Lord of the Midnight Sun

Agates carved into orange slices by wutong_crystal_carvings.

I think it's clear that the sheer scale of bureaucracy and level of centralization and formalization of authority of modern governments (I'm talking about the last 70 or so years here) are absolutely incredible compared to even the comparatively recent past.

If you strip government down to the essentials, you do tend to end up being left with court systems, law enforcement, and the military (especially if you ignore religion and other things related to the question of "what makes this legitimate"), which by its own logic creates the situation where the main legitimate form of government is physically fighting internal and external enemies -- "everything is protect".

I think it's legitimate for people to look at the scale of bureaucracy, government payroll, centralization of authority, etc in the modern era and say, "I would like less of this".

netflix is making a hockey show called "the sticks" that is based on a very real tragedy that occured in canada in 2018.

the show follows a minnesota high school team after their bus crashes and coming back to hockey afterwards.

in 2018, the humboldt broncos' (a junior A team made up of 18-22 year olds) bus was hit by a tractor trailer on a highway intersection. 16 people (10 players, 2 coaches, and 4 team staff members) were killed, along with 13 other players severely injured.

the memory of the humboldt broncos crash is an incredibly sensitive subject carrying a lot of trauma to both the survivors, their families, and deceased's families. the trajectory of hockey in canada was changed significantly after this tragedy.

despite this, netflix has decided to make a show using the death of young hockey players for profit. they did not consult the survivors, nor the deceased's families. they stole a canadian story for a feel-good cash grab.

None of the families even knew about this show until the media started asking how they felt.

It is taking a tragedy and turning it into a cash cow.

This was such a deeply-felt issue that even the truck driver pleaded guilty and has tried to make amends. (And as he is facing deportation after his sentence, some of the families have even started supporting him being allowed to stay in the country.) There is a real story you could be telling about community and resilience that is not just turning one of the worst days for THE NATION into cheap thrills and sensationalism.

They’re teaching the kids phonics.

It is legally required.

But leaving aside all the actual discussion there, I'm now amusing myself by picturing the conclusions about What Magical Girl Shows Are Like one could get to by drawing exclusively from a reference pool of a couple random shows with absolutely no broader knowledge of the cultural imprint of magical girls. Like,