Civics, 1st Period - Thursday 1/5

[imafuturist]

"Good morning, everyone," Steve said with a bright smile, standing at the front of the classroom. "I'm Steve Rogers, and this is Civics class, so hopefully you're in the right place."

"And I'm Tony Stark. Welcome back to those who have previously taken our classes," Tony chimed in. His smile was less sunny by virtue of not being the human equivalent of a golden retriever. "Today we'll be continuing the fine tradition of introductions and testing the waters of what you're all familiar with concerning the subject."

"Civics is an incredibly important subject, not just for high school, but for life," Steve said. "If you aren't familiar with how your government is supposed to work, you won't know when to get angry when it's not. It's essential to know what responsibilities you have for your own democracy, and to remind your elected officials that they answer to you, and not the other way around.

"We will be focusing on the American model of the political system, but if you are from a different country or, uh, world entirely, feel free to share your experiences," Tony added.

And watch your teachers have a melt down during the next year. No reason why. Really.

Steve nodded. "There are lots of different models for government--military dictatorships, totalitarian regimes, monarchies, representational democracies--so why don't we start out easy with your name and what kind of government you have at home."

"And for a bonus, what you believe is one duty of the government for the citizen, is" Tony said.

Comments

Sign In

[imafuturist]

Any color but orange

Re: Sign In

[faithseesred]

Faith Connors

Re: Sign In

[good_for_six]

Isabela

Re: Sign In

[not_every_mage]

Anders

Re: Sign In

[omgnochecksyet]

Eric Bittle

Re: Sign In

[notfinnyet]

FN-2187

Re: Sign In

[notamascot]

Kaylin Neya

Listen to the lecture

[imafuturist]

Which was really more an introduction.

Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

Name, most familiar form of government, and what you think a duty they have toward their citizens.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[faithseesred]

"I'm Faith Connors," Faith said in her first class appearance in months because I'm a disaster. "Back home there are twelve companies that run the government. It's called the Conglomerate."

She so had no idea what an oligarchy was.

"And I guess I don't really know what a good government is supposed to do for the citizens," she continued, a little unsurely. "The Conglomerate focuses a lot on security, sanitation and surveillance. It makes it hard if you don't have a lot of money because basically none of those departments do you any favors, I guess."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

"Well, if you were in charge of the government, what would you do?" Tony asked.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[good_for_six]

"Isabela, and Rivain has a queen, though really the seers and village elders are more likely to actually run things and make sure people have enough to eat."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

"Nice to see you again, Isabela," Tony replied dryly. "Are people doing this because they think the monarchy is failing in actually ruling?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[good_for_six]

"Of course not, I said we have a queen not a king." Rivaini gender norms, slightly different that way. "It's just simpler to take care of the small stuff themselves instead of wasting everyone's time sending news to Dairsmund when you know already what the answers going to be."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_every_mage]

"I'm Anders, and Ferelden has a king," he said. "And under him there are arls and mayors and such."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

"Hello, Anders," Tony replied. "What's one of the duties of the monarchy for the citizens? Or a failing of it."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_every_mage]

"Protection, isn't it?" Anders said, with a little shrug. "He organizes the army and all of that. We have to serve, but we don't have to build the whole system ourselves."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

"Do you think it's a fair exchange?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_every_mage]

"Fair enough, if you have a good king who leads a good army," Anders said. "Get a bad one in there and the whole picture gets a lot worse. But that's true of any government at all."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

Tony nodded along in agreement. "In the case of a bad king, is the right of the people to rebel?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_every_mage]

"Absolutely," Anders said firmly. "That's how Ferelden got the king it has now, even. Our throne was stolen decades ago, but King Maric's family led the rebellion until we kicked the Orlesian bastards out."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

As long as no princes were locked in any towers there...

"With all that in mind, what do you think of the government system we have here?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[not_every_mage]

"I don't understand it," Anders admitted. "You vote, but then the person who got the most votes doesn't win? What was the point of voting at all?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

"Yes, this last election has been a bit... out of the norm," Tony replied, rubbing the back of his neck. "We'll try to explain it in future classes."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[omgnochecksyet]

"Eric Bittle," he waved. "I'm from Georgia, so I suppose the government I'm most familiar with is this one- a federal republic," he winced a bit, and then added "well, for now, anyway." Who knew what the next four years would hold? "I guess one duty I believe the government has, or should have, is equal protections under the law for all citizens. Actually, not even just citizens. But people who are living and making their lives in a country, too."

Re: Introduce Yourself

[imafuturist]

"Alright, good to see you again, Eric," Tony replied. "That's a very good duty of the government. What do you think should be given in exchange for it?"

Re: Introduce Yourself

[notfinnyet]

"I'm FN-2187 and I'm from a military dictatorship seeking to restore the glory of the Empire," FN-2187 said, like he didn't see a problem with this. "And the government must provide safety and stability." If it sounded like he was quoting a propaganda video, uh, that was probably because he was.

Re: Introduce Yourself

[notamascot]

"Kaylin Neya," she said. "Back home the Dragon Emperor rules Elantra. I'm not sure what kind of duty he has towards us, but if we follow the rules he won't eat us."

Okay, so there was more to it, but that was kind of the short version.

Talk to the Teachers

[imafuturist]

When they ping in!

Re: Talk to the Teachers

[heroic_jawline]

Steve was totally not a day late to his class was here, bright-eyed as always.

OOC

[imafuturist]

Will be slow due to work draining my will to live. Plus side, I got more bourbon.