Reading about pirates is very interesting to me and I am glad I (and most of my classmates) choose this topic. I was really looking forward to immersing myself in deeper research of pirates and their lives and now that I have continued my research I will write here reflections, thoughts, or just random notes.
Okay, I begin very randomly but I am simply amazed how everything in the world connects together. So the problem of piracy during its golden age is mainly because of the colonization of the world and the Spanish Inquisition. While empires like Britain, Spain, and France were expanding their territories they have kind of left their people behind. Not in the literal sense but a lot of money went to the merchants and the rich nobility that could afford to search for more resources which meant more money. And because of that the people who had stayed behind in the Old World were kind of overlooked in how they led their lives. The difference between rich and poor at the time was extreme and for one country that is not good. I won't go into the whole discourse of money, politics, etc. but I felt it was important to mention that. It is important because due to that different people basically started to want to become pirates. Because becoming a pirate was equal to getting back your life from an empire that really didn't care about you. Anyway, the problem, in short, as I said before is the great colonization.
→ note that the French revolution happened in 1789 which further proves the disapproval of people towards the empire and the need of change
Why did this make me think everything is connected? Well, it's because the Cold War, something so far away in the future, is particularly an outcome of colonization. I won't go into details about that because it's a huge topic and it will take a lot of time. But basically, the Cold War is a fight for influence between two systems: capitalism (America) and socialism (Russia). The war started after the end of the Second World War and one of the most important reasons why is the power vacuums that have emerged. Those power vacuums are actually an outcome of the empires (like Britain, Russia, France, etc.) falling apart and losing their hold on the territories they have had. And those are the territories that have been colonized. So yes, everything is connected.
Another thing that connects those two is nostalgia. During my pirate research, I found that most people who had become pirates had the dream of someday going back home. They have been forced to steal and search for money out in the seas and oceans but ultimately their dream was to go home. The same can be said for the people from the Cold War era. Because of political reasons, the world had been divided into two and the symbol of that is the Berlin Wall. So it is not something uncommon in history for people to want to go home.
Again another connection: nostalgia. Nostalgia comes from the words nostos (from Greek, meaning "to go home") and algos pain. And interestingly enough nostos is also a literal device used in Greek epics, that is related to the hero's journey back home, which is often a sea one (like in Odysseus' Epic). And where does that take us? Back to the pirates and their dream of coming home.
I am honestly amazed how I've come a full circle in my research so far. I had four different topics and all of them ended up being connected one way or another. I feel now the challenge will be to find other interesting connections to my topic of research and maybe another road altogether.
I really love the pirate topic but the more I’m thinking the more unsure I am if I want to make a pirate game. More than anything I’ve been more inspired by the cultural evolution of morals and principles than I am interested in pirates themselves. Don’t get me wrong I love it but I think I want to explore the possibilities of further research and branching out. While we still have time for development I want to see where the topic takes me to, it will be fun I am sure.
I went through all my notes and highlighted sentences to explore where I want to branch out. Those are quoted below are the ones I read are of the most interest to me and have the best potential for a game theme to be created:
“The historiography of the social history of pirates has portrayed them as democratic and highly egalitarian bandits divided their spoil fairly amongst their number, offered compensation for comrades injured in battle, and appointed their own officers by popular vote.”
→ ‘Piratical Schemes and Contracts’: Pirate Articles and their Society, 1660-1730
by Edward Theophilus Fox
“Battles with pirate confederations were strategic contests over the new colonial wealth”
→ Pirates and riders from the Easter sea from an online source