Breaking the Glass Ceiling, Tuesday

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

"We've been talking about allies and oppressors, stratagems and choices, and all of that stuff," Kerrigan began. "But the truth is that the history of 'oppression' and of the shattering of glass ceilings is one of a whole lot of martyrs. Rosa Parks had to refuse to move to get a movement going. Heretics had to burn for their faith, women had to be tried for their convictions, and no one ever earned a single damn right without a sacrifice."

She threw the class an assessing look. "But the thing about martyrs is that they don't usually walk out alive," she said, with a slight hint of scorn in her voice. "I'm not going to teach you to be martyrs. I'm not going to encourage you to become one, either. What we're talking about today is the Chaos and Enemy Dealing Stratagems. You've got to break a few eggs to make an omelette, that kind of stuff."

She let her fingers trail along the desk as she moved. "'Obtain safe passage to conquer the State of Guo', the Chinese called it, charmingly enough. Borrow resources from an ally, then screw them over once you've defeated the enemy." It was... one thing that Kerrigan had perfected herself. "No one ever crawled on top of the heap by becoming a martyr. The people using the martyrs do. This is a little... roundabout in terms of connection, but bear with me."

With a roll of her shoulders, she continued. "'Sacrifice the plum tree to preserve the peach tree' is another one. A little more poetic take on our omelette. Sometimes someone needs to suffer the short-term consequences so you can move in and improve things at your leisure." She glanced at the class from the corner of her eye. "Don't get squeamish," she said, idly. "In my experience, half the time, your allies'll screw you far ahead of time if you're not careful. Anyway. 'Befriend a distant state while attacking a neighbour'. From your point of view, a better analogue would be to say... make friends in another field. Those'll be less likely to screw you over when you hunt down your nearest competitor. After all, they don't want your spot."

A beat. "'Shut the door to catch the thief'. Whoever is oppressing you, hound them. Get the press against them. Get the police against them. Get politics against them. Sometimes it's better to wait to finish them off when they've already thrown themselves into ruin and there's nowhere else they can appeal to. 'Catch a fish while the water is disturbed' - also one to keep in mind when dealing with martyrs. They can throw public opinion into disarray, send people running and gossiping and basically create a perfect field of chaos for you to jump in and... rearrange the heirarchy."

"'Defeat the enemy by capturing their chief'. Their side can have heroes and martyrs, too. Discredit them, capture them, and suddenly you own a hell of a source of command presence. Get them in your pocket, blackmail them, whatever. And that brings us back to full-circle with our martyrs: 'Stomp the grass to scare the snake'. Cause a big uproar, even if it isn't exactly your agenda, and watch everyone fall all over themselves to get at whoever's at the center. Make it big, make it grand, and you can insert your more... subtle ideas into the collective mindset like it's some big gracious effort on your part."

With that, she took her seat on the desk again. "'Borrow a corpse to resurrect the soul'. You don't always need to believe exactly in your own cause as writ. Just make sure everyone else does. If you have to, blanket it in past issues. Something that gets people going, something that gets people involved. And finally... 'Slough off the cicada's golden shell'. Pretend your spiel is one thing when it's another, if you've got a lot of people on your back. When you shake the fake ideas, it's going to really throw them off balance. Which is what you want."

Her heels ticked against the floor. "But let's back up to the State of Guo," she said. "To our lists of authority figures and allies and who to trust and who not to. All of these strategies are very... useful, but if you balk at the last second, you're in a load of shit. So here's the ethics part of this course, children. I want you to pair up and discuss where your personal lines are." A beat. "And no moral absolutes, please. Everyone's got a breaking point. Let's not pretend like anyone, let alone the world, can pull off black-or-white."

Comments

Sign In!

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Like you're ready to screw someone over.

Re: Sign In!

[likes_scoundrels]

Leia Organa

Re: Sign In!

[intraspective]

Yamanaka Ino

Re: Sign In!

