Besides being known as history’s coolest water-based terrorists, pirates haven’t had much impact on the state of affairs in the past few hundred years. Every now and then, some rich idiots get kidnapped off the coast of Somalia. And, sure, pirates are some of the holiest people according to the Flying Spaghetti Monster, but for the most part, sea bandits are irrelevant.
That is, until two weeks ago when Iceland’s Pirate Party leapt ahead in the polls, securing almost 24 percent of public support and claiming the spot as the most popular party in the country. If you’re wondering why pirates have suddenly taken over Iceland, where you’d expect a Viking party to do better, you’re thinking of the wrong kind of pirates.
Iceland’s Pirate Party is based off of the Piratpartiet, created by the founders of the popular file sharing site the Pirate Bay in Sweden as an anti-intellectual property organization.
That’s right, they founded a party so they and the rest of the country can fight for their right to download every season of “Game of Thrones” and a terrible quality version of “Silver Linings Playbook” without getting fined.
Although it’s hard to think of the pirates as any more than a joke, there’s a Pirate Party operating in about 40 different countries around the world. It’s morphed into advocating technological direct-democracy and government transparency. They’ve taken a few seats in Iceland and one in Germany, though current swing in the polls marks the first time the pirates have the chance to hold any serious political power.
Upon hearing the polling results, the leader of Iceland’s Pirate Party, Brigitta Jónsdóttir, asked the reporter if she was joking. Jónsdóttir — whose name is as complicated to pronounce as it is to look at — said she took this as a sign of people’s mistrust of the current ruling coalition, which she is not afraid to call corrupt.
Joking or satirical politics is not new to Iceland. Icelanders elected punk rock anarchist comedian Jón Gnarr to be mayor of their capital Reykjavik. He headed up the so-called “Best Party” and moshed into office on a platform of “free towels in all swimming pools,” among other things.
What’s inspiring about all of these political shenanigans is the people of Iceland are refusing to elect what they perceive to be corrupt politicians.
Instead, they’re voting for people who say they won’t do anything or people running on platforms of opening the government up to expose corruption.
It’s part of a global trend of people either refusing to participate in government or attempting to use the government for good through humorous practices.
In protest of the inclusion of religious affiliation on the census starting in 2001, many in Britain filled in their religion as Jedi. The practice quickly spread around the world, with 1.5 percent of New Zealanders identifying as Jedi.
Lets not forget the king of all political satire, Stephen Colbert, who polled at 20 percent for the South Carolina Senate seat vacated by Jim DeMint and started a super PAC to run for “President of the United States of South Carolina.”
Why is it that comedians and humorists seem like better elected officials than those who dedicate their lives to it? My guess is their honesty. When a comedian gets on stage, they open themselves up, engaging the audience with brutal honesty about their lives.
In an age of politicians who not only have lied to us, but we expect to lie to us, it’s refreshing to hear a comedian talking about things precisely because we can trust that they’re telling us what they really think.
Humor might just be the way to get corrupt politicians out of office and get people in who might have a shot of making a difference in the world. That’s why I’m officially announcing my support for Hello Kitty for president.
Hello Kitty 2016, because a Japanese cartoon cat can’t lie to me.
James Richards is a 20-year-old mass communication sophomore from New Orleans. You can reach him on Twitter @JayEllRichy.