Pirates and Emperors, Old and New
By John Andrews at Nov 19, 2008 |
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"St. Augustine tells the story of a pirate captured by Alexander the Great, who asked him "how he dares molest the sea". "How dare you molest the whole world?" the pirate replied: "Because I do it with a little ship only, I am called a thief: you, doing it with a great navy, are called an Emperor".
Pirates and Emperors, Old and New. International Terrorism in the Real World. Noam Chomsky, Pluto Press, 2002.
I cannot help smiling as I hear the news that Somalian Pirates have captured an oil tanker with $100M cargo and the UK government and media are apoplectic. The Emperor and its poodle have captured many an oil rich state without such a fuss.
Professor Chomsky needs no plugs from me but his book is as true today as it ever was.



By Marty, David at Nov 24, 2008 12:14 PM
Hello John,
My name is David, and I am writing my very first comment ever on this site to the first blog I ever read - it happens to be yours.
The analogy between St Augustin's story and reality is indeed quite striking. It is a very good observation. I didn't think of it when I first heard about it, though I've heard Chomsky telling that story many times.
I'm going to go read more of your comments now... Ciao!
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