The real life strawhats

Originally I was going to write about the rise of the extremists and extreme politicians in the world as of recent times, but as I reflected upon the far right today, what I fixated upon was the opposition. Unable to get the opposition to these extreme ideals out of my mind I decided to shift my paper to talk about the unlikely tie connecting these revolutionaries, the Strawhats' Jolly Roger. 

If you are familiar with one piece you likely recognize what I'm talking about, if you're not let me explain. One Piece is the most popular animated series in the world, being run as a manga since 1999 and airing more than 1100 episodes of the anime. In this series, the straw hat pirates sail across the world freeing countries from tyrannical leaders and protecting the people and valuing freedom. 

One Piece however has amassed a large political influence especially amongst the revolutionary youth across the world, who relate to the ideals of freedom, human rights, equality and fight against tyrants presented across the arcs. This political influence has led to manifestations and symbolism in real world opposition to the extremist governments in movements across the globe. 

In Asia the flag of the straw hat pirates (their jolly roger) was flown first by protestors. Amidst the protests by union leaders for better worker rights and against the governmental corruption in the country, raising the jolly roger became a symbol of resistance, of the fight for equality and human rights. Though Indonesia was the first country to use this symbol of resistance in their protests, it was certainly not the last.

Another country in Asia that adopted the symbol was Nepal, who opposed the government's corruption and social media crackdown. The protest eventually led to the fall of the corrupt communist party government, whose Prime minister KP Sharma Oli succumbed to public pressure and resigned. Today a new Prime minister of Nepal leads the country into a new period in its history. This youth-led protest in Nepal popularized the usage of the symbol of resistance on a global scale, news of the jolly roger spread across the seas eventually reaching Europe. 

In France, protestors have adopted the symbol to combat policies by the president that approach the far right. Practices including massive budget cuts to education, rising costs of living and energy crashes being pushed or not addressed by the government led to major student-led protests across France. In these protests the jolly roger was once again flown, representing liberty and defiance to the corrupt government refusing to address the issues of the people. 

The reach of the straw hats however is not limited to across the oceans, in Brazil this very flag has been flown in manifestations.

Between the first and second rounds of the Brazilian election the Straw hat flag was once again picked up by students in their protests, this time fighting the policies of right wing politician Flavio Bolsonaro. Amongst the ideas protested was the opening of precious lands to the external market (specifically the US), the cutting of human rights regarding minorities and the minimizing of government programs of transfer payments for those in need. The flag was flown alongside quotes from the show as a form of resistance to the rise of politicians called far-right. 

The ties between these countries and the revolutions are simple, the Straw hat jolly roger and the fight for unity, against polarization and extremes. The skull and hat became a symbol for unity, for the sense of community of a people and their resistance to corruption. 

This is how the flag of a fictional pirate crew became the symbol for unity in the real world