Ethics [Thursday, January 26, 2012, 1st period]

[sith_happened]

One of the occupational hazards of living with a politcal blogger was being forced to sit through the State of the Union address for a country Anakin cared about but, let's be frank, wasn't overly emotionally invested in.

At least it helped to come up with his next discussion in Ethics class?

"Hello, class," he said, beginning to speak once the speakers stopped broadcasting Chloe's radio. "Today we're going to talk about the ethics involved with money. Are there things that money shouldn't buy--elections, perhaps, or people? Do those sorts of transactions happen in your dimension anyway?"

Comments

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[sith_happened]

"Pirates tend to do that at home, too," Anakin said. "Near enough to the major spacelanes but off the grid."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[answer2bheard.livejournal.com]

"I guess it's easier to hide out there, huh?" Jim drummed his fingers on his desk, just once, and then shrugged. "I haven't spent much time out there. But it really is the sort of place that makes cut-throats feel at home. It isn't like people are going to head out that far to look, after all."

Which wasn't really the original question at all, so Jim brought it around again with, "And some of the pirates I've met would probably try to buy just about anything that they can't get while standing at the business end of a gun."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[sith_happened]

Anakin nodded. "Some of the pirates I'd run across trafficked in slavery, too. They aren't known for their high ethical standards."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[answer2bheard.livejournal.com]

"If they were, they wouldn't really be pirates," Jim agreed, with a little smile that looked almost fond.

Which was kind of weird, given the topic, and he realized that, so he shook it off and shrugged.

"I mean, not everybody is the same, obviously. But things definitely do get rougher in places where it's more difficult for people to keep the peace."

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[sith_happened]

"But overcompensating with too much police interference tends to backfire too," Anakin said with a frown. "What do you think a good compromise would be?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[answer2bheard.livejournal.com]

Jim frowned a little at that question. It was... a really good one. He was a kid who had never really been fond of the police in the first place, but there was a difference between slavery and stunting.

"I think... maybe there comes a point when law enforcement has to accept that they can't police everything. The people who are most at risk of being victimized are going to want some sort of protection, especially from the pirates on the outskirts, so maybe the cops do what they can from those places that are more vulnerable, instead of moving out entire fleets to try to tame something that's way too much for them to handle. If the pirates come inward, and try to threaten the people who need that protection, then... yeah, of course they step in. But there's a difference between protecting the peace and looking for trouble."

...

"Right?"

Re: Answer the discussion question [1/26]

[sith_happened]

Anakin smiled. "There are rarely right and wrong answers in this class. It's more deciding what you think you can live with."