It seems that the lure of piracy was not only the sailing of the high seas, wenches, and booty, but a rejection of the working conditions in most naval vessels, whether they be private shipping boats or military battleships. The pirate society was egalitarian and the working conditions were fair, with things like workers comp, good pay, the ability to remove captains, and more. Were these things only a small factor in the rise of pirates, or could it be considered one of the driving forces? Or maybe a better way to phrase this question, how important were the labor conditions of non-pirate ships to the rise of piracy?
Colin Woodward, in his book The Republic of Pirates, makes a case that labor conditions were a key element in pirate recruitment, and also part of the development of the Republic at Nassau, and thus influential towards modern democracy.
He describes the horrific way in which press gangs would treat people, kidnapping many, how the owners and captains would often be ruthless brutal cheats, and also the living conditions of Britain, with frequent public executions and general squalor. And, Woodward lists some examples of, (sometimes entire,) crews mutinying and starting off a life of piracy as a direct result of some of these conditions. I don't have my copy with me tonight, but I recall one example of a crew who rebelled while it's owner had forced them to sit in a faraway port, essentially prisoners [edit: this was Henry Avery]. There were other notable examples of sailors who jumped at the opportunity to join pirate crews who were attacking their ship.
On a related note, Woodward also mentions how the pirate lifestyle attracted slaves, causing runaways, rebellions, and unrest in the Caribbean plantations. This is where I thought the book got really interesting, as it goes from a story of living and labor, to one of a republic who's influence on the future of politics is often overlooked.
Edit: retrieved the book, here's a bit from the prologue:
The Golden Age Pirates were distinct from both the buccaneers of Morgan's generation, and the pirates who preceded them. In contrast with the buccaneers, they were notorious outlaws, regarded as thieves and criminals by every nation, including their own. Unlike their pirate predecessors, they were engaged in more than simple crime and undertook nothing less than a social and political revolt. They were sailors, indentured servants, and runaway slaves rebelling against their oppressors: captains, ship owners, and the autocrats of the great slave plantations of America and the West Indies.
Dissatisfaction was so great aboard merchant vessels that typically when the pirates captured one, a portion of it's crew enthusiastically joined their ranks. Even the Royal Navy was vulnerable; when HMS Phoenix confronted the pirates at their Bahamian lair in 1718, a number of the frigate's sailors defected, sneaking off in the night to serve under the black flag. Indeed, the pirate's expansion was fueled in large part by the defections of sailors, in direct proportion to the brutal treatment in both the navy and merchant marine.