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Saint Augustine on Pirates
In the "City of God," St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great. The Emperor angrily demanded of him, "How dare you molest the seas?" To which the pirate replied, "How dare you molest the whole world? Because I do it with a small boat, I am called a pirate and a thief. You, with a great navy, molest the world and are called an emperor." St. Augustine thought the pirate's answer was "elegant and excellent."
The quote is from Noam Chomsky's Pirates and Emperors and is cited by Ralph Raico at the Liberty and Power Blog. Hat tip to Sheldon Richman.
Posted by Alex Tabarrok on April 13, 2009 at 03:09 PM | Permalink
Comments
I would have preferred a "Norm" (of Cheers) quote to "Noam". But, hey, I still love the blog.
Posted by: caveat bettor at Apr 13, 2009 3:12:20 PM
'Norm Chomsky' is an awesome name. I beg you not to fix the typo.
Posted by: beamish at Apr 13, 2009 3:13:09 PM
www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQBWGo7pef8
Posted by: josh at Apr 13, 2009 3:15:24 PM
Norm!
Posted by: JP at Apr 13, 2009 3:18:20 PM
pirates were those that attacked any ship regardless of flag. many european countries sponsored "privateers" which were licensed to harass and plunder the spanish fleet (and others). in other words, before global sea trade was protected largely by the united states navy there was state sponsored piracy.
a good book on the subject is "the sea rover's practice- pirate tactics and techniques, 1630-1730" by former navy seal officer benerson little. a serious book with one appendix on pirate drinks!
Posted by: oops at Apr 13, 2009 3:37:58 PM
Alexander may have been a molester of the world, but great caution should be taken in applying this story too loosely to present circumstances (eg. by comparing the U.S. navy to pirates). There is a world of difference between the exercise of power purely for the benefit of the exerciser and the administration of some rule of law that allows people to engage in commerce. The mafia is not the same as a properly constructed police force.
The great development of modern, liberal democracy made significant progress on the problem of how to create a system of government where all gains from coordination and trade don't entirely flow to the rulers holding the weapons.
Posted by: mgunn at Apr 13, 2009 3:43:02 PM
Wow. Did not know Schoolhouse Rock did that sort of thing.
Posted by: athelas at Apr 13, 2009 3:43:10 PM
So now we're trying to pump out some fog to obscure the fact that Obama has no clue what to do about pirates ... and other "distractions" to his agenda.
Posted by: holmegm at Apr 13, 2009 3:46:04 PM
"There is a world of difference between the exercise of power purely for the benefit of the exerciser and the administration of some rule of law that allows people to engage in commerce."
I still don't see a difference. Doesn't maintaining sea traffic in a condition necessary for trading quality as the exercise of power purely for the benefit of the exerciser, that is, the group wanting to use the seas for trade?
Posted by: Avast Ye, Matey! at Apr 13, 2009 4:06:37 PM
i'd prefer noah!
Posted by: babar at Apr 13, 2009 4:15:25 PM
ok so the U.S. navy may not be comparable to Alexander the Great but it is hard to judge Somali pirates too harshly. They are thieves to be sure but when ships full of goods are passing right by your country to support a world economy that leaves your excludes or exploits your country, its a little hard respect personal property rights. I am curious to see how the world community tries to fix the problem, this story provides some suggestions: http://www.newsy.com/videos/solving_the_pirate_problem/
Posted by: Rosa at Apr 13, 2009 4:17:21 PM
At the back of the Old North Church in Boston, there are lovely painted carvings of angels that predate the church itself. They arrived at the church after being captured from a French ship that was defeated by a privateer (the pseudo-legal pirates mentioned by oops), who then donated the carvings to the church. Why? Because he was a member in good standing of the upright Boston congregation!
Posted by: Parke at Apr 13, 2009 4:21:43 PM
Says more about Augustine than it does about pirates.
Posted by: Michael F. Martin at Apr 13, 2009 4:22:16 PM
The schoolhouse rock video got some things right, but the logic fell apart in a few areas. e.g., regardless of what you think about US foreign policy, the choice is not between loving Osama + Saddam until we want the oil, or want to start a war, and being so idiotic that we really thought they were good guys until suddenly we realized they were thugs. There is a such a thing as real-politik, or choosing bad over worse.
