fandomhigh | Ethics [Tuesday, August 28, 2012]

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ethics

Ethics [Tuesday, August 28, 2012]

When Ethics began, the desks, instead of being set up in the usual rows typical of a classroom, had been shoved to the sides, and a long line of white tape had been stuck down the middle of the room. The instructor was also nowhere to be seen.

This served a purpose: breaking the students' preconceived idea about what a class devoted to ethics might be about, and setting them up for nervous chatting before Anakin arrived.

He did, precisely two mintues late, clicking the door shut behind him. "Welcome to Ethics," he said. "I'm Master Anakin Skywalker. Please set yourselves up along that white line."

He waited until all of the students were lined up before explaining. "There's a philosopher from this world named John Rawls, who believes that most reasonable principles of justice are those everyone would accept and agree to from a fair position. In Fandom especially, we are coming from a variety of cultures and traditions to examine ethical dilemmas, and so the idea of a 'fair position' is a bit of a moving target. The choice that might be right for you might be completely contrary to my own life experiences, but that will not make your point of view less valid."

Anakin began pacing, his cloak swirling around his ankles as he did so. "Rawls believed that to come to this fair position, a magical 'veil of ignorance' must be put into place in order to erase everyone's knowledge of their places in society." He smiled a little wryly. "I'm not saying that at some point, Fandom might not do that sort of work for us and erase your memories of who and what you are, but today we're going to conduct an exercise that's slightly less drastic--one that will make you examine the parts of your life you might take for granted, and how that affects your view on the world."

He glanced down at a piece of paper. "Let's begin."

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"I don't think that's the point," Alec volunteered quietly, looking up from where he'd been not-so-subtly eyeing a rune on his hand. "I think it's meant to give the professor context on where we're coming from. Not make any of us feel better about ourselves."

"Easy to say when you're standing on it, isn't it?" Sparkle had a bit of growl in his voice, but there was hardly any heat behind it. Okay, so the kid wasn't seven freaking steps back. But he seemed to feel awkward enough about it, so... he wouldn't go for the jugular or anything. "I could have just told him where I was coming from, no audience necessary."

He wouldn't have, because Sparkle and half-truths and tall tales went together like chocolate syrup on a sundae. But he could.

Edited 2012-08-28 12:45 (UTC)

"It might simplify things for him to see it all at once?" Alec guessed, glancing over at Anakin in hopes of a hint as to whether or not he was on the right track. "And it-- helps the rest of us know what things to be careful about. When we speak."

"Yeah, well, some of us and what's left of our pride might not give a shit what people talk about," Sparkle grumbled, crossing his arms over his chest. "If I wanted people to be careful talking to me, I'd tell 'em. And if I catch anyone walking on eggshells because I took so many steps back I'll punch them in the mouth."

... He probably would, too.

Alec just shrugged. "Just an idea," he said, visibly withdrawing. "Didn't mean to be offensive."

Oh god, kid. Could Sparkle feel any more like he'd just thrown a rock at a butterfly thinking he was aiming at a hornets' nest?

"Word of advice for you, sweetheart," he said, sighing and relenting just a little. "You run into anyone who takes as many steps back as I just did, odds are they don't want special treatment. People have enough opinions about us, last thing we need is pity, too."

Edited 2012-08-28 14:36 (UTC)

"I didn't mean pity," Alec said, shifting a little, because he had maybe not entirely thought through the prospect of getting into a debate with someone in front of the whole class. "More like... caution. To not be offensive. I just thought-- that might've been the point."

Sparkle's answering eyebrow was saying volumes about his opinions on people being cautious around him so as to not offend.

"So, coddling. Let's half-ass the class because seven-steps-back kid might cry over his lack of See Spot Run growing up. You don't get this many steps back and survive long enough to make it this far if you go through life expecting the other kids to play nice and pat your ass. Let me keep a little bit of my dignity, here. I'm back here so that you don't take standing on the line for granted. You're welcome."

"Lack of -- what?" Not the point, Alec. "I'm just saying the rationale behind it might be that people could misspeak and offend someone. Not necessarily you."

"By putting us all on the spot and letting the whole class know specifics about the shit situations we all grew up in? I think there are better ways to avoid offending than by drawing attention to it, kiddo."

He shook his head a little, offering Alec a grin. Not necessarily a nice one, but it was a grin all the same.

"Your privilege is kinda showing, and not just because you're standing on the line. You want to keep from offending most people, you treat them like equals. That doesn't take any sorting at all. If you're worried beyond that, then you go, 'hey, is this okay to talk about?' You don't make assumptions based on some stupid game played in class."

Well, that marked the first time Alec had ever been told that his privilege was showing.

"I didn't say I agreed with the idea," he said finally, feeling the beginnings of a headache all of a sudden. "It's not a decision I would've made myself, at any rate."

"If it's to make other people stop and look at what they've got in comparison to others, then hey, point made," Sparkle sighed, shaking his head. "Enjoy what you have, some people don't have it, that's great. Good for you."

He wasn't going to begrudge anybody for being born into whatever life they had, just so long as they didn't act like they'd earned it or the world owed it to them or whatever.

