The Creation of Underclasses: Final Fantasy XVI Part 4

So I got Covid shortly after writing my last post and that delayed things further. I am recovering from Covid pretty well and I’m glad I have some energy to write today. This pushed a few of the posting goals back a bit but I am going to get on track in the New Year. Thanks for everyone’s patience. I’m excited to unveil the business plan and future content plans shortly after the New Year.

For previous entries in the series, please see:

Part 1: https://www.phenomenagaming.com/blog/expectations-adaptations-and-joy-final-fantasy-xvi-part-1

Part 2: https://www.phenomenagaming.com/blog/trauma-and-character-growth-final-fantasy-xvi-part-2

Part 3: https://www.phenomenagaming.com/blog/extraction-and-destruction-final-fantasy-xvi-part-3

Final Fantasy XVI has an underclass of people throughout the game called the Bearers. For reference, an underclass is defined as a group of people who have less social privileges and standing because of either a majority of other people or an oppressive ruling structure. In Final Fantasy XVI, the overclass would be the majority of people who are afraid of innate magic users in Valisthea and the government structures which are built to disempower Bearers. In this post, I will examine the attitudes of people regarding Bearers and then give a reflection about how we create underclasses in our society.

The Fear of Bearers and System of Abuse

Cid is a brave man in Final Fantasy XVI. It was a huge risk for Cid to take in even one Bearer, much less build a society where Bearers are able to die freely. Because Bearers are innate magic users who do not need crystals, people are afraid of letting Bearers have too much power, thinking the Bearers would overrun society similar to the Dominants who run the domains. Bearers also have the unfortunate consequence of turning to stone when they use too much of their magic. Society wants the benefits of Bearers while restricting their power usage. This is why Bearers are enslaved in many cities in Valisthea; namely, it is a way to get use of their magic ability but limit their ability to gain collective power as a group. When they inevitably turn to stone, they are replaced with another bearer. Cid’s environment in the Hideout is the first sense of community most Bearers have experienced and one of the first times the Bearers have been respected.

Why We Build Underclasses?

Underclasses are the backbone of most Western societies. Very few people want to do work such as farming, meat packing, building infrastructure, and fast food, as the conditions are difficult. As labor unions have weakened in America, many industries are suffering from deteriorating working conditions. For many people, there is a great temptation to make others do more work and limit the amount of work we as individuals do. Culturally in the West, this has also become a consistent disposition and thus underclasses are necessary in these structures. Capitalism itself measures unemployment consistently and unemployment is necessary in order for capitalism to function because saturated labor markets hinder the creation of new businesses. Saturated labor markets for some would also favor workers too much because if there are not recyclable workers, then they can demand higher wages. This is why unemployment is purposely kept around 3-4 percent.

The West has also made most of the rest of the world its underclass. Rather than paying people in America to make most of its goods, they will pay pennies to workers in other countries to create a significant amount of our clothing, furniture, and other consumer goods. This overclass status is enforced through military might, economic sanctions, and debt from development loans. The West wants cheap access to minerals and the extraction in western countries costs more because of labor laws and workers’ rights which many underclasses of people have fought for over time.

Underclasses are created to enable a few powerful people/groups of people to have more than their fair share of resources. Propaganda is used to make large percentages of the population be okay with the arrangement of the underclasses. To become a member of the elite is becoming increasingly difficult as social progress has mostly stalled.

How and Why Do We Respond?

We have discussed the fears about the Bearers and why they were created as an underclass and why we have underclasses in general in society. It can seem rather hopeless to understand that many of us are in precarious positions because of either racial discrimination, gender/sexual orientation discrimination, or the consequences of poverty/price gouging or any combination of the above, as well as many other discriminations which occur in society. We are in unstable times because all of the underclasses which have been created can no longer handle the excesses of those in power.

As a parallel, in Final Fantasy XVI, the crystals and their extraction of aether from the land is the ultimate excess which causes blight. Wars are fought to gain resources and find room for people to settle as they scatter from the blight. The main people who benefit from this system are the rulers of Valisthea’s different kingdoms. Cid and Clive are unusual dominants because they take a stand against the people who are benefitting from this system as well. Those who resist often have a more difficult life and this is very true for Cid and Clive.

So why do we try to make anything better? The trite answer is because if we don’t respond we will end up dead or perpetually suffering and long-term it will be terrible. The longer answer is that it is up to the reflection of our individual consciences. Our reflection helps us to draw our inspiration and we may find that we want to respond to problems in society. When a few dedicated individuals come together and build on solid principles, then there is a lot of potential for growth. In Final Fantasy XVI, the builders are: Cid, Clive, Jill, Gav, Tarja, Blackthorne, Goetz, Mid, Vivian, Harpocrates, Gaute, Desiree, Nektar, Dorus, Cole, and Obolus. Each of them have their different roles but they came together to build a hideout for Bearers to challenge the injustices they face. For them, the compelling vision comes from Cid who wants to build a hideout where Bearers can die freely. This is why they all can fight and deal with traumatic circumstances.

Conclusion

What is our compelling vision? What will compel people to stand together to build something else? These are the questions we need to answer as a society as we see more things happening as they were designed to do so. We have to discern carefully as individuals as to whom we will trust with building our answers to these questions. My hope with Phenomena Gaming is to help people on the journey to reflect on their own dispositions and how others might feel pain. Gaining an awareness as to how our actions or lack of action affects others is vital for thinking about an effective solution to our world’s problems. In the last piece of the Final Fantasy XVI series, we will talk about effective actions and how the characters in Final Fantasy XVI build effective actions and find their course of action with the lens of climate.

Plenty of announcements will be coming in the next few weeks. I’m excited for everyone to take this journey with us at Phenomena Gaming. And I’m excited because Phenomena Gaming will become more of an us effort next year. Phenomena Gaming is my answer to build a compelling vision and when this becomes an us effort it’ll become closer to be a work of the gamers.