User blog comment:DarkSkullPirates/Different Views/@comment-168.9.40.241-20121004211028/@comment-4889755-20121004214037

In my opinion, being a pirate is a crime itself. Take the Straw Hats (Using this as its the only crew we've seen "start") All Luffy did was announce himself as a pirate, and fight a seperate pirate (Alvida) not doing any damage to the World Government. Then, during the Morgan Arc it was the MARINES to made a threat to a pirate, who only wanted to help a dying man (Zoro), just for being a pirate and wanting to help a prisoner.

But does this make all pirates evil for just being pirates? I'd say, in a way, yes, because they have the potential to do something against the WG, not because they actually did anything.