YoHo Journal Vol 6: Pirating the Pirates by Kester Brewin

Ahoy!  Welcome to this special edition of the Yo Ho Journals!
 
As we mention in our foreword to each journal, we are indebted to the 2012 book ‘Mutiny; Why we love Pirates and How They Can Save Us’. In it Kester Brewin uses the lens of the Golden Age of Piracy to shine fresh light on the political and theological challenges of the day.
 
And so, it will be no surprise to those who have already thumbed past the front cover, we are delighted that for this issue we are handing over the bridge to Kester Brewin himself.
 
And as if having our original muse pen this journal wasn’t enough, we’ve also welcomed aboard an artist whose extraordinary new painting collection has also been inspired by Mutiny!
 
Philip Earnhart is a Swiss-American contemporary painter, graphic designer and philanthropist - and we are honoured to be able to feature some of this work throughout the pages of this journal.
 
Here's a little snippet to whet your appetite:
 
Mutiny. I wrote in big letters across the top of a new page. Faithful rebellion.
 
It’s been ten years since the book that poured through this crack was published, a decade since I invited pirates into my life to plunder what they could. In that intervening time, it might be said that my own vessel has become more seaworthy; I’m more buoyant, don’t feel like I’m sinking quite so often and have some better idea of my bearings. For this I’m thankful. Yet over that same time, so much of the world around me appears to have lost its compass and sprung serious leaks, feels in danger of breaking up in the waves that have built from multiple storms.
 
In this essay, I want to reconsider the theory of mutiny and piratic action that I proposed back in 2012. In a very real sense I want to pirate my own ideas, to commit mutiny against my own work. Yet I’m also prepared to have been proven right in some areas too. In Chapter 6 of the book, I warned,
 
‘as the story of the prodigal son teaches us, not all who sail out as pirates contribute to the strengthening of the commons. Some who begin as pirates but fail to follow through on their actions actually end up strengthening the empires of enclosure, and taking them on to another generation of oppression. Their selfish desires for wealth end up overriding the longing for justice that took them ‘on the account.’
 
    - Kester Brewin