I was watching this video (which is great btw) and it got me thinking about how it reminds me of how the Straw Hats (mostly) operate
Particularly this section about game theory and what was found to be the most successful strategy in cases of repeated prisoner's dilemma (i.e. when it doesn't just play out once but multiple times)
(The classic example of prisoner's dilemma only plays out once and the selfish strategy always wins, but it doesn't take into account what happens on repeated attempts)
The Straw Hats are generally nice or at least neutral towards people by default, but will retaliate if people treat them or their friends unkindly. And then forgive them if they show genuine improvement. And well I think they're pretty clear about that lol
Consider Bellamy; Luffy was friendly at first, even refused to fight him, then beat him up after he stole Cricket's gold. Then once they meet again in Dressrosa and Bellamy shows some growth Luffy forgives him, but still ultimately fights him when he still gets in his way, making it clear that Bellamy has the freedom to do better and be accepted, but he has to act accordingly. And then Luffy forgives him again, and finally it sticks.
That's probably the best example, but not the only one
(Of course it's not that simple, there's a lot of things going on with the Bellamy stuff, because it's also about a clash in their ideologies etc., but that doesn't invalidate this analysis IMO)
Of course there are exceptions to this but overall this does seem to be Luffy's modus operandi. And the Straw Hats also mostly follow the same logic.
The Straw Hats (and pirates in general) do of course operate in an "alegal" system, because they're outlaws, and that's why this video is very relevant. "Alegal" as in they are not concerned with legality because they're already considered criminals regardless of what they do, which in a sense makes them free to act however they wish
And as Luffy himself said to Wapol; it doesn't matter to him who's a king or a god, who's important or noble or not, because he's a pirate. Social status and law are irrelevant to him because he's already made the choice to live outside the system, even if that makes him the enemy of the system
All the discussion on responsibility is also something that comes up with One Piece a lot. Luffy and the Straw Hats take that sort of thing very seriously. It's not a matter of rules but of taking responsibility for your actions, the actions of your crew, and the consequences of those actions
There's also the acknowledgement that you can never fully solve the problem of evil, you can only respond to it when you encounter it. (I mean as Andrewism says, ideally you would dismantle systems that enable evil people to have power over others, but I guess One Piece isn't quite that radical lol)
I just think it's interesting, because by showing the main characters adhering to this model, One Piece does establish it as one possible ideal to follow (maybe not the only one, but definitely the most appealing one if you like the Straw Hats)
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