I don’t think pirates really worried about laundering any booty. What for? They weren’t worried about the IRS, nor would people generally have qualms about where someone’s gold/silverm/wares might have come from, methinks.
Comment on Makes sense
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 21 hours agoThere has always been better ways to launder money than simply sitting on it.
Dasus@lemmy.world 21 hours ago
shalafi@lemmy.world 19 hours ago
If you got a pile of gold, someone somewhere will want to know where it came from. A powerful somebody who will be looking for any excuse to confiscate it. For the public good of course!
Dasus@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
If you got a pile of gold, you have something of inherent value, which you could, for instance melt down into bars.
If you have something worth a lot of money, you’ll always find someone to buy it.
You’re really thinking more like someone having stolen the Mona-Lisa in the 21st century than pirates plundering raw wares and possibly some valuables.
Hell a bit more than a hundred years ago a servant could rather easily, if they wanted, just steal all the jewelry and valuables of their mistress and if they actually went further than like 100 miles from where they stole them, the chances of getting caught would be quite small. Or especially if they were actually a professional thief and knew a fence.
But pirated didn’t need to worry about any of that.
They’d just sail into a pirate haven, basically proto-anarchist societies, and they weren’t in short supply either.
shalafi@lemmy.world 14 hours ago
Meh, we’re mostly on the same page. I wasn’t thinking so much of legit authorities acting. More like someone will want to steal that gold. Best to keep it on the down low, dole it out slowly, kinda like money laundering. Avoiding the thugs vs. avoiding the authorities? Am I making sense? I have no idea any more.
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
They weren’t worried about the tax man, but only a fool would believe there were zero authorities that would question someone suddenly coming upon wealth.
It’s not paying taxes but producing plausibility that laundering provides.
Dasus@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
They weren’t worried about the tax man, but only a fool would believe there were zero authorities that would question someone suddenly coming upon wealth
And what sort of a fool would live under some state’s power while actively practicing piracy?
You’re just gonna get the crew to drop you off after four to see your wife and kids? Take the weekend off, park the sloop harbor?
Pirates didn’t participate in high society. Or any state-sponsored society for that matter. They had their own societies.
MotoAsh@lemmy.world 18 hours ago
They still needed to interact with society. Do you think most ports weren’t controlled by some kind of authority that you’d have to get some kind of either favor or believability with?
Pirates weren’t pirates just to pirate things… not the successful ones, anyways.
sidelove@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
I was under the impression it was just storage under-the-mattress style. No one’s bringing a treasure chest to buy eggs.
TheWordBotcher@lemmy.world 20 hours ago
Pippi Longstocking would like a word…
Sc00ter@lemmy.zip 8 hours ago
This was my thought as well. You obviously aren’t using a bank, and you probably dont trust enough people to keep that on your ship. Not to mention if your ship goes down and you survive, it sure would be nice to get your treasure back. Hence the maps with “tricks.” Theyre only supposed to be Hints for the person know already knows where it is