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[Zangi]

2 dwarfbucks worth of what I see: An alternate view...

From what I understand, this piracy comes from poverty, lack of effective gov't (You just know when their neighbor, Kenya was it? Is the one prosecuting their pirates for them http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8003124.stm [CTRL+F to Kenya]), and hell... no better way to bring home the bacon. 

The obvious solution for many of the uneducated destitute masses?  Crime.  Stealing in Somalia doesn't really work, cause the people who do have the bacon probably will put you 6 ft under without repercussions, AKA The Warlords, or anyone else for that matter... (not so effective gov't playing its part here)

So where do these people looking to bring home the bacon do?  With their options limited as is?  They have boats, which bring them food, but little else.  (Honestly, who has the money or connections to buy and sell said food?  Other then the local Warlords?  Who probably pay dirt cheap... [Internationally, few legit businesses would even consider dealing in such an unstable area... risk to profit is just too high to justify throwing money here...] And we know just how effective the gov't is... )

Ah yes, Piracy.  We have our answer there.  Some pirate havens are probably 'funded' in part by some of these local Warlords.  By 'funded' I mean they provide the AK-47s and Rocket Launchers for a piece of the ransom pie.  Tasty, and without risk or effort on the Warlord's part.  They have oh so many job-less Somalians who are willing to do the job for that piece of bacon.

Now, what happens to the money when them pirates get their hands on it?  Of course, it goes to themselves (and their suppliers), but, that entails them spending their money like rock stars.  Cause that is what they literally are to the people at their home now. 

Know that poor brewer down the street?  The one who did not have the money to buy the plump helmets, rat weed and sun berry to brew up that beer to sell to people?  One of em pirates loans a piece of their pie to that brewer friend of theirs, who in turn orders up that rat weed, plump helmet and sun berry to brew up that loving beer.

Cause and effect?  Them farmers growing the rat weed, plump helmet and sun berries get money, which they can use for other things.  Like improve the farm with potash, get a plow or maybe a draft horse/ox/mule. And don't forget, beer needs barrels so them barrel makers got some work too. Then on the other end, you have pubs and other sorts of beer vendors who buy that beer and sell it to the pirates.  More work is to be had, huzzah!

And there, we have the beginnings of an economy and a better life...  as long as them pirates can keep bringing the bacon home... and a good portion of that money doesn't end up sitting under the Warlord's mattress or go out of country...
Little DwarvSomalian Child: "[Insert Somalian Pirate Here] is my hero, mommy says he brings the village wealth! I want to be like him when I grow up!  ...  Whats 'wealth'?"


Damn, I've been playing too much DF...  Make of it what you will. 

Though, a dwarven communist society would serve small Somalian communities well...  too many DwarvSomalians in one place and the communist society just gets worse.


EDIT:
Also, aid of any kind...  don't help in the long run.  Its just a band-aid.
You give em food, they eat for a day.  Tomorrow, they have no more and expect more from you.

Enable them... teach them to make do with the resources around them...  they may not eat today, but tomorrow, they may be able to feed themselves and their family.

[Rockphed]

If the only aid you give people is food and medical supplies, you aren't doing them much in the way of service.  Even drilling a good well so they have clean water is barely scratching the surface of what can be done.  At some point, you need to give people a better plow and better seeds.  Then, once they start selling you junk the products of their fields, you sell them junk the products of your fields and industry back.  Helping people may be rooted in compassion, but doing it well is always rooted in good, long term, business sense.

[Zangi]

By the power of... dead stuff!  I uncroak thee!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103657301

Interesting article about em pirates... The bastards have time sheets of all things.

And this:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103691069

Interesting tidbit about American history...  I'll have to look into that.  If its true, its something you never learn about in school.....

And..  @ Rockphed
Ah, capitalist investment.  What better then financial gain to get things moving along?

[Servant Corps]

You know all that negative pubilicity about PMCs?

