#but also I think it’s funny to see. As a phenomenon. It’s just

[realcleverissues]

Season 2 is out. It's good. Also, a bit less traumatic than the first season. that said, the start of the second game has a scene which has been absolutely haunting me since I saw it - though watching reactions to it online, seems like most people found it funny, which blows my mind.

I think part of the issue is exactly what I wrote about above for season one: the show is a thinly veiled metaphor for capitalism - but most people don't seem to get that. They see people dying playing games and it seems so alien as to be funny.

similarly, season 2 emphasizes the ability of the participants to vote to leave the game. but they don't. they want to keep playing, even as scores of them die. and it seems crazy. how could they vote that way??!! and yet, that is exactly what we Americans are doing. And worse yet, at least in squid game the "party" that votes to end the games is sincere that they want to end; in the US, we have two major parties and both are in favor of more games. e.g. look at the discussion around healthcare, housing, education, and so much more. (and trump winning the presidency bc people hoped to save a few cents on eggs is really the cherry on top.)

but yeah, for most people, they can't seem to connect the dots. the show is just 'a creepy and quirky situation with no relationship to us.'

p.s. it's an amazing phenomenon in general of how people, esp right wing people, consume creative works which criticize their worldview but they don't have a nuanced take on it bc they are just completely oblivious to the hypocrisy in their values. I'd really love to see a study where a group of people watch squid game and then are asked their views on universal healthcare vs the current system. I just really want to see how they frame this in their mind.

“Thank god Squid Game is just a series and not real life.”

I’ve been hearing this a lot from people and it kind of boggles my mind. The analogies to society, and specifically its hyper-capitalist nature, are rife throughout the series. The parallels are so stark and real that the above sentiment almost makes no sense to me - even though I know people mean that we don’t generally have to directly make such life and death decisions. But it seems that they don’t realize that even if it’s not as direct, the system is real. The effects are real. It is life or death.

For instance, healthcare. One of the main reasons that the main character is in the game is to pay for his mom’s healthcare. In the US, thousands of people die young each year because they cannot afford healthcare. In addition, thousands become entirely broke, declaring bankruptcy, due to healthcare bills. This is real life. Every politician and voter who votes against a nationalized health insurance program is playing the squid game. They are choosing an option which they believe will make them slightly better off, even if it will condemn thousands upon thousands of people to suffer and die.

Same thing with housing. For instance, one of the easiest ways to address our housing crisis would be to change city zoning laws. For instance, in Seattle, something like 90% of the residential areas are only zoned for single family homes. That makes it harder to build the multi-family homes needed to address seattle’s growing population. As a result, there’s both a shortage of housing, and incredibly high housing costs since people must compete with eachother for homes, driving up costs. Multifamily zoning helps relieve those issues by providing more homes, and thereby reducing the auction-like nature of the free market. However, most homeowners vote against this change, because they fear it might impact their property values or marginally decrease their quality of life. Some people even complain that it will just ‘mess with the vibe and aesthetic of the neighborhood.’ To them, those issues are of equal importance to people without homes, or struggling to survive, struggling to pay their bills and buy food bc they’re overburdened by housing prices. This system is another squid game, and homeowners consistently vote in what they perceive to be their own favor.

Same thing with our commodities in general. Just look at all the terribly exploitative (and often much worse) conditions that are used to produce chocolate, diamonds, shoes, cotton clothing, and all our groceries. Look at our carbon emissions and plastic waste that’s polluting mountaintops and the ocean depths, as well as our own bodies. These are the decisions that *we* are all making.

For most of us, we are making the decisions we do because we have no alternatives. Most of us literally cannot afford to buy fair-trade products, and so we don’t. We deserve some blame here, but we’re also victims. This is because our system sends money to the top and leaves everyone else scrambling to survive on scraps. Most of us *are* in this squid game, actively playing. We could all get out, if we simply voted to.

But it won’t happen, because most people ignore what’s going on, and when they see art with social commentary, like squid games, hunger games, etc., they just think, “that’s cute, but glad I don’t live in a society like that!”