Somalian pirates have established their own stock exchange to manage their booty, the Financial Times reports. The New York exchange is known as NYSE. Will pirate traders work at YAR?
Will YAR be admitted to the International Federation of Stock Exchanges (IFSE)? Will Mexican drug lords follow the pirate trend and create their very own stock exchange, POT?
And, who will play the Michael Douglas Wall Street role in the sure-to-be-in-development Somalian version, Haradheere?
Since pirates are now behaving like pirates, and since the Skull & Crossbones would serve as meaningful symbols for just about all the world’s exchanges of greed, will Somalia be forced to copyright the pirate flag? They’d better do so quickly.
Here’s what one former Somalian peg-leg told Reuters:
One wealthy former pirate named Mohammed took Reuters around the small facility and said it had proved to be an important way for the pirates to win support from the local community for their operations, despite the dangers involved.
“Four months ago, during the monsoon rains, we decided to set up this stock exchange. We started with 15 ‘maritime companies’ and now we are hosting 72. Ten of them have so far been successful at hijacking,” Mohammed said.
“The shares are open to all and everybody can take part, whether personally at sea or on land by providing cash, weapons or useful materials … we’ve made piracy a community activity.”
Where’s Robert Louis Stevenson when we need him? In the Somalian version of Treasure Island, Jim Hawkins may steal the X-marks-the-spot map from Bill Bones, but it’ll really be an endless, detailed Powerpoint presentation of pirate futures. Jim will scratch his head and wish to be kidnapped.
I suppose YAR was inevitable. Just like their colleagues on Wall Street, they are people trained for little else but stealing. In the Somalian case, it’s because they’ve been abandoned by their government and the world. In the case of Wall Street, it’s because they been coddled by their government and the world.
And that brings up the final question. Does the solution to Somalian piracy come in the form of a bailout?
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About Glenn W. Smith
Glenn W. Smith has spent the past 30 years in journalism and politics, where he’s made a name for himself as a writer, campaign manager, activist, think tank analyst and, as Daily Kos founder Markos Moulitsas says, a “legendary political consultant and all-around good guy.” “There’s no one like him,” says author George Lakoff. CNN commentator Paul Begala says, “He has unmatched experience, a graceful pen (or pixel nowadays) and deep insight into the best and worst of us.” Novelist Sarah Bird speaks of his “lucid and lyrical” prose. And, she says, he’s fun. Huffington Post founder Arianna Huffington says Glenn writes with “grace and abundant humor” and “uses his colorful experiences in Texas to enlighten us all.”
Smith led Ann Richards’ successful 1990 campaign for Governor of Texas. He worked for former Texas Lt. Gov. Bill Hobby and U.S. Senator Lloyd Bentsen. Earlier, Smith was a political reporter for the Houston Chronicle and the Houston Post. He’s coordinated national campaigns for groups such as MoveOn.org. In 2004, he authored the highly acclaimed book, The Politics of Deceit: Saving Freedom and Democracy from Extinction. He also wrote Unfit Commander, a book that detailed George W. Bush’s mysterious disappearance from military service.
In 2004, Smith was featured in the film, Bush’s Brain, a documentary about Karl Rove. Smith provided commentary on Rove’s role as then-President Bush’s senior advisor. He has made numerous media appearances with Chris Mathews on Hardball, Joe Scarborough, Brit Hume, and many others. He writes a regularly for top national web sites, including FireDogLake and Huffington Post.
As a senior fellow at George Lakoff’s prestigious Rockridge Institute in Berkeley he studied, wrote and taught on the power of metaphor and narrative in political communications. He also lectured on religion and politics at the Starr King School for Ministry in Berkeley. As a sponsor and organizer, he has pulled together numerous national events with progressive religious leaders. He also organized a celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King at Riverside Church in New York City as well as “Freedom and Faith” bus tours, which was a nationwide campaign for social justice and progressive values.
Smith’s play, Double Play, which explored American Western myths and legends, was held over to sold-out audiences. He’s even written and performed songs in the Americana tradition, such as his best-known song, “Helping Marty Robbins,” a tribute to his hometown, Houston.
Most recently, Smith is the creator of DogCanyon, a political and cultural web site covering state, national and global issues from a Texas perspective. DogCanyon is an exhilarating and unique site that gets the connections between politics and culture and explores both the personal side of politics and the ups, down, craziness and beauty of “life its ownself,” as humorist Dan Jenkins would say. DogCanyon offers heartfelt personal essays, hard-hitting political analysis, and, most importantly, laughs.
As Paul Begala said, Smith writes in “the finest, firmest, fearless tradition of Texas essayists like Molly Ivins.”
Can’t help laughing although the Somalians live in such poverty and have been for so long. They certainly are enterprising though – who would have thought of becoming a pirate. I wish there was some way to help the people but we don’t have the money to help anyone.
I agree that the laughter is bitter — though maybe the American Enterprise Institute will step up to help now that they’ve displayed such entrepreneurial spirit!