Ron Paul’s Buccaneers

The difference, a tour guide informed me on a recent trip to Cartagena, between a pirate and a buccaneer is that latter is officially sanctioned by a state. So, while Queen Elizabeth I rewarded Sir Francis Drake with a percentage of his bounty, pirates just divvied treasure amongst themselves. Texas Congressman and former presidential candidate Ron Paul this week suggested in a youtube video bringing back buccaneers to help deal with the increase in pirates around the globe, particularly off the Horn of Africa. But before you go dreaming up images of Minutemen in tripped-out yachts (as I did), Paul, a long-time libertarian, meant simply reissuing “Letters of marque,” often granted by Congress through the 18th Century to merchant ships empowering them to arm and defend themselves. “I think if every pirate knew that this would be the case,” Paul said in the video, “they would have second thoughts because they could probably be blown out of the water rather easily if those were the conditions.” While certainly this solution would be a cheaper, free market way to deal with pirates, the booty incentives hidden in the holds of the Somali pirate ships aren’t quite the riches enjoyed by Drake, who once ransomed Cartagena back to Spain for two million gold pieces. In other words, the Somali pirates shouldn’t be worried about becoming “marked men” anytime soon as the cost benefit of flying out to Africa, outfitting a ship and hunting down pirates in international waters, even in this economy, promises to be too thin. That said, arming the heck out of merchant ships through these letters might well give those Somali pirates some pause.