Quote:
Originally Posted by Baraka_Guru
Interesting. So as the history goes, Britain and the EIC sought to stop tax-evading tea smugglers via a tax break, and the response was the Boston Tea Party...because they didn't want to pay the tea tax either?
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The privateers were attempting to bypass an existing monopoly. The EIC had been pulling strings for years, cornering numerous markets, particularly shipping, and that meant that merchants and sailors had to choose between low wages and no control over one's career under the EIC, or become a privateer and run the risk of getting caught. It's a choice that's been faced by people living under monopolistic conditions throughout the history of capitalism. Join the company or face being either legislated out of existence or undercut out of existence.
But I take your point, I hadn't thought of it in that way.