[PavlovsCat]

I think that might be the point:

http://uspirates.org/wiki_src/index.php/Pirate_National_Comm...

For our values, we have been derided as “pirates”. For our hope that every person may be free to access all of human knowledge, we have been called “pirates”. For our belief that one need not ask permission to participate in governance, industry, culture, and other aspects of society, we have been called “pirates”. For our insistence that citizens should not be surveilled and distrusted as if they are criminals, we have been called “pirates”. For our rejection of authority and profit-seeking when it does not serve the common good of all people, we have been called “pirates”.

We reclaim this label of “pirate” and abjure its derogatory, incendiary implication. We are Pirates. We stand for the liberty, equality, and solidarity of all human beings, and against all threats they may face.

I myself am not sure if I would like "Freedom Party" or something like that better. When someone calls themselves "The Good Guys" without irony, I get nervous. So at least given the choice between those extremes (which of course is not the actual choice, the PP could have plenty of names that neither "offensive" nor meaningless), I would prefer irony and alienating those who don't get said irony.

[tete]

Related fun fact: Here in Austria there is a party that gets translated to "Freedom Party". It is a right-wing party, who is known for their anti-foreigner stance and having members that are close to Nazi views. Every now and then they are in the media for it, even though they are (usually) not as extreme as for example the NPD in Germany or similar parties. However, still far from what most people would consider "Freedom".

So really, I think picking something more neutral as you name would probably help showing that you aren't just a marketing institution.

However, I still think that the name is bad, because of what it stands for, historically. I can understand the reason behind it, but that's something really internal. You can tell that to people that already are interested into the pirate party, but even if there were people that would share your views the word "Pirate" simply does not make them sound like a serious alternative.

Of course, names are bad and for the sake of neutrality maybe they should be called after numbers. Not even colors are really neutral anymore.

[hellcow]

It isn't really the "Freedom Party" when they demand this: "For our rejection of authority and profit-seeking when it does not serve the common good of all people, we have been called 'pirates'."

How can I pursue my own interests—how can I have freedom—if I have to serve some nebulous "common good," just as if I lived in a communist state?

The philosophy you're looking for is libertarianism.

[PavlovsCat]

Right. And freedom, or even the idea of individual existance, is not nebulous at all? Or maybe that's also related to acting stupid and squinting, i.e. nothing ultimately holds up to scrutiny, but sometimes you just gotta agree on what is likely meant in the current context, and move on?

I think the assumption here is simply the average human being, who is happy when in company with other happy human beings, not the alienated, necrophile collector of things and symbols who "lately" have become so numerous they actually think just wearing shirts and shoes while running countries or companies makes them a fully fledged fucking person, haha.

If you honestly cannot think of anything that profits you without hurting others, then wtf are your interests? How can others have freedom, whatever it is, when your interest, whatever it is, is profiting off them, instead of doing work that profits off, say, chaos and energy by making it useful at least to you, if not others as well? How can you yourself even have any meaningful development as a person that way?

If you plant a fruit tree in your garden, and only you get to eat the fruit, and it makes you happy, then we're all better off for you being happier, and those who create ideas and tools that last longer and reach farther than just their belly are considered cooler still. But the purely parasitic BS has to go, and since it tends to make people lazy and ignorant, there is fuck all they will be able to do about it once the kindling actually catches. Is that okay for you, can we move on now?

Why do some people understand that murder is not okay, but don't apply to the same into, say, deceiving others into self-harm from which they profit? I think it's privilege. It's mighty easy to have endless discussions about what a gun actually is when you don't have one pointed at you.

[hellcow]

What is the common good and who defines it?

If I plant a fruit tree in my garden, I no longer buy that fruit from a local farmer. Thus, I hurt the farmer.

If I build Facebook, I hurt MySpace. If I build Spotify, I hurt iTunes. If I build assembly robots that save businesses and consumers millions, I take away jobs from factory workers.

Anything you build upsets the good of someone else; that doesn't make it wrong.