I'm not defending US foreign policy, or saying that this is in fact what went on, just saying that they over-simplified to the point of ruining what might have been a decent video.
Posted by: liberty at Apr 13, 2009 4:41:19 PM
I'm a little curious what Alex thinks about Noam's work. I cut my political teeth on him, and even though I've largely moved on from most of his judgments about particular historical incidents and I find him overly credible of conspiracy theory, I do think I learned a good deal from his approach. For me, the most valuable insight he brings is that no nation should be above the rule of international law, and we should not accept a different standard for some countries, just because they happen to be more powerful.
Posted by: David at Apr 13, 2009 5:03:17 PM
Is it not true that Norm Chomsky used to play golf with Sir Francis Drake?
Posted by: Barkley Rosser at Apr 13, 2009 5:08:15 PM
Its not an "official" schoolhouse rock but a good simulacrum.
I also have to agree with mgunn. The US Navy doesn't generally raid boats and coastal territory in order to profit.
Mackubin Thomas Owens has a good distinction in the WSJ
"the Romans distinguished between bellum (war against legitimus hostis, a legitimate enemy) and guerra (war against latrunculi, pirates, robbers, brigands and outlaws)."
Posted by: Andrew Fischer at Apr 13, 2009 5:09:48 PM
"The mafia is not the same as a properly constructed police force."
The mafia doesn't claim to have a monopoly of legalized force, nor does it gain its resources by theft, wrap itself in the flag, and invoke the Keynesian "multiplier" to justify its actions.
"The US Navy doesn't generally raid boats and coastal territory in order to profit."
It doesn't have to. It has the IRS doing its piracy for it.
The Somali pirates are just low-tech IRS agents.
Posted by: AADL at Apr 13, 2009 6:06:31 PM
If anyone is interested, the Latin text of this quote is from City of God Book IV, Chapter IV. Beginning the passage is the quote "Remota itaque iustitia quid sunt regna nisi magna latrocinia? quia et latrocinia quid sunt nisi parua regna?" With justice thus removed, what are kingdoms if not robberies? For what are robberies even, if not small kingdoms?" The pirate story closes the chapter.
Posted by: Augustine at Apr 13, 2009 7:42:56 PM
PIRATE KING.
When I sally forth to seek my prey
I help myself in a royal way.
I sink a few more ships, it's true,
Than a well-bred monarch ought to do;
But many a king on a first-class throne,
If he wants to call his crown his own,
Must manage somehow to get through
More dirty work than ever I do
Posted by: Jacob at Apr 13, 2009 8:39:26 PM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ag8g96qsdaI
Posted by: josh at Apr 13, 2009 8:52:03 PM
Norm Chompsky is a cunning linguist.
Posted by: Andrew at Apr 13, 2009 8:59:13 PM
Why does Chomsky think Alexander was an "emperor"?
Re: Augustine's pirate, I think Alexander is better described as a brigand; his marine depredations were trivial by comparison.
But as with Wilson Mizner's distinction b/t plagiarism and research, if you lead a band of 10 brigands, you're a criminal; if you lead an army of 10,000 brigands, you're a conqueror.
Posted by: Anderson at Apr 13, 2009 9:20:48 PM
It doesn't have to. It has the IRS doing its piracy for it. The Somali pirates are just low-tech IRS agents.
Not quite. If the Somali pirates were organized under some kind of centralized authority, then they could effectively impose a "transit tax" on vessels passing through the Gulf of Aden. A shipping company could choose to either pay the "tax" and be guaranteed free passage or not pay and take its chances. That would still be a superior outcome to what we have now, which is a variety of pirate gangs who cannot be negotiated with since they do not coordinate their activities and probably cannot prevent someone else from entering the pirate business.
In fact, ships could completely avoid the Gulf of Aden if they really wanted to. Once the cost of paying ransom, insurance and of properly defending its vessels exceeds the cost of planning a longer route to avoid the Gulf entirely, I would imagine more ships will do this.
Posted by: Ricardo at Apr 13, 2009 10:32:33 PM
I knew it all along. It is Bush's fault!
Posted by: Bushequalhitler at Apr 13, 2009 11:55:57 PM
