endsthegame: (Default)
endsthegame ([personal profile] endsthegame) wrote in [community profile] fandomhigh2014-05-19 01:46 pm

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?"

Re: Talk.

[identity profile] nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com 2014-05-20 01:56 am (UTC)(link)
"According to you," she said. "What gives you the right to speak for everyone?"

She didn't mean to sound cross. This topic made her itch, that was all.

Re: Talk.

[identity profile] fly-so-serious.livejournal.com 2014-05-20 02:01 am (UTC)(link)
"Yes, according to me," Joker emphasized. "I don't have the right to speak for everyone; I'm just speaking my mind. What's rubbing you the wrong way, Babe?"

Re: Talk.

[identity profile] nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com 2014-05-20 02:10 am (UTC)(link)
Eleanor wriggled uncomfortably. "How you're saying this," she managed. "That ... there's some line to hit, some bare minimum, you need to care this much about random other people or else you are officially Not a Good Person. In that case, I suppose that I'm not. Feel free to think less of me for it, then."
Edited 2014-05-20 02:11 (UTC)

Re: Talk.

[identity profile] fly-so-serious.livejournal.com 2014-05-20 02:17 am (UTC)(link)
"Well, it's not that much of a line," Joker tried to tell her. "'More than zero', that's all I'm saying. It's not like I'm some hero-type over here with a stick up his ass."

Re: Talk.

[identity profile] nobloodymessiah.livejournal.com 2014-05-20 02:28 am (UTC)(link)
"I didn't say you had a stick," she replied. "But you are the hero type. You want to join the military and save the world. Or the galaxy. I don't ... have that sort of drive."

Re: Talk.

[identity profile] fly-so-serious.livejournal.com 2014-05-20 02:36 am (UTC)(link)
"I wanna be a pilot," Joker countered. "Saving colonies from pirates is just a bonus. You don't want to do that? Don't. I'm not saying you have to."