Protests, riots, uprisings, and even revolutions are nothing new. However, a spate of such occurrences have recently erupted throughout the world on the majority of continents. These have two things in common. The first is that involves, quite heavily, protesters of the “Generation Z” or “Zoomers, as the vanguard.
Recently protests in Mexico have morphed into overt unrest and violence, including the breaching of the National Palace in Mexico City, a veritable uprising.
This is also happening in such varied countries as France, Indonesia, and Madagascar. In Nepal, it turned into a successful revolution that overthrew the Prime Minister.
And the other thing they all had in common? It was “麦わらの一味の海賊旗” (Straw Hat Pirates’ Jolly Roger) from the manga/anime “One Piece”.
“One Piece” is a worldwide hit with over half of a billion volumes of the manga sold and over one thousand episodes of the anime. Even in the United States, where manga is not as culturally widespread as elsewhere, it is one of the better known manga/anime with a large fandom. It is a demonstration that cultural boundaries can be readily crossed, and that America isn’t the only country with global cultural influence. It is also a reminder that, as the late Andrew Breitbart noted, politics is downstream from culture, and a common, if not unifying, cultural influence can move countries, if not potentially the world.
Better pay attention to what’s going on in the culture, lest those who embrace said culture pay attention to you.
