Asklemmy

But I already am a pirate?

Cowboy, no contest.

Samurai's lives belong to their masters. I couldn't live that way.

Pirates live by killing and stealing. I couldn't live that way.

That leaves cowboys. Certainly not the glorious and romantic life Hollywood makes it out to be, but generally honest work toward specific goals and freedom otherwise, which'd be fine.

Pirate! CGP Grey has a great video on how pirate ships worked. They were a lot more democratic and fair than the merchant marine which worked their crew to the bone and paid them peanuts.

How to be a Pirate Quartermaster

I think I would be a samurai. Samurai, while fierce warriors, were also poets and great appreciators of the arts.

Cowboy literally just means rancher. It was not a particularly good job in the wild west and it's only marginally better now.

Samurai were well respected, well paid, and had social status. The downside is that they needed to kill people or die trying when their boss said to, which doesn't sound like fun to me.

Pirates also have the problem of having to do violence on a regular basis, but without the glamour and respect of being Samurai.

All in all, I'd probably choose samurai.

Can I be Hasekura Tsunenaga, the samurai who went to Mexico? That way I could be a cowboy samurai. Plus I could be a pirate during the journey from Japan to Mexico. ✓ ✓ ✓

Cowboy - Pros: lowest chance of death, honest work for honest pay. Cons: hard work for low pay

Pirate - Does internet piracy count? I get seasick to easily to be the boat kind. Also the death.

Samurai - Maybe an Edo period samurai, when they were mostly bureaucrats.

Just throwing this out there, you can literally be a cowboy or a pirate today right now. The only barriers to entry are willingness and the minor physical ability they require. Samurai is unfortunately impossible.

I'm a man and don't have strong opinions about this, so count this as one vote against it.

What year for samurai, and what rank? Samurai in 1590 were very different from samurai in 1850; after the warring states period ended, samurai quickly lost everything except their pride. Merchants - nominally the lowest class (burakumin were outside of the class system) - had far more wealth and real power than the samurai in the years preceding the Meiji restoration. A low-ranking samurai around 1820 would be a life of poverty that was still filled with class and social obligations; not cool.

Overall, probably a ranch hand (cowboy was a derogatory term). Yeah, the pay was shit, and it was hard work, but you got to be outside all the time.

I would be a pirate. Because the other word for pirate treasure is Booty. (Beastie boys influence, I guess)

Samurai. They were freaking rich, ate good food and married well. They did good deeds and shit and had plenty of time for self reflection and improvment.

No thanks. I'm a coward. I just want to sit on my ass all day and browse lemmy

It's a toss up between cowboy and samurai.

For Samurai it would depend on when. Samurai became defacto nobility, but they began in the 8th century as just mercenaries hired by local nobles to protect their estates.

But a cowboy is a life in the open air on a ranch. Hard work for sure, but hard work doesn't bother me.

I want to be a pirate literally cuz I'm in the middle of watching one piece

Are there no Pirate Cowboy Samurais?

Cowboy. It would be hard work but all that time outside, sleeping under the stars, working with my hands.

I'd be bored within a week but the idea is fun!

I want to be a samurai. I wanted to be one since I was a kid, and I want to be one even more after having read Hagakure. I even try to live up to a lot of the same ideals Yamamoto Tsunetomo laid out in the book about what it meant to be samurai. It's almost the same idea as medieval chivalry; but more intense and without the religious overtones.

pirates supported same-sex marriage, so I’ll go with that 🏳️‍🌈

A cowboy. I was born in the western US and spent some of my young life on a cattle ranch. It's hard work and at the end of the day, there's a sense of accomplishment.

Not interested in being a pirate, stealing isn't my thing. I don't like the idea of slicing and dicing people, so samurai wouldn't work for me either.

Pirate is definitely out - I don't really care to be surrounded by guys 24/7 on a crowded and dirty ship. Samurai maybe but I'd go with "Cowboy". Has the best chance for a somewhat modern life and many chances to meet women...

All would actually suck if these are the realistic versions, but Cowboy would suck the least, at least as a violence-averse person (if you're not violence-averse I understand why you'd pick Samurai.)

Movie versions, I'd still go Cowboy. I'd get stir crazy on a boat and I don't like answering to people like Samurai need to.

A pirate. Pirates do what they want 'cause a pirate is free! Or so I've heard.

Be would mean now and here? Or the and there (where they existed)?

From what I like the most? Defebatly pirate, cause I could be another pirate Queen and that sounds dope

From whats the least icky one? Samurai after it became a social status and a symbol of nobility with the occasional murdering

Samurai gets paid by the fedual lord. Easy choice.

I would 100000% be a samurai because I'm 1000000% a weeb

Samurai. I'd like a higher place on the social hierarchy than pirate and cowboy.

Pirate!

Samurai. Not quite upper-class but a lot better social standing and conditions than the other two.

All three - pirate against capitalism, cowboy against society, and samurai because their swords are awesome and they bathe.

tough choice. all super cool. all equally tough jobs for their own reason. i guess cowboy because i have not been on a boat long enough and have not practuced swordplay as much

Fictionally, a samurai. But for real, I guess cowboy is the most sane option...