[Zangi]

Hell, I don't have a problem with that.  They were training the Somalians to fight against illegal fishing vessels.  The Somalians had the right to that in my opinion.

It is not the fault of the Security Company that many of the Somalians who live in such a poor country could not make a living dealing in legal business in such conditions. 
Nor is it the security company's fault that the pirates decided to make use of the skills taught them in a 'productive' manner.

[Aqizzar]

Where did I put that rant about private security companies funding criminal organizations, then bilking governments for more money to ineffectually fight criminals?  I know I left it somewhere around here...

[zchris13]

What happened to the things that make you RAEG thread?  I need to post in that.

[Ampersand]

There is of course another issue, of course. If we were to give them better seeds, crops that grow better in the local climate for example, that would be illegal.

Why? Intellectual property infringement.

Yes, due to Genetic Patents, providing better crops would in fact be... Piracy.

[Aqizzar]

Agricultural viability isn't the root of Somalia's problem.  It's more the whole "skipped straight past civilization into post-apocalyptic Roadwarriorocracy" thing that makes living in one spot a health hazard.

[Ampersand]

I'd argue that Agricultural viability is at the heart of most of Africa's economic problems. They cannot export crops, because the crops that are grown on the largest farms aren't owned by any African entity, be it corporate or individual. They are usually genetically modified plants designed to grow well in the local environment, such that if a farmer wants to grow them they have to pay royalties on their profits.

It's rather twisted, really.

[JoshuaFH]

So, you're saying the hunger in Africa will last until the patents on these plants eventually becomes public domain, or am I misunderstanding something?

[Aqizzar]

I guess we'll have to agree to disagree then.  I think agricultural copyrights are made far too much of, especially since that has nothing to do with internal famine, where many African nations can't even feed themselves, much less grow anything for export.  That largely being caused by political instability and lawlessness making it frequently impossible for people to live on and maintain pieces of land long enough to raise any agriculture.

[Ampersand]

I'm saying that it's really hard for people to grow and provide food when they don't actually own the crops they're growing. Simply stated, a Farmer isn't going to start a mass farming operation to provide food for the masses if he won't be able to make a living off of it. Yeah, yeah, free market worship, I know.

Aqizzar also brings up another good point. Most economies in Africa tend to be mixed or outright command economies. The Most successful nations in Africa are FAR less rigid in government control of economic development than their neighbors.

The fact is that Africa isn't in a homogeneous state of horribleness. There are places that are doing really quite well, especially since 2000, though the vast dichotomies between the national economies of Africa are quite jarring, as illustrated here http://www.ted.com/talks/hans_rosling_at_state.html

[Aqizzar]

I'm saying that it's really hard for people to grow and provide food when they don't actually own the crops they're growing. Simply stated, a Farmer isn't going to start a mass farming operation to provide food for the masses if he won't be able to make a living off of it. Yeah, yeah, free market worship, I know.

I think you have a rather odd vision of African farming.  I'm not talking about American-style megaconglomerates, I'm talking about African peasants raising subsistence crops and herds.  Of course they own their crops (to the extent anyone in Africa owns anything before someone with a bigger machete comes along) because in places like Somalia, there is no government.  There is no law to say who owns what, and even if there were, it's not like your average African traditional farmer is going to give a flying flip about genetic patents when he's not taking his proceeds any farther than the local bazaar.

[Zangi]

snip

I think you have a rather odd vision of African farming.  I'm not talking about American-style megaconglomerates, I'm talking about African peasants raising subsistence crops and herds.  Of course they own their crops (to the extent anyone in Africa owns anything before someone with a bigger machete comes along) because in places like Somalia, there is no government.  There is no law to say who owns what, and even if there were, it's not like your average African traditional farmer is going to give a flying flip about genetic patents when he's not taking his proceeds any farther than the local bazaar.

Agreed here.  It really won't be enforced, unless people holding the patents have enforcers...  or the local cops in their pockets...