[nyotauhura101.livejournal.com]

Nyota Uhura

Re: Sign In!

[icecoldfrost]

Emma Frost

Re: Sign In!

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Triela

Listen to the Lecture

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Or reflect on your handout (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/36_stratagems) again.

Re: Listen to the Lecture

[angelo_wings]

Rinoa couldn't help shivering at the "borrow the corpse" line. It wasn't literal, and she knew that, but she couldn't shake the memory of Ultimecia possessing her, using her and then discarding her again.

Discuss!

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Pair up. Having heard all of these possible strategems, are there any where you draw the line? What would it take for you to cross that line to get the desired result? Is there an ally you wouldn't screw over, or an enemy you'd do anything to beat?

Re: Discuss!

[intraspective]

Ino eyed the list contemplatively and glanced around for a partner. She seriously doubted her ethics were going to impress anyone in this class.

Re: Discuss!

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Ino really should have more faith in her fellow classmates. Triela glanced over and caught the other girl's eye, raising an eyebrow.

Not that they hadn't discussed ethics before, but... partner up?

Re: Discuss!

[intraspective]

Faith implied that she trusted most of her classmates.

So, no.

Ino nodded, waving her over. She could talk to Triela, easy. They already knew where they stood.

Re: Discuss!

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

Well... point. Because there was trust, and then there was trust. And while Triela trusted quite a few of her classmates, that wasn't the same thing at all.

"Discuss our personal lines," Triela repeated the instruction with something like amusement as she moved over and sat down near Ino.

Re: Discuss!

[intraspective]

Ino gave her a wide-eyed gaze. "I like the sparkly lines the best."

Yes, she was kidding. The topic amused her too.

Re: Discuss!

[furnaceface]

Jono fas drumming his fingers against his hip, perhaps a little anxiously. These strategems really didn't seem like his style... And yet, at the same time, he wasn't in any hurry to become a martyr, either.

Something to know, he supposed. Something to learn, to have, so that he could find a way to achieve the same without ever having to use them himself. That's what these were.

Re: Discuss!

[angelo_wings]

"Hi," Rinoa said, less chirpy than her usual as she took a seat near her cabinmate. "I don't ... know where most of my lines are. Except that I'm not going to be a martyr. I learned my lesson on that."

Re: Discuss!

[furnaceface]

//Difficult to accomplish much of anything if yer dead,// Jono agreed, giving Rinoa the smallest hint of a nod. There was something about this class that tended to sober him up a bit, as well.

... Well, more than usual.

//If it could be accomplished without taking one's ideals and martyring them as well, all th'better, I think.//

Re: Discuss!

[angelo_wings]

"It doesn't leave much room for discussion, does it?" Rinoa asked. "Someone's dead, so their supporters go into a frenzy."

Re: Discuss!

[furnaceface]

//I'm... not a killer. Not exactly what anyone would call anxious to become one.// He shrugged a little. //I have a cause. Who doesn't, in this place? But I think there's something to be said for education over elimination.//

Sure, people dying would prove something. But that something wasn't necessarily what Jono wanted to see proven.

Talk to the TAs

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

When the ladies ping in.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[icecoldfrost]

Emma? Screw someone over? Never.

Re: Talk to the TAs

[wantstocheer.livejournal.com]

Claire never thought she'd be the type to screw people over but she was awfully tempted these days.

Talk to Kerrigan

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

Who's looking as implacable as ever.

OOC

[on-her-korhal.livejournal.com]

*collapses on* Tiiired.

Also, Kerrigan's lack-of-ethics are not my lack-of-ethics, and so forth. Screwing people over is pretty much what she does.

It's only one more month until StarCraft II gets released (officially, anyway) and I can't stop watching this clip (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tRa8MDeq9H8).

Re: OOC

[sorella-vecchia.livejournal.com]

You are a dork. (ZOMG! A WHOLE MONTH! TORTURE! *wants it nooooow*)