BSD age 15 light novel, analysis of the raw meat theory

You see, the interesting thing about this light novel is that we have 2 organizations that we must view through the lens of, well... Yakiniku, yes. Literal meat cooked on a brazier.

THE SHEEP

 Orphans that are young and inexperienced, yet had to gather and form a group to protect themselves in an area full of criminal activity. Naturally they've yet to develop a full-fledged understanding of systems and how individual give and take affects the whole picture, and are a prime example of mori's meat theory. Each wants to survive, and as they're more likely to be stubborn and push their own wants forth, or self-righteously claim what they do is for the good of everyone, they will be prone to taking the meat before it fully cooks to satisfy their needs as fast as possible, maybe out of fear that they won't have any chance to do so later, as in they think more in the now, short-term, perhaps due to the disorganized and unstable environment they live in. They receive just raw meat, no yakiniku. But at least they do receive something, and fast, with less effort and fear for survival, clearly more emotional and instinct based thinking. As a result the rest are forced to follow suit because if they don't, they risk all the meat being snatched way before their turn, they can't just sit and wait for quality when the raw base is actively being taken. In this situation they have no choice but to prioritize survival instead of the luxury of quality. Now, what is it that made chuuya such an outcast in his own organization which he was assigned the leader of? Thing is, he wasn't a true leader, rather he was a shield. With great power comes great responsibility. He wasn't the person tending to and leading the sheep, he was treated more as the dog whose purpose is just merely protecting the sheep from wolves. Yet he is a living person with a separate mind, separate wants, separate needs. And much more, he had something that deeply concerned him, and it wasn't survival. It was his identity. And yet he had a whole herd relying on just him for protection and safety, meaning he had no room to himself, no life separate from his duty as just something that the lives of the sheep depend on, at least in their eyes. Either he had to accept the minimization of his being and humanity and take what's left of the meat, or leave and hunt for it himself. As we can see he was forced to choose the latter, because the former is simply unsustainable. And because dazai had a hand in taking the stray shepherd dog as his new owner, for life. He created the illusion that chuuya chose to betray the sheep, but in reality the circumstances just made him staying there any longer simply impossible. So the sheep learned from their mistakes. They sought a shield that lacks sentimentality and found one, the GSS. An organization as a whole is more likely to follow through with a specific goal or objective on specific terms than a single individual, and in the case of one part of the organization turning away, you wouldn't lose the entirety of your shield as it's a large entity consisting of multiple, not just one.

MORI'S PORT MAFIA

Specifically his, not the one of the former boss. Mori is a peculiar individual. He prioritizes logic, long-term thinking and efficiency, he has enough experience and intelligence to see the full picture of a structure alongside the ins and outs of it. And he puts a lot of importance on the greater good, the overall desirable end result. He takes the initiative, plans ahead and makes the first step. He lets the meat cook fully and turn into yakiniku. Enforces the new established standard and doesn't allow it to be breached. This is important because it reflects an organized and controlled environment, unlike what we saw with the sheep. But there's a catch. His line of thinking isn't flawless either as it results in huge sacrifices (including lives of course) for a grand cause. It eventually leads to the same problem of dehumanizing whoever happens to fall into the category of sacrifice. It may be organized crime, but it's still crime. Ironically the same exact mentality was present back then during the war as the soldiers were being used as merely shells of themselves, tools to be repaired and put inside a meatgrinder, then repaired, then sent, then repaired, then sent, and well.. you get the point. And yet we don't call that a crime. Interesting, right? Not surprising though. After all, murder in self-defence isn't considered a crime either. Anyway, I'll elaborate on that later. Point is, he focuses too much on the bigger picture and doesn't give as much importance to how the costly means affect it as well. I'd like to mention that mori is indeed a leader unlike chuuya though. He is the person in charge, not the one being sent to protect at the fronts. Yet he does serve his organization, in his own way. And he is fully drenched in its dark, sticky mud indeed.

Now, me making a comparison here doesn't mean that these 2 structures are necessarily opposites. Rather they are both constructs that ultimately serve to protect. In the sheeps' case it's the individual orphans and in the port mafia's case it's yokohama as a whole. I'm sure you can see why that causes such a gap in planning and priorities. The scale difference is massive. You could say it's almost like how the cavemen who lived in smaller groups had more immediate and basic needs, yet today's gigantic, complex societies have much more... "grand" things to worry about. Yet essentially we still face a lot of the same issues we've been facing since the beginning of life on earth, if we view ourselves as a branch, a continuation of evolution. At the end of the day, we all need to eat. Always have needed. Regardless of the food being raw meat or yakiniku, there's still competition and those who lose in it, just like how animals of the same species, or those that share the same diet may fight each other for the same resources and as a result, all will be harmed as they struggle for it. It's in our nature. Although that's not the only way it can unfold. It's just one of the most common outcomes, especially within a circle of the same species, in our case humanity. That's why we have interpersonal conflict. Why we have war. Why self-defence isn't necessarily seen as a crime. And that's why the raw meat theory explains only half of the world's problems, as the world is far too nuanced and there are multiple approaches to the same thing.

NOTE: I've started rereading all of bsd only recently. Apologies if I remember anything wrong.