When piracy becomes a major economic activity with a stock market

Somalia, a country located at the "Horn of Africa", is strategically controlling the vessel traffic in Gulf of Aden which joins the Red Sea (with the famous Suez Canal at the other end) which forms the important water transportation between Europe and Asia. (map below)

Somali people have been suffering from civil war since the last decade, and now, the warriors, fishermen, and perhaps farmers have found a new "lucrative business" to take advantage of their geographical location. They become pirates and hijack merchant ships, then making multi million dollars of big bucks from ransom.

The Somali pirates are heavily armed. And to maintain their "operation cost" and supplies, they have even opened a 24x7 "stock market", which started with 15 "maritime companies" and grown to 72 in just 4 months time.

The stock market is opened to everyone, and they accept "investment" in the kind of cash, weapons or useful materials.

The following "testimony" is very real, from a 22 years old young Somali lady: "I am waiting for my share after I contributed a rocket-propelled grenade for the operation. I am really happy to have made $75,000 in only 38 days since I joined."

It would be more shocking to hear the Haradheere town's deputy security officer spoken to reporter: "Piracy-related business has become the main profitable economic activity in our area and as locals we depend on their output."

Somali pirates have no doubt become today's marine version of Robin Hood in the eyes of their local people. They are even a very modernize version, equipped with AK-47 and rockets (rather than bows and arrows), and operating a stock exchange.

What do you think about this?

I feel that if the rich-poor divide around the globe become worse and worse, more and more such "Robin Hood story" will come into reality, and that might also be a cause for World War III.