Some Mushrooms for Thought

I'm not talking about hallucinogens! But I'll get into that in a sec.

People always pronounce my name Buh-KAH-ree for some reason. I guess that's how it works with English phonics. Glad we've set this straight!

Now there has been a lot of talk of revolution buzzing about and I thought I'd shed some light on another little revolution going on, while it's the hot topic.
I've been having this discussion with my little brother for quite a while now and I'd like to know what you all think. Now we're all familiar with Super Mario Brothers, right? Little pudgy plumber pulverizes opponents by pouncing onto their skulls to save his beloved Princess Peach from her perilous position in the palace of the pernicious patriarch Bowser. (F yeah, alliteration!) Well, one of the most common enemies in the series is this little guy:

He's a diminutive fellow, but he's got heart, damn it. Still, Mario stomps them by the baker's dozen without a single thought. As well he should! They're evil, right?

Well it's not hard to see that the Goomba is a mushroom person, much like the Toads that Princess Peach rules over. A different type of mushroom, but mushrooms the same! In fact, a lot of the dialog in later games suggests that originally, the Goombas and the Toads lived together in the same kingdom under the same ruler. In fact, there are still several good, honest, hard-working Goombas living peacefully in Mushroom Kingdom today. Some of them even help out Mario on his quests. But still, the vast majority of the Goombas you see in the Mario games are stupid, uneducated ruffians that attack you on sight. Like little shitake thugs! Many of them actually aren't even Bowser's minions. At least fifty percent of the Goombas you encounter in later Mario games are simply highwaymen, bandits, and mobsters. Little shitake thugs!

Now, anyone who's taken a (good) sociology class knows that people don't just DECIDE to break the law. We are all products of our environment. The Toads all live in nice, pristine cities with elaborate houses while the Goombas are stuck living underground or in run-down, rural villages. If you were a member of the latter, wouldn't you get kind of fed up with that?

It's easy to see why though. Mushroom Kingdom is governed solely by the Toads (and Princess Peach...where she falls in that line I'm not quite sure...) and Goombas have no say in the affairs of their own country. It's not hard to imagine why they'd get the short end of the stick.

All this time we've seen this whole situation from Mario's perspective. "That nasty ol' Bowser kidnapped the princess! I've gotta go save her for justice, love and peace!" Clearly things aren't quite so simple.

So to you, fellow nerdfighters, I leave this for you to ponder on your own. Sure, Bowser is the king of a rival nation (the Koopa Kingdom) but for the Goombas this is so much more than simply a game of keep-away. 

So next time you see one of the little brown troopers and hop up to remove him from the mortal coil, think for a little bit. Maybe these things aren't so black and white.

DFTBA!