Narrative Warfare: Something Bad Went Down By 1999

Dragon Award winner and nominee Brian Niemeier put this out over Twitter today.

Something horrible happened to our culture starting in late 94 & culminating in 97.

The evidence is overwhelming. https://t.co/iSJ1MNSl9a

— Brian Niemeier (@BrianNiemeier) September 23, 2019

Which came on the heels of a thread therein regarding Big Two (Marvel & DC) comics and their decline, which you can find here, and that in turn stems from an on-going topic of his interest that he's posted about at his blog now and again.

Something went down in the late 90s, in terms of culture, that affected the entire planet. Exactly what that was isn't yet nailed down, but we've been feeling the effects since, and it's not been good for anyone but the parasites pulling up the ladders behind them as they cash out and bug out as fast as they can to places they dare not mention from fear of being pursued.

In short, aside from a few pillars in a given niche, we've seen precipitous decline of cultural output across the board from the institutional players both East and West. The exact details vary from one sector to the next, but the effect is the same and so are the results: a decline in viable prospects, a retrenchment around solid favorites, and the fight by short-sighted players over the remains of what was once a prosperous culture industry.

Now, 20 years on, we're seeing that the solid pillars are not immune. They too have to maintain their vigilance or the rot get them too, often eating from the inside out due to institutional incompetence. It doesn't matter if it's due to SJW convergence, cultural paralysis, or being hollowed out by the local crime syndicate for the insurance money- the result, and effect, is the same and we're seeing it with Mouse Wars as well as with Gundam. Be it slow or fast, the malady afflicts without mercy unless and until its cause is addressed and fixed.

And I am glad that I'm doing what I can to do just that.