example. "The media wants you to think that they're the bad guys," they say. "But what if I told you that Western nations used to dump toxic waste off the shore of Somalia and over-fish in the neighboring waters, killing the native Somali fishing industry? Would they still be the bad guys?" Their obvious intent is to have you think that this somehow changes things. In light of this exploitation by Western powers, perhaps we can "understand"--or excuse--a bunch of hostage-taking, ransom-demanding Somali pirates. This is, after all, our own fault. Were we to have focused more on not dumping toxic waste and not over-fishing the East African coast, piracy would not have been an issue. In other words, this exploitation is a sufficient condition for piracy.

Yet obviously this is dumb: this prior exploitation may be a sufficient condition for Somali piracy, but it is not a necessary condition by any means, since there are many other reasons to engage in piracy--one, I imagine, has to do with getting money. Reducing over-fishing and dumping would do little to stop piracy if money is an underlying motivation. The point is that this sort of behavior--holding hostages, hijacking ocean vessels--ought to be punished severely, regardless of the motivation reason--even if we did bring it about in the first place.

Maybe this guy can start telling his stories to comfort victims of terrorism. "What if I told you that Western nations have been exploiting these countries for centuries? Wouldn't that change your mind about the punishment of terrorists?"

No it wouldn't, you nutcase.