did people become pirates simply because they yearned for adventure
>>18120202Pirates didn't really "adventure," they lived on a guy's boat. They did it for money because if they got lucky it was insanely lucrative. The "pirates are misunderstood revolutionaries" or "pirates are free spirited adventurers" was enlightenment propaganda. Enlightenment thinkers liked to imagine them as free men and enlightenment revolutionaries because they were essentially countercultural.
>>18120202No they did it for the BOOTY. They were just naval mercenaries hired by the monarchs who played by a looser rules of engagement that allowed them to become incredibly wealthy if they got lucky with the loot.
Noooo nobody ever yearned for adventure in history it was all just economic considerations and class dynamics even though most of these lowlife criminals can't even comprehend finances beyond how much they need to pay for beer
>>18120210FalseThucydides mentions that the first thing the ancient Greeks did when they began moving from one land to another by sea was to engage in piracy (it's hilarious). And he says this activity was viewed romantically by society; it did not diminish their social standing. In fact, people would ask sailors whether they were pirates with genuine curiosity, eager to hear stories of their adventures. EVEN THEN, there was already the idea that a dangerous life carried a heroic element.Another thing; piracy was not always about spending seven monotonous months aboard a ship just following orders. Depending on the historical period, pirates were not interested in crossing the world; they spent much of their time on islands and in various coastal settlements. And the captain constantly faced the risk of mutiny, which meant he needed either exceptional leadership or the respect of his crew. Most great captains were kinda mytical figuresI remember Homer refers to seafarers who openly admitted to piracy without shame, while during the Mycenaean and early Archaic periods, piracy was considered an honorable means of livelihood. And later, I guess more in the Classical era, figures like as Polycrates of Samos or the Cilician pirates of the Hellenistic world illustrate how piracy intertwined with politics, trade, and warfare rather than mere banditry. (And piracy is super weird, it's all about perspective, From the spanish POV the english pirates were evil pieces of shit, but for the anglos they were just doing their duty)The point is: the pursuit of wealth was deeply tied to a sense of adventure. There were far safer ways to acquire riches if profit alone was the goal. Your cynical reading of history stems from a Reddit-style antihumanist worldview, likely influenced by an academic environment ideologically captured by the Frankfurt School, which tends to interpret all human endeavors through a negative lens, and that's why you're a faggot
>>18120260>>18120293manchild
>>18120752Nooooo nobody ever had base motivations or would be considered immature that only exists in the present and never in the past
