@Red:
I guess that you are right, Dark Falcon.
Don't think that I'm trying to push "my threads" to the top. It's just there for the public to use and I tend to post in them. Honestly, you are pretty pessimistic. Sorry to say that.
well I think you are very earnest in your efforts here. I value that.
Maybe if you re-conceptualize the idea of this thread it could work.
Maybe if you'd make it more discussable or more personal it could work.
Maybe if you'd asked, "what message in one piece got you the most and why?" response would be different.
For example there is that one thing that really caught my attention when reading the manga. That is the value of the history and memory. That is one think that is relatively rarely discussed among fans (I dare say many people completely miss it), but in my opinion is essential to understand the tale.
One Piece is great because it shows history and something very important to people and it has been underlined several times. People, who forget their past are easy to control and lose their freedom. That is true for whole World, with century erased from memory as it falls under oppressive regime (note that the regime does everything to prevent the true history from resurfacing) as well as for citizens of Dressrosa. To make people free again you need to make them remember.
History is something that belongs to the people and should be never stripped from them. As asserted by Cobra, future must be build on the past, and past, common experience, even negative one can strengthen future bonds (bonds in good sense, the ones that enable people to live together, understand one another better and thrive (that is especially important in story that teaches, that you can't be truly free alone), on the other had loss of memory creates negative bonds that limit and hurt people). However history isn't that easy. It really can hold people back (grudges and wars starts at this as seen on Skypia and Fishmen Island). So it's important to take history for what it truly is - past. So you need to let it go. Not forget, but understand that it doesn't need to dictate your present or future.
Responsibility of historical researchers, the responsibility to protect and preserve historical knowledge against petty interests or rulers and responsibility to deliver this knowledge to all humanity, who are rightful owners was also a part of what got me. I don't think if know any other popular story where role of researcher is shown in that way and so honestly. We rarely even see researched history having some consequences to general public.
This important for me personally. At time, when I started reading One Piece I've been studying archaeology. The ideas presented in the manga weren't too alien to me, but despite that One Piece helped me get better grip of them and was and is like a guiding star.
Lets not forget, that manipulations of history and hiding data for political reasons happen constantly in real life. They constantly affect real people. Showing this issue is really important.