I'll just explain myself for the record: When I said eye of the beholder, I hinted to the fact that property rights, especially international ones, were a bit loose in the period in question. The spanish were furious with the english, because the english supported piracy. I also made the point that "police" or "army/navy" just wasn't there in the caribbian, and so nation states needed something else. I don't think that 18th century people were without morals, but I think the had a somewhat different set.

End of that part of the topic