fandomhigh | Ethics, Thursday

When the students arrived, they'd find the teachers up at the front of the classroom as usual. Anakin, not like usual, was eating a giant bar of chocolate.

"Good morning, everyone," he said, smirking slightly.

Obi-Wan, rather more like usual, was looking faintly exasperated about Anakin in general. "Envy can be a dangerous emotion," he said. "Driving some of the worst impulses in sentient nature. For instance, today, you might be feeling envious about your neighbor, as we have given half of you chocolate bars, and the other half of you-- nothing."

"Really good, really big chocolate bars," Anakin said because he enjoyed piling on. "Now those of you who don't have anything... well, you didn't have anything when you came in, and you really had no expectation of getting a treat coming to class, but that's probably not what it feels like right now, is it?"

"Life rarely allows us a level playing field," Obi-Wan said, "and even when it does, the outcomes are never fair. How do you deal with that? If you do not have chocolate, will you let the envy ruin your class? If you do, will you gloat or share? Is it simply a case of saying 'too bad' to your classmates, or are you driven by some desire to even the scales?"

"And if you're unmoved by free sweets, think back to our exercise in privilege and think of something that you don't have that others take for granted, or the reverse," Anakin said. "Because, as Master Kenobi says, this isn't really about the chocolate."

"To conclude," Obi-Wan said, "How will you cope?"

It sounded like the end of the lecture-- except it was followed five seconds later with, "Anakin, stop eating chocolate in front of the students."

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Life's not fair and that sucks. How do you stop yourself from being jealous of what someone else has? And how do you react when you're the have to someone else's have-not?

Peridot frowned a little at the question, and then shook her head.

"I'm not completely certain there's really a point to jealousy," she decided. "There's no sense in wanting to be a Sapphire when you're a Peridot. At least where I'm from, we are what we are. I could be exceptional among Peridots, but I'm never going to rise above my station. Being upset that some other Gem is rarer or more valuable than I am doesn't change any of that."

"In those of us who feel jealousy, it has precious little to do with change, and more the dream of seeing such change be done," Obi-Wan mused. "Or perhaps that's wrong as well. Sometimes people find solace merely in the act of being jealous, of having an enemy." A pause. "Not that that's healthy."

"Making enemies rarely is," Peridot agreed, and then frowned a little. "For clarity's sake, Gems are capable of the same range of emotions as humans, as least as far as I've observed. Any statements about emotions being pointless come from me."

She tilted her head a little.

"And I would rather limit my enemies to those who are more of a risk to my well-being than those who simply have more than I do."

"I didn't want to presume either way."

The food-as-reward issue was already something they had not quite found a way to work around, with Peridot. There were no doubt other issues, and while Obi-Wan came from a galaxy full of species, many of those had come with documentation, at least.

"But yours is a rational choice. Which is admirable. Still, it might make it more complicated when you have to deal with those who are less rational."

It was Peridot's professional opinion that most beings were less rational than she was. So she didn't look terribly surprised at Obi-Wan's suggestion.

"It frequently does," she noted. "I find most people that I encounter are ruled more by emotion than thought. It makes for... interesting conversations. And frequent misunderstandings."

"Jealousy is hard. I guess... maybe you could think about things you have that other people don't? But that's not exactly the nicest way to go," Khadgar said.

"You make the most of what you do have," Rey shrugged. "So what if I hadn't gotten chocolate? It wouldn't ruin my day."

Ethics, Thursday

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