fandomhigh | Ethics [Thursday, September 20]

"Today we talk about something called the Golden Rule, a concept which unites many separate religions on this planet," Anakin began as he leaned against his desk and stared around the classroom. "It sounds altruistic: 'do unto others as you would have done unto you', but there's a couple of logical flaws in it. What if you don't mind getting poked in the stomach? Does it follow that you could wander around aimlessly poking people? What if you don't see what's wrong with stealing? Or killing? Or hating entire groups of people on principle? If the practical application is supposed to be you randomly help people because they could be good, wouldn't the opposite be that you could randomly harm people because they might be evil?"

He shrugged. "I suppose the Golden Rule could be broken down to 'be nice to people, and they'll be nice to you' but out here in the real world, we all know it doesn't exactly work like that, and the concept could also be reinterpreted as 'it doesn't bother me, so why does it bother you?' Is this a case of aiming for an ideal and hoping that it will cause a ripple effect of positive things, or something overly simplistic that taken to its logical extreme renders itself useless? Has seeing it on everything from coffee mugs to tea towels made the very idea of it trite, or does it still have a place in the mind of someone trying to lead an ethical life?"

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"Bah," Victor said. Yes, he actually said 'bah.' "My father was a great man. I earn my way in part to honor him. But anyone who willfully chooses to allow their destiny to be shaped by another like that - demanding respect because of their lineage and not because they've fought for it themselves - fully deserves whatever fate is handed to them, especially by people like me."

Victor could have written self-help books if he had put his mind to it.

"Pffft."

Sokka could be dismissive, too.

"You don't fight for respect, you earn it. By being honorable. That's why it's called 'honor'."

"You earn respect by fighting for it," Victor said. "The two are not mutually exclusive. And honor can be earned in more ways than you seem to be aware. In a war you can gain honor by killing your enemy or by sparing his life. Two opposites yield the same result. You need to stop thinking so simply."

"... Okay, yeah, but those aren't the SAME honor. And you can also LOSE honor by killing your enemy or sparing his life. Which one you should do depends on the situation! I'm not the one thinking simply!"

"And yet you suggested that there was only one way to gain respect. 'By being honorable' while ignoring that there was more than one way to earn respect," Victor stated. "Respect can be gained... earned... fought for, all for any number of reasons in any number of ways. Do not presume to judge my ways based solely on the fact that I'm acutely aware of myself and how to improve myself."

Victor enjoyed taking short dramatic pauses so long as they were short enough to allow him to continue talking without interruption.

"Hey, I know what I said," Sokka countered, "and it wasn't that. Besides, I'm not judging you because of how you're improving yourself, I'm judging you because you're a JERK. And let me tell you right now, NOBODY respects jerks." Sokka grimaced.

Victor smiled a condescending little smile and said, "Believe your lies that men who forego niceties in favor of success aren't respected. If you believe hard enough, perhaps you'll be handed that pony and all will be right in your world."

Sokka blinked. "Yeeeeeah. Okay, now you're confusing 'respect' and 'fear'. Don't feel bad; I know all kinds of evil overlords who make that same mistake."

"Again, fear and respect are not mutually exclusive. You can fear a person but respect their power. You can respect a person but fear their power. You think too much in black and white. There is no black and white, only shades of grey."

In Victor's case, those shades were all pretty near black, of course.

Ethics [Thursday, September 20]

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