I'm sure we were all saddened to hear that three strong brothers, soldiers in The Struggle like all of us, had to lose their lives for the benefit of some rich white man. Hopefully the Somali pirates will hang tough. We're with you!

...And of course that's a ridiculous point of view, but one that I'm beginning to suspect is not as uncommon as we might hope.

At work I sometimes discuss current events with this black guy who's a bit of a news junkie. We first began talking during the election, and while he sometimes has good insights, he also sometimes has views that are just slightly more than ridiculous. Most recently I was discussing the Somali pirate situation with him, expecting him to join me in my amusement that the Navy sharp shooters managed to remove the pirate's heads from their shoulders with such ease.

"They're kids," he said. Kids? Some of them look like they're in their late 40's from the pictures I see in TIME! "These kids grow up in abject poverty. That's why we should give them something to do. I mean, if I grew up in that kind of poverty and someone told me I could make a million lira by hijacking a ship, I might do it."

Uh, I wouldn't. Being poor doesn't give you the right to threaten other people's lives and property. Why is it up to us to give them jobs as a payoff to keep them from committing crimes? Maybe I'm putting words in his mouth, but his attitude seemed to be, "Those poor kids, just stealing a bicycle and soaping some windows as a prank because they're poor and bored. And then the Navy has to go out there and vaporize their skulls! We should start a jobs program in Somalia, and maybe a youth center where they can shoot hoops instead of shooting sailors." I'm with him on Obama for President, NOT with him on pity for Somali pirates.

Today I took a call from a Marine who's last name was Gomez. I also brought up the Somali pirate situation with him, figuring he would have some proud words about what another branch of the military had done. Instead he said Somalia was a beautiful country, and, "Those guys have nothing to lose. They have absolutely nothing over there. Even if they get caught and go to prison in America, that will be way better than what they have in Somalia." So it seemed like this Hispanic guy's perspective was similar to my black co-worker's, "they're poor, so this is to be expected." He did go on to say that we should probably let them take whatever ships and hostages they want, then bomb the hell out of all of them to send a message we don't give a shit about the hostages or the ships, and if they mess with the USA they can expect to get their asses blown away, period. If the hostages get killed, too, well, those sailor guys know what they're getting into when they sign up for those jobs, so tough luck.

In summary, it's surprising to me that when I get white male perspectives on the pirates (which I only get on the Internet, since I have little interaction with white males in reality), the attitude is, "Just blow Somalia and some of those other crappy African nations off the map and be done with it," but when I've talked to a black guy and a Hispanic guy, the attitude is at least a little bit, "Well, they're desperately poor, so can you blame them?" Yes, I can and do. A poor background is nothing to lose your head over.