fandomhigh | Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Tuesday

"'All good soldiers crack like boulders'," Kerrigan said. She had her legs crossed and her habitual lean against the desk was firmly in place. "Some of you might disagree with the point of today's lesson; I expect you will, at least." She wasn't looking at anyone in particular. "Blind obedience makes a good soldier. A valuable skillset. Just enough independent thought to come up with the tactics that will bring victory."

She glanced around the class. "Some oppression is obvious," she drawled, "It's thrown in our faces, demarked with guns and barbed wire or the closest possible substitute. 'Us' and 'them' are valuable ideas: we, the marginalized, them, the great big oppressors. One Earthman once stated that religion was an opiate. And anything can be a religion. Military might is the world's second-oldest faith. All good soldiers."

"Let's say a man finds you and draws you out of your oppression," she continued, "Offers you a hand and says, 'You are like me, together, we can take them down'. You take his hand, you take his offer, and you become a good soldier for a new cause." Her mouth twitched up. "All you need to do is let him take control. And if he abuses your trust, if he makes you do things beyond your own moral tolerance, then you can write it off, say that you're simply supporting the cause. Oppression becomes invisible. We struggle, but we keep going, because we keep telling ourselves that we need to be a good soldier."

She pushed away from the desk. "Now, some of you will argue and tell me that being distrustful of our leaders, especially when we've chosen our own cause, is not a good tool to build a community. After all, if we refuse to do what our superiors tell us to, if we have no faith, then there is no society, there's just chaos. Well..." Her smirk got blacker. "I'm not here to make you nice little tools of society, or cogs in the wheel. I'm not interested in the unwashed masses - they'll do as they will. I'm here to give you the tools you might need to rise up and become your own little queen. Not many of you are made for it."

There was a momentary silence. Then:

"I want you all to make a list of everyone you report to," she said, "Military, civilian, ethical, moral, whatever authority you listen to, write them down. You don't have to give it to me if you don't want to. I'm not interested in the specifics. It's your job to be."

She crossed her arms.

"Then ask yourself for every one of them, why do you trust them? What have they done for you, why do they do it? And is there any danger that one day they might abuse your presence as a good soldier for their own ends? Because everyone..." She narrowed her eyes. "Everyone has a line in the sand. I hope for your sakes you'll know when your authorities overstep theirs."

[[ ~~wait for the~~ ocd up! ]]

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Leia had her father -- both of them -- on her list, though trusting them didn't mean she necessarily did what they said. Technically, her list should've included Emperor Palpatine as someone she answered to once she officially took her seat in the senate, but as far as trusting him? Not one bit.

Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Tuesday

Re: Make a List