fandomhigh | 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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"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.

Ethics [Tuesday, August 28, 2012]

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