The Wisdom of a Pirate

There is a popular character in Norwegian children's culture called Captain Saber Tooth.

He is a fierce pirate, always looking for the treasure that constantly eludes him. At the very last moment, just when he thinks that the treasure will finally be his, a bunch of kids snatch the treasure right out of his grasp trough some clever trickery.

The story always ends up with Captain Sabre Tooth having to go back to his ship with no treasure and no honor. However, the kids love him.

The reason for his popularity has confused many, especially those believing that children naturally detest violent and evil characters. What exactly do kids see in Captain Sabre Tooth that makes him so popular? After all, he's in the end nothing but a failed middle aged guy. What's so fantastic about that?

The answer may lie in his attitude and desire for success.

A song that he keeps singing along with his men as they head out to find the treasure goes like this:

"Hey, ho, the treasure will soon be ours. When it is, we will relax, for at least a hundred years."

What's interesting to note is that Captain Sabre Tooth is willing to take a lot of risk in order to take no risk in the future.

There is no risk associated with a chest full of gold. The value of such a treasure is apparent to even the youngest children. With a chest of gold, you're basically set for life.

The message to young children, boys in particular, is that we should take some risks early in life in order to take less risk later. Young men should invest their energy in adventures that pay off in the form of gold. By middle age, they should have amassed a treasure large enough to keep them going for the rest of their lives.

This is exactly the sort of thing that stories like Iron John suggests. Take risk, invest the proceeds into safer assets, put the proceeds of this in turn into gold.

A young man's energy and hard work should be focused towards the future with the ultimate goal to amass a treasure large enough to sustain him and his family for the rest of his life.

This is so simple to understand that every child gets it. Yet, what do we see in today's world? People are making increasingly risky bets on the stock market and hyped up fads like crypto-currencies.

Some are now even selling their homes in order to speculate in crypto-currencies. This is madness. It is the opposite of what a sane person would do. The trend should be from risk towards safety, not the other way around.