Anakin Skywalker (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sith_happened) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fandomhigh2013-10-29 11:54 am
sith_happened) wrote in fandomhigh2013-10-29 11:54 am
Entry tags:
Ethics [Tuesday, October 29, 2013]
"Good morning," Anakin said, striding into the room with his mug of coffee. "I trust you all enjoyed your weekend. In honor of Halloween, half of you will find full-sized candy bars under your desks. The other half of you will find nothing."
Ah, envy.
"Now you had no reason to expect that you would get anyting merely for showing up today, and yet some of you might be feeling ripped off, or that I'm playing favorites." Anakin shrugged. "There's no expectation that the universe is going to behave fairly, or, barring that, behave unfairly in your favor, but there seems to be something inborn in us that expects to be treated with equity."
Anakin began pacing the room. "From an ethical standpoint, people talk about 'trying to level the playing field' or offering everyone equal opportunities to achieve greatness. But everyone in this room knows that even if the opprtunities are equal--and they never are--the people who get to take them aren't equal. Some are smarter, some are taller, some aren't that interested in working very hard. You've each assessed the students in this room: you know where you stand on any number of variables from popularity to usefulness in an invasion."
He leaned back against his desk and crossed his booted legs. "I've also heard someone talk of 'running your own race'--that is, concentrating on your own goals without caring about how other people are doing. But when other people might have so much more than you do, is this a very realistic thing to ask? Is there a way to stop envy and jealousy from seeping into your life?" He shrugged. "I was born a slave on a desert world on the very far edge of civilized space. Because I had an extraordinary talent in the Force, I was taken to be trained by Jedi in the capital of my galaxy...but I was nine years behind where the rest of the students my age were already--they had started training when they were toddlers, or near enough. I wanted what they had, and so I worked harder to become better, but I never felt, even years later, like I was given the respect I deserved for the accomplishments I'd made. They'd had a much easier life than I'd had, and I both envied and resented them for the bubble they surrounded themselves with."
He shrugged. "Then a war came and Jedi began dying and no one was all that sheltered any longer, but making everyone equally miserable can't be the only way to solve jealousy. Have you come up with any coping strategies?"
Ah, envy.
"Now you had no reason to expect that you would get anyting merely for showing up today, and yet some of you might be feeling ripped off, or that I'm playing favorites." Anakin shrugged. "There's no expectation that the universe is going to behave fairly, or, barring that, behave unfairly in your favor, but there seems to be something inborn in us that expects to be treated with equity."
Anakin began pacing the room. "From an ethical standpoint, people talk about 'trying to level the playing field' or offering everyone equal opportunities to achieve greatness. But everyone in this room knows that even if the opprtunities are equal--and they never are--the people who get to take them aren't equal. Some are smarter, some are taller, some aren't that interested in working very hard. You've each assessed the students in this room: you know where you stand on any number of variables from popularity to usefulness in an invasion."
He leaned back against his desk and crossed his booted legs. "I've also heard someone talk of 'running your own race'--that is, concentrating on your own goals without caring about how other people are doing. But when other people might have so much more than you do, is this a very realistic thing to ask? Is there a way to stop envy and jealousy from seeping into your life?" He shrugged. "I was born a slave on a desert world on the very far edge of civilized space. Because I had an extraordinary talent in the Force, I was taken to be trained by Jedi in the capital of my galaxy...but I was nine years behind where the rest of the students my age were already--they had started training when they were toddlers, or near enough. I wanted what they had, and so I worked harder to become better, but I never felt, even years later, like I was given the respect I deserved for the accomplishments I'd made. They'd had a much easier life than I'd had, and I both envied and resented them for the bubble they surrounded themselves with."
He shrugged. "Then a war came and Jedi began dying and no one was all that sheltered any longer, but making everyone equally miserable can't be the only way to solve jealousy. Have you come up with any coping strategies?"
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