Learnin' with Mr. Peanutbutter, Thursday, period 1

[hollywoostar]

Mr. Peanutbutter was wearing glasses today. Not his sunglasses, no. Also, oddly, not his actual reading glasses. But a thick-framed set of prescriptionless glasses that he felt lent him a more scholarly air. He still hadn't received any notes on his performance in the first two episodes of the show, and he was starting to worry and make strange artistic choices.

Just wait until he decided to get himself a tweed jacket with elbow patches. It's gonna go great with his blue track pants and purple sneakers.

"Ah, welcome back, students!" he greeted when the bell rang. "It's time for another rousing educational adventure here at --" he looked to where he suspected one of the cameras might be hidden "-- Learnin' With Mr. Peanutbutter." He looked back at the class and adjusted his glasses. "Now I was thinking we ought to tackle math today. But I decided I still need to do a bit more research before I can really give that a proper go --" ie. he needed to rewatch Nice Bill Hunter again "-- so instead, let's take a look at a 'social' science high on everybody's minds in today's crazy culture: politics."

This would possibly end in tears.

"Now, I don't know a lot about politics, but I know what I like." He liked positive messages stated in self-important, commanding tones. "And I know that the way we tend to talk about politics these days can make them seem really tremendously boring." So boring. Why weren't the candidates talking more about sticks? They used to always talk about sticks. And speaking quietly. "It might seem to someone of your generation like modern politics has nothing to do with you. You just can't relate." The fact that to a large percentage of the class, modern politics really literally had nothing to do with them has still managed to elude him. "But if I've learned anything at all from Broadway, it's to project all the way to the back of the audience." He was great at projecting! "Also, that the way to make a political debate interesting is to make it into a rap battle. And rap is like poetry, only more fun! So today we're going to take those master poet skills we learned last week and apply them to the great political questions of our time!"

No, seriously, tears. Quite possibly Mr. Peanutbutter's.

Announcements, Thursday Morning

[bigdamnprincipal]

Sometime betweeen classes, the PA system came to life with its usual screech, and Zoe's voice could be heard.

"Good morning. I'm pleased to announce that the following students will be part of this year's Student Council: Gratuity Tucci, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, Roscoe Kaan, Dante, Eric Bittle, Maria DeLuca, Rey, Frank Doyle, Isabela, and Lucille Sharpe. Thank you all for applying, and I will see you tomorrow at lunch for our first meeting."

[Open for reactions! Yes, there are 10 of you--I didn't feel like turning a single person away, so everyone wins!]

Ethics, September 15, 2016

[sith_happened]

Today's classroom was rearranged again, this time with a single round table in the center of the room, with Anakin and Obi-Wan already seated at it. "Last week we did an exercise in perspective," Anakin began. "Today we'll discuss how it made you feel and what kind of ethical obligations it might bestow upon beings who might not have seen how privileged they were until that moment." He smiled dryly. "Those without tend to already know it. Those with tend to assume everyone has their same experiences."

"As we said at the beginning of last week's class, privilege is a complicated creature," Obi-Wan continued. "Even those of us who have less privilege, still sometimes have privileges of which we are unaware, because it has always seemed to be part of our lives. Some of us have none at all. Some of us have many, and are aware of it." He looked around the table. "Historically, rulers have often wielded privilege like a blade, a tool of division, giving one group or another the 'right' to feel better than everyone else. At the same time, they have used it to intimidate those with less privilege, to ensure their power."

A pause. "This was not what we were trying to do to you last week. We were merely trying to give some indication of what privilege is, and what forms it can take."

Anakin nodded. "Take, for instance, the Jedi in the room. In our own galaxy, we are a privileged group: we never have to worry where our next meal will come from--assuming we are not out in the field--we have access to an entire galaxy's full of learning, we are afforded respect wherever we go, even if it's sometimes given grudgingly. But without the protections of the Jedi robes, we would have very different experiences on a planet with, say, a strong tradition of matriarcal thinking or a history of anti-human xenophobic thought."

"On the other hand, Jedi are recruited very young: they usually have little choice in the matter. And the Order frowns on 'normal' luxuries such as private property and attachment," Obi-Wan said. "There are things we are asked to give up." A pause. "Meanwhile, being different has also painted a target on our backs, as it has done for any isolated group. The Jedi have been blamed for many things of late, and it has become increasingly dangerous for us to be out in the galaxy, to be recognized as such."

Ahem.

"This goes to show how complicated such privileges can be, and how they can easily shift, especially when it comes to groups who are easily identifiable," he continued. "So our first question to you today is: considering last week's class, what is privilege to you? How do you see yourself in relation to it?" He folded his hands together. "Secondly, how do you feel about such a disparity? Should we find ways to ensure that everyone who stood in front of the line, moves back? That those who found themselves behind it be moved forward, so that everyone is on the line? How would such a system work? Or do you feel differently about the disparity? Does your position last week work into this? And so on."

He smiled at the class. "Thirdly... It is said that a being's worth can be judged not by how he treats those more privileged than he, but those less," he said. "How do you feel about that statement?"