July 2nd, 2189
I was reflecting on that incident in Kiyokawa last night, and beyond the lack of effort on the part of heroes and police, was the blatant economic discrimination at play. No, I am not talking about the fact that richer areas are more likely to be patrolled by heroes, but instead how it played out with the two ‘villains’.
In Japan, you are not allowed to use your quirk unless you are licensed to do so, usually under some form of law enforcement or hero license. This does not account for quirks that cause a ‘build up’ in the user’s body. I spoke to a man with a fire quirk once, he stated that if he does not release the flames they “build up and start to burn him alive.” Luckily for him, he could afford an expensive Quirk Gym with plenty of materials to burn, but others aren’t so lucky.
As it stands, if you are poor in Japan you cannot afford to legally use your quirk, and wait lines for government ‘Quirk Outlet’ facilities can be weeks if not months. This leads to a portion of the population that is prone to release their quirks unintentionally.
Given that the current definition of a villain is a “Criminal who illegally uses their quirk during while committing a crime,” it is safe to assume the villain numbers are inflated.
How many ‘Villain Takedowns’ are mislabeled, standard criminal arrests? If someone has no intent to use their quirk, but accidentally does due to build up do they deserve all the extra time in prison that the villain label carries? I think there is something deeper going on here.
The Hero Commission benefits from a scared society, after all, if there is peace how many of us would tolerate these raised taxes? If we did not cower in fear, would we tolerate heroes towering over us? I think it is time we re-evaluate how we treat quirks, and how we view heroes. No one should deny a part of themselves just because they are poor. No one should be labeled a villain when all they are is a petty thief who panicked and activated a built-up quirk.
Signing Off,
Shrike.