fandomhigh | Practical Philosophy, Monday

"There are those of us who come here believing very strongly in duty," Ender said. "Others who come here to escape it - and some to who it's absolutely not a part of their lives."

He smiled a little.

"I had a mentor, once," he said. "I was told that people were free, unless humanity needed them, and that humanity never asked us to be happy, merely to act on its behalf - for its survival. Happiness, he felt, was a luxury that at times we could scarcely afford. To opt out of doing our duty at such a time was the worst crime imaginable: a crime of stupidity."

He took a sip of water. "I've met people who disagreed, since," he said. "I've also met people whose lives were so intricately bound to these rules they didn't even know where they stopped and the rules began. Some of you have already made your views fairly clear already, but I'm curious as to everyone else's input, too.

"How important is duty? Do we people all carry some grand responsibility to our species, or should we exist only for ourselves and the development of our self? And if we live for duty, then when does that end? Is there some point where all of us may be afforded personal freedom, or are we perpetually tied to our responsibilities, whether we flee from them or not?"

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"Well, for what it's worth, I believe in you," Joker told her. "You're a good person, and you'll be a very fair, just, and benevolent... uh, person in charge. Of your 'place'." Joker shrugged. If she wanted to keep things vague, he could keep things vague. "Of course, there's always the option of letting the people run things themselves, if you want to give that a go."

"Run things themselves?" Forgive Elsa's dubiousness, Joker. She'd read about democratic societies, sure, but had yet to see one in action. Even Fandom Island wasn't really one of those. "Just abandon them and let everything turn to anarchy?"

Yes. Because they were all terrible anarchists in Arendelle.

"Democracy," Joker corrected. "Maybe it's not the best way to run a c-- place, but it's no worse than any other."

Sigh. That 'place' was going to haunt her and leave her feeling guilty for the rest of her days. Or until she just out and said it. It probably wasn't terribly surprising by this point, anyway.

"Kingdom," she muttered, another flush colouring her cheeks faintly. "And I wouldn't even know where to start, if I were to begin seriously considering putting something like that in place."

Joker whistled. "It is so weird hearing you say that," he told her. "You know, you don't have to hide it. It's nothing to be ashamed of!" He looked her over, trying to see if there was anything magically different about her, now that he knew.

"So, I want to say, first of all, that I think any country would be better off with you behind the helm than some sleazy elected official. And there's that old cliché that the best person to rule is someone who doesn't want the job. That being said, if you want to consider modernizing your government, Professor Lyman would be the one to talk to."

"I wasn't ashamed," Elsa protested lightly. "I just never really got around to saying anything, that's all."

She hadn't wanted people looking at her like a future queen, rather than a classmate. It had worked well enough, but it seemed ridiculous to dance around it, now.

"I... might have to talk to him at some point, if only to get a feel for what a 'modernized' government would entail."

Arendelle was not all that modern.

"Mostly it seems like everyone yelling at each other and no one being happy," Joker told her. "But at least everyone gets their voice heard and there's no chance of the wrong people getting too much power."

Oh nooo. If Arendelle's politics degenerated into people yelling and being miserable, she'd have to get as far from the place as possible just to keep from losing her mind.

"... You'd think that people would have gotten past the petty arguing part of running a country, by now."

It was the future! They were supposed to be more advanced!

Practical Philosophy, Monday

Re: Talk.

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