To a certain extent they deserve to be romanticized. They are an archetype that represents individualism, statelessness and an illegible specter of Darwinian justice in a global court of natural law that puts nations on trials, holds them accountable for their actions, and hands out punishments.

Before you unthinkingly label them "evil" think about the parties that judged them to be evil, historically.

The pirates of the Golden Age of Carribbean piracy mainly operated during the heyday of rapacious empires, and much of the shipping they preyed on carried the wealth from state-backed looting. They also had an honor code and rudimentary models of democracy in their operations. State-sponsored privateers basically did the same sorts of things during the age of piracy as pirates did.

At other times and places in history, pirates (ranging from the Barbary Corsairs to the pirates of Southeast Asia) have operated on the edges of states that were as bad/worse than them.

Through much of history, they have acted as a check and balance against state-sponsored excess in areas removed from the public eye.

I am not condoning their actions. They were usually hard, cruel people looking to strike it rich and living by a tough code within which death was usually the resolution of most conflicts. But you have to judge them by the moral standards around them at the time, and they don't come off looking any worse than the nations they preyed upon.

For the record, modern piracy is also not as simple a moral issue as you think. The causes and patterns of piracy around both the Straits of Malacca and the Somali coast are complex, and once you learn the details (try some googling), you'll be less inclined to label them "evil."

To get a good sense of what pirates truly represent read The Outlaw Sea by Atlantic writer William Langwiesche:

http://www.ribbonfarm.com/2009/0...