Once upon a time, there was a powerful Kingdom with an expansive seafaring-based import/export business. For several years, the Kingdom suffered attacks from various pirate, who routinely attack tradeships and steal all the cargo. In the hopes of putting an end to the piracy, the King created a new law that allows him to have anyone accused of being a pirate arrested.
Unfortunately for the people who lived in the kingdom, the King never really SAW what a pirate really was. So, the description of the activities described as piracy was left quite vague, but the King didn't care. So, during the next few weeks, the king has his soldiers patrolling the waters surrounding his territory. Many innocent ships passing through were witnessed performing activites listed in the law. Even though they weren't pirates, they were arrested anyway. So, an amazing number of people were arrested in a short period of time. They tried to stand up for themselves and prove they weren't pirates, but the soldiers were given authority to use violence against those who resisted. It wasn't long before more than half of the kingdom's population was arrested and/or executed for their "crimes".
During all this, the REAL pirates got smart as to what was going on, and devised ways to continue their crimes in total anonymity. So, no goods ever made it into the kingdom, because they were all stolen, and no goods ever got out, because there was nobody still free who could ship them overseas.
Unfortunately for the people who lived in the kingdom, the King never really SAW what a pirate really was. So, the description of the activities described as piracy was left quite vague, but the King didn't care. So, during the next few weeks, the king has his soldiers patrolling the waters surrounding his territory. Many innocent ships passing through were witnessed performing activites listed in the law. Even though they weren't pirates, they were arrested anyway. So, an amazing number of people were arrested in a short period of time. They tried to stand up for themselves and prove they weren't pirates, but the soldiers were given authority to use violence against those who resisted. It wasn't long before more than half of the kingdom's population was arrested and/or executed for their "crimes".
During all this, the REAL pirates got smart as to what was going on, and devised ways to continue their crimes in total anonymity. So, no goods ever made it into the kingdom, because they were all stolen, and no goods ever got out, because there was nobody still free who could ship them overseas.
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