Some lawmakers say the black skull flags from the Japanese anime One Piece threaten national unity.

In the popular Japanese anime One Piece, black flags bearing a skull with a straw hat are carried by a rowdy crew of pirates who have made it their mission to challenge a draconian regime and fight for freedom.

But in July, these emblems started popping up across Indonesia – along doorways, on the backs of cars, and painted on walls.

For many, they were a response to Indonesian leader Prabowo Subianto’s call for Indonesians to fly their national red and white flag ahead of the country’s Independence Day on 17 August.

Instead, some Indonesians chose to raise these pirate flags, known as Jolly Rogers, as a symbol of their discontent, with many criticising what they say is an increasingly centralised government led by Prabowo.

But the movement has not been well received by all. Earlier last week, the country’s Deputy House Speaker criticised the flag displays, calling it an “attempt to divide the nation”. Another lawmaker even suggested it could be treason.

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Police in the capital Jakarta have said they are “monitoring the use of non-national flags and symbols that don’t align with the spirit of nationalism, including pirate or fictional-themed flags”.

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Indonesia’s hard-won democracy, the third largest in the world, has faced growing challenges in recent years.

Its popular former leader Joko Widodo rose to power as a promising democrat, but his one-of-us image lost some of its sheen towards the end of his second term, when he revived the death penalty for drug traffickers and appointed Prabowo, a controversial ex-general, as his defence minister.

Public frustration has intensified since Prabowo took over as president last October. In February, thousands took to the streets to protest budget cuts and legislative changes that would allow the military to take a bigger role in government.

  • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
    24·
    3 days ago

    Governments need to fear their people, otherwise they concentrate power. This is why governments hijack religion. It works as a shield against resistance to control.

    • cecilkorik@piefed.caEnglish
      5·
      3 days ago

      They should fear us. We outnumber the powers that be (governments, billionaires) thousands to one if not millions to one, and though they do everything they can to make us believe otherwise, we are their equals in every way except organization and motivation. Those may not be trivial things to change but they are not that hard to change either. Money and laws and ownership are only meaningful constructs as long as we continue to consent to their current implementation. When we stop giving our consent, they will have nothing to maintain their power base except force, and being so vastly outnumbered, they will quickly find the forces they (and we) imagine they can bring to bear are actually quite limited. How are they going to keep paying for their citadels and bunkers and servants and bodyguards and personal armies when nobody wants their money on their predatory services anymore? Money, and our collective desire for it and the things they sell to us with it, is their only real weapon, and if we stop playing the game the way they expect us to, they’ve actually got nothing.

      The black power movement understood this. The hippies understood this. We need to start to understand it. The power of these people is a myth, it’s something we give them and it requires mutual consent even if we don’t understand that we’re giving it. The power that has been given can be taken back when we withdraw our consent.

    • Phoenixz@lemmy.caEnglish
      23·
      3 days ago

      I don’t think they should fear the people

      Governments should be boring and each government employee bshould have erg limited powers

      I want a government that puts high taxes on the rich so that everyone has the same opportunities

      I want a government that pushes cities for livable infrastructure, designed nfor humans.

      I want a government that puts people before companies

      I don’t want a government that does flashy new big projects. I want boring small incremental improvements

      • SapphironZA@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
        2·
        1 day ago

        Unfortunately, the only way people historically get that, is to hold their politicians on a very short leash. Fear is our best weapon against their selfish nature.

  • Sidyctism II.@discuss.tchncs.deEnglish
    9·
    3 days ago

    one piece flags and other references were also used in turkey in the protests against the “suspension” of mayor imamoglu. i kinda love this

  • xxce2AAb@feddit.dkEnglish
    7·
    3 days ago

    Well, that makes perfect sense given Luffy’s typical response to unworthy authorities. Fist-to-the-face-diplomacy is a highly underrated tool in modern politics.