We Are the Dead

Mutiny! Why We Love Pirates, and How They Can Save Us by Kester Brewin

Somali fisherman, costumed children, digital hackers...Pirates surround us, and their skull and crossed bones motif is plastered on everything from skateboards to executive ties to feeding bottles for babies. Why have we become so fascinated by violent mutineers who lived over 200 years ago?

In this dazzling and highly original book, renowned author and speaker Kester Brewin explores the central place of piracy in history and culture and, calling on a huge cast of outlaws, from Blackbeard to Luke Skywalker, Odysseus and Peter Pan, chases out pirate obsession through film and literature, and on into the deepest realms of our beliefs.

Besides my childhood infatuation for the Oakland Raiders, the color black and heavy metal music, which often employed the use of the *Jolly Roger icon, I never knew much about pirates and who they were, let alone what they stood for. Movies like "Pirates of the Caribbean" and "Hook" portray them as scoundrels and social deviants, rebels without a cause, oceanic hoodlums hellbent to cause chaos and kill for pleasure. But if you've seen "Captain Phillips" (starring Tom Hanks) or have already read this book, then you will likely have a different understanding of what may motivate pirates.

"Having mutinied against their officers, those who had turned pirate had also, by implication, turned against the monarchy and the whole structure of authority above them. It was, in royal eyes, quite acceptable to plunder other ships and steal their booty, as long as that was being done so for the furtherance of the empire, so long as riches were still being channelled back to the capital. Pirates were 'the very negation of imperial social order...'It wasn't their thievery that was so heinous, but their self-determination and refusal to be governed."

So it turns out that in those days, everyone pirated--you either did so under the authority of the king or as a 'free'/answerable to none 'pirate.' "Those in navies were disposable components in the capitalist machine. Their labour was rented for a pittance by the ship's owners. Pirates were anti-capitalist protestors who went beyond protest to model a new, fairer way of work and life, and lived it to the full."

You will probably find especially insightful the WHY behind the pirate way, according to Brewin. They weren't in it for power as much as they were in it to fight against power--they sought to unblock the places in this world that had become unjustly enclosed around the private interests of the wealthy rather than an open space where there were no labels, levels or unjust expectations. In other words, pirates challenged the status quo, especially where it had become harmful and oppressive.

As if all of this wasn't already badass enough, there is of course the flag--the "whole of the pirate spirit" that was designed to inspire fear into the hearts of those they attacked. But the raising of this black standard "does not just mean 'we are bringing you death'; rather it announces 'we are the dead.' We, the shat-on, the abused, the flogged, the ones you treated as less than human, have escaped your power, have slipped away from the identity you foisted on us. We, the ones who you took for dead, are returning as the dead--and thus free of all fear, free of all human labels or classifications or ranks. We might say that pirates did not raise the Jolly Roger as a symbol of violence, but rather as a declaration that no more violence could be done to them. They were dead, and yet lived still--and thus the Empire should tremble in fear...

There is something peculiarly freeing to consider oneself 'already dead.' Free of the threat of death, knowing it's coming for us all, we can live in such a way that honors those who've already tasted it, whether expectantly or unexpectedly. Knowing all too well that most of our lives we will be in the throes of 'loss management,' battered on all sides by grief and heartache, I think we all could take a page out of the pirate way, a way that embraces and defies death all at the same time. I am reminded of a passage from the Bible: "We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be made visible in our bodies." (2 Corinthians 4:8-10)

Nonfiction nerds, religious or non-religious, this is a fascinating read worth your time. Just 170 pages in length, you will make yourself the Pirate Expert at all your parties in no time at all--he's also got some great insight on Star Wars and Peter Pan that will no doubt make you a hit with your buddies over a few beers.  In short, it's a great book. I highly recommend it!

*In the 18th century, 'Old Roger' was a common name for the devil; to name their flag the Jolly Roger was to embrace a merry devil, and dance with him. The Jolly Roger has been simplified over the years to a skull and crossed bones or swords: traditionally it showed a full skeleton holding a dagger piercing a bleeding heart in one hand, and an hourglass in the other...All of it is visible in Christian iconography, where the skeleton represents mortality, the sword the transitory nature of life, and the hourglass the unstoppable passing of time and inevitable march of life. In the Christian version, the skull would have been given a small pair of wings, signifying how the soul of the departed was to be flown off to heaven and into peace. In the pirate version, there are no wings. There is no flight to paradise. 

Skull Photo by Fred Pixlab on Unsplash
Ocean Photo by Ryan Yao on Unsplash