April 14, 2009 1:13PM # Pirates as Tax Collectors? By [Roger Pilon](https://www.cato.org/people/roger-pilon) --- SHARE \[Co-authored with [Ilya Shapiro](https://www.cato.org/people/ilya-shapiro).\] As we suspected, with world attention focused on the just-concluded piracy standoff, it was only a matter of time before someone would write something like this: “[the right way to think about this problem is that pirates are imposing a tax on shipping in their area. They are a bit like a pseudo-government.](https://www.cato.org/2009/04/13/ikle-on-pirates)” Perhaps the Mafia too –- “pay, or we break your legs” –- is like a pseudo-government. The difference between a tax and extortion is not subtle, even if it seems to have escaped the cited authorities, including Noam Chomsky. A tax, at least in principle, and most often in practice, is a charge for a service rendered –- not necessarily a wanted or an evenly distributed service, to be sure, but most relevant here, protection from third-party pirates and other lawless predators, domestic and foreign. By contrast, a pirate’s shakedown puts the victim to a choice between two of his entitlements –- his freedom and his property. That distinction –- again, hardly subtle –- is what prompted us to leave the state of nature. Those who would like to return to that state will find it waiting for them on the horn of Africa. ##### Related Tags [Government and Politics](https://www.cato.org/government-politics), [Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) [![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/).