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Perhaps the most pertinent to startup life: "“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.”

by arst829 15y ago

vacri 15y ago
Perhaps in the fantasy in our heads. But in real life, pirates are desperate people, usually repeatedly risking their lives in order to stay alive. In comparison, all the people I know in the navy absolutely love it - they like the life, they absolutely love the travelling from port to port, cameraderie, high tech playtoys, so on and so forth.
- ulf 15y ago
  I think he meant it more in the context of olden times, where neither pirates nor navy had "high tech playtoys" and piracy was a little more common than today
  - arethuza 15y ago
    Also the distinction between navies and pirates was a lot less clearly defined than it is now. Both John Paul Jones and Sir Walter Raleigh were regarded as pirates by their adversaries and as naval heroes at home.
    - psykotic 15y ago
      And those two would be considered among the least piratic! The English Crown granted licenses that gave commercial vessels the rights to any plunder from Spanish ships and settlements. It was effectively a loose mercenary affiliation. Deal: We empower you to commit legally sanctioned piracy. In return you make life difficult for our enemies and cut us in on the proceeds. Soldiers in war were never as restrained as period movies would have us believe, so imagine being boarded or invaded by a desperate privateer crew with not even the semblance of honor and soldierly gallantry to moderate their behavior. Ahem. Back to Steve.
      - arethuza 15y ago
        I think it's allowed in the circumstances: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt
f7u12 15y ago
I'm really digging that quote. I never thought about the paths I have chosen away from corporate life (assuming that is what he is referring to by "navy") to be fun, just that they were more interesting. In the end, I like to think that it is about fun.

Perhaps the most pertinent to startup life: "“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.”

by arst829 15y ago

Perhaps the most pertinent to startup life: "“It’s more fun to be a pirate than to join the navy.”

vacri 15y ago

Perhaps in the fantasy in our heads. But in real life, pirates are desperate people, usually repeatedly risking their lives in order to stay alive. In comparison, all the people I know in the navy absolutely love it - they like the life, they absolutely love the travelling from port to port, cameraderie, high tech playtoys, so on and so forth.

ulf 15y ago
I think he meant it more in the context of olden times, where neither pirates nor navy had "high tech playtoys" and piracy was a little more common than today
- arethuza 15y ago
  Also the distinction between navies and pirates was a lot less clearly defined than it is now. Both John Paul Jones and Sir Walter Raleigh were regarded as pirates by their adversaries and as naval heroes at home.
  - psykotic 15y ago
    And those two would be considered among the least piratic! The English Crown granted licenses that gave commercial vessels the rights to any plunder from Spanish ships and settlements. It was effectively a loose mercenary affiliation. Deal: We empower you to commit legally sanctioned piracy. In return you make life difficult for our enemies and cut us in on the proceeds. Soldiers in war were never as restrained as period movies would have us believe, so imagine being boarded or invaded by a desperate privateer crew with not even the semblance of honor and soldierly gallantry to moderate their behavior. Ahem. Back to Steve.
    - arethuza 15y ago
      I think it's allowed in the circumstances: http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt http://www.folklore.org/StoryView.py?story=Pirate_Flag.txt

f7u12 15y ago

I'm really digging that quote. I never thought about the paths I have chosen away from corporate life (assuming that is what he is referring to by "navy") to be fun, just that they were more interesting. In the end, I like to think that it is about fun.