"But it feels pretty shitty here on this side of the line, because now, like it or not, people are gonna treat us like we are on this side of the line. And nobody wants that, trust me. This place is the first place I've been in my life where I'm not treated different because of all that other shit. You can ask anyone over here, I bet you anything they'll say the same thing. We don't want special treatment just because you're afraid of hurting our feelings."

"Look, I obviously pushed a button," Alec said, figuring that there was a chance he could at least avoid making it worse. "I'll make sure if I ever have anything to say about... Spot the Runner or whatever you said, I won't hold back."

"Good," Sparkle replied, smirking and giving his shoulder a dismissive shrug. "If you have anything to say about anything, don't hold back. It's not like I ever will."

As had been evidenced here, you see.

If anyone other than Sparkle had said it, Sholeh wouldn't have spoken up. But it was Sparkle and he'd flung her over his shoulder not four days ago. Surely he wouldn't snap at her for venturing an opinion?

=He is kind of capricious, though.=

*Hush, Zeela,* Zhahar scolded. *Or she'll never say anything at all!*

"It might be more for us than him," she said, and though she was speaking up, she wasn't doing so loudly. "We can kind of look at one another and see us all spread out and maybe realize that we're going to all have different opinions on things. Not just because we come from different times and places, but because of where we are in regards to this line, too. You and I will believe differently because we come from different landscapes, but you and someone from your Toronto might, too, if he were closer to this side of the line. And maybe he and I would share beliefs in common, even though we're different, because of that similar upbringing."

Even if Sholeh wasn't entirely sure this was where she belonged. Some of the questions were a bit...vague.

"There are a bunch of ways people can be grouped. This one is a little less obvious than some of the others, I guess?"

"Is it really that much less obvious?"

Sparkle made a broad gesture with one hand to the people on his side of the line. And then made another to the people on hers.

"Tell me you can't guess just by looking at us where on this spectrum we'd be standing, girly," he stated, flatly. "Street punks to the left. I've met way too many on your side of the line that decide I'm not worth the time of day, because I'm this many steps back."

It was kind of interesting, chewing on that way of saying it. Of course all of the things that hold people back in life are steps backwards, aren't they?

"I wouldn't have guessed," Sholeh said in a small voice. "I always thought you looked, well, like the way you wanted to look." Did people who were on that side of the line all wear lots of eye makeup and have spiky hair? Sholeh didn't know!

"I never thought you weren't worth the time of day. You're my friend."

Goddamnit Sholeh. Why did you have to be all... Sholeh?

"... Yeah. Yeah, I guess I am," Sparkle sighed, some of the fire draining from his voice. "Maybe you're the exception, I don't know. Still doesn't mean I have to like this exercise."

It felt to him that the teacher had some sort of point to prove, and standing back here, it was hard to shake that feeling that he was one of the people proving it.

Would it make you feel better if she tried being more of a jerk? She could try, Sparkle! If it would make you happy!

"Well, no," Sholeh admitted, sounding a little reluctant to come out and speak up against a teacher. "It doesn't seem...all that comprehensive, I guess? There were a lot of questions I wasn't sure if we--I got right, either. But I do know that right now, I'm looking at my spot on the line and realizing that I hadn't realized that I'd...had it so easy, I guess. A lot of those questions weren't ones I would have ever thought about being important, even the ones I did understand."

"They're pretty important from back here," Sparkle replied, shrugging. "Kinda blows me away that some of that shit- food and books and an education- is stuff that anyone can take for granted."

So... there was that.

"Still, right now we're standing here in a classroom, separated according to where we'd rank on a social scale, first class to the ass end of the spectrum, here. Please someone tell me I'm not the only one that sees something wrong with this."

"I'm not saying you're wrong!" Sholeh shook her head quickly; she didn't want Sparkle to think she thought he deserved to be back there for some reason. "I'm just trying to come up with reasons why we did this exercise in the first place. There has to be a reason!"

The teacher couldn't be so mean or so shallow to rank them this way for nothing, could he?

"...Doesn't there?"

"Question of the day, girly," Sparkle grumbled, shaking his head. "Question of the day."

After this class, he was going to head back to his room, and waffle between lighting fires in his wastepaper basket or throwing the cantaloupe that he'd snitched at the welcome picnic against the dorm room wall.

Or both.

"He has to," Sholeh said firmly. After all, one of the side benefits to having as much privilege as she did was the assumption that authority figures played fair. "I still think that it has to do with opening our eyes to stuff we wouldn't ordinarily see. Maybe you're used to noticing where people fall, but I'm not. And maybe other people aren't either. But we're not going to get anywhere if we stay blind to this sort of thing. And we can really hurt people if we just make assumptions about where we think people belong."

"Speak for yourself," Sparkle replied, shaking his head. "Everyone's pretty much where I figured they'd be."

Because he'd had to be aware of these things his entire life. Pissing off the wrong authority figure didn't tend to end well for him.

"What is it with you people up there on that side of the line and being so worried about hurting our feelings, anyhow? Hand to god, Sholeh, if you start treating me any different because I'm standing back here I'll never talk to you again."

In her defense, Sholeh was always worried about hurting someone's feelings. Except right now, when she was glaring at him. "Sparkle, I touched your naked butt! If that's not going to make me treat you any differently, then why should having you stand on a different side of the stupid line start?!"

Ethics [Tuesday, August 28, 2012]

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