fandomhigh | Civics, Friday, November 17, 2017

Civics, Friday, November 17, 2017

"Treason is a word that gets thrown around a lot these days," Steve said. "And not just for people who don't like apple pie."

"And, in this country at least, it's also not about people who don't stand for the flag," Tony added. "Or people who don't agree with the government. Those are both rights that are blatantly placed into out constitution."

"Using tiny words that even the densest, hopefully, would understand," Steve said. "Everyone knows what abridge means, right?"

Maybe. Possibly? It was supposed to be taught!

"Treason here is defined as waging war on or assisting those waging war on the United States. Which is how we got our first big treason charge with Benedict Arnold in the revolutionary war," Tony said. "Arnold switched sides, becoming a British general."

Steve made a face. "In a world with political actors other than traditional nation states--terrorist organizations, for instance--treason has become a slightly more gray area than it was for Arnold."

Except for Hydra. Because screw Hydra.

"Which led to the charges in the Cold War not being of treason, but of espionage as that gray area became harder and harder to sort through legally," Tony said, nodding along before following it with a muttered, "Even with the witch hunt mentality whipped up by McCarthy."

"There have been very few people tried and convicted of treason over the years," Steve said. "Only about a dozen. It's a huge hurdle to clear, but colluding with a foreign government to win a Presidential election might just do it."

So bitter. So, so bitter.

"So!" Tony said brightly, because this could turn into a rant from both of them. "Today how about we examine what is considered treason in other systems of government?"

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Treasonously!

Peridot

Summer Smith

Paris Geller

It'll be... fun?

The more Peridot read about treason, the more she wanted to find another desk to hide under.

She only wanted to save the Earth and honestly she was feeling so attacked right now.

"Uggghhhhh."

Summer hated when she schoolwork actually involved...work. It involved making a lot of faces at the pages and listening in to what other people might talk about so that she could maybe use that for learning instead. Every so often, she'd flip a page for show and good measure.

Who had so many rants just ready here.

So many righteous rants. SO MANY. Just ask him. Or stand there for five minutes, even.

So help her, a lot of these classes had kind of chewed around at the inside of Peridot's head, but today's had really sort of rubbed her the wrong way, so after class she was kind of sidling up to the nearest teacher and clearing her throat.

She had to flail for a bit.

"Hi," Steve said with a little smile. "Something I can help you with?"

[OOC: Running off to bed, so all the SP?]

Peridot nodded. Fervently. And then she paused, and shook her head a little. And then she made a little gurgling sound in the back of her throat and tried again, with another, somewhat more subdued nod.

"Yeah," she admitted. "Maybe. I have, uh, some questions. One question. About... treason."

[OOC: All the SP! G'night!]

"Of course," Steve said, smiling. "What's on your mind?"

Peridot gave a little fidget, looking down at the floor. The floor was super neat right then.

"Is it always a bad thing? I mean, what if becoming a traitor means you've saved lives, or you were serving somebody who wasn't what you'd been led to believe?"

"It's not always a bad thing," Steve said. "I mean, the government of your nation will always view it as a bad thing, but especially if they are an unjust or totalitarian regime, it's important to stand up for what you believe in. Those are the governments that tend to really overuse the idea of traitor to include just about everyone they don't personally like."

Peridot couldn't really deny that one. The longer she spent on Earth, the more she could put Homeworld into context that way. She nodded a little.

"It's funny," she noted. "The reason Homeworld labeled me a traitor isn't the reason I actually am."

She had called Yellow Diamond a clod to her face. To her face. Yellow Diamond still had no idea that her superweapon had been stopped.

Steve Rogers, future war criminal, raised an eyebrow. "Why did they call you a traitor?"

"They called me a traitor because I questioned the motives and decisions of one of the Diamonds," Peridot replied, bunching her shoulders a little. "Because I suggested an alternative to destroying an entire world, and realized that she was simply holding a petty grudge, instead of working toward the betterment of Homeworld."

"I can give you some additional study materials about totalitarian regimes here on Earth," Steve said, "if it'll ease your mind about you making the right decision. But you absolutely made the right decision."

High school kid already charged with treason. Jesus, this school sometimes.

"And why do you think you're a traitor instead?"

Well, for what it was worth, this high school kid was already thousands of years old. She'd had plenty of time to get that one under her belt.

"I actually did commit treason after that. I sabotaged Yellow Diamond's biggest military accomplishment, kept her superweapon from taking form, stopped her from destroying the Earth." She sighed. "I think she still doesn't know."

"Well, as someone currently sitting on an unblown-up Earth, thank you," Steve said. "That actually dovetails into a bit of current policy discussion. The president is a self-centered and not entirely stable individual, so people are wondering if it's a better decision to ignore his order, should he give one, to hurt a large group of people. Personally, I think that ignoring his order would be serving the greater good of the nation."

"So..." Peridot glanced up a little at that, hopefully, "it wasn't the wrong thing to do?"

She was sure she had done what was best, but morality was still a slippery concept.

"It might have even been the best thing for Homeworld?"

She did have a detailed plan for the use of Earth's resources...

"I'd argue that you made the right choice, yeah," Steve said earnestly.

Well. That was... that was good to know. It really was. Peridot fidgeted a little.

"It can be hard. But I don't regret it. There are just moments that I feel it more than others."

Steve nodded. "I can imagine," he said. "It's hard not to be able to go home, and knowing you were right doesn't fix all of the loneliness."

"I gave up home for a world I don't even understand," Peridot replied, frowning a little. "That doesn't help with the loneliness much, either."

Trips to the mainland tended to result in people staring or asking her where her mommy and daddy were.

For the longest time, she hadn't even known what those things were.

"I know that feeling," Steve said. "I hear on the radio that you work at the library. I've been reading a lot to get caught up, too. Is it helping you?"

"A little bit," Peridot agreed, perking up slightly, "though it took me a little too long to learn that I need to pay attention to whether I'm reading from the fiction section or not. The books there are often terribly misleading."

"Oh, definitely," Steve said. "Same with movies and documentaries. And historical fiction is in a really gray area. You need to know the real story before reading the fake ones."

Peridot nodded her agreement to that, too.

"Though it's odd to read about things that only happened a couple hundred years ago, and to find that there are so many different opinions of how those events actually went. Even history here seems to be up for debate."

That tended to happen when the government didn't control literally every bit of historical documentation that was made available to the masses.

"Well, history is viewed from many different perspectives," Steve said. "Sometimes it takes hundreds of years to get a full sense of perspective about what events affected what and who was really involved."

"Back on Homeworld, we'd just ask somebody who was there," Peridot sighed. And then paused. And then grimaced. "Assuming they're permitted to discuss those matters."

"And they'd tell you the bald truth about what happened?" Steve asked. "Or would they finesse it to make their side look right?"

That earned Peridot a moment of pause.

"I... don't know. I used to think I did. But now..."

She shrugged.

Steve winced. "Stinks to grow up and realize that, huh?" he said.

Peridot briefly considered pointing out that she really had never 'grown up.' That simply wasn't how Gems worked. But now didn't seem like the time. She bit her lip for a moment, and then she nodded, instead.

"It's difficult to get used to," she admitted. "The possibility that everything I ever knew, really knew, might have been a lie."

"It really, really does," Steve said vehemently. "I learned not too long ago that the agency I'd been working for had been infiltrated by a group I'd given my life to defeat 70 years ago. It wasn't easy to deal with."

Peridot nodded a little, then heaved a sigh.

"Is it always this complicated when Earth is involved?"

Homeworld had been oppressive, but at least it was straightforward.

"From my experience, yes," Steve said. "Sorry."

"It'll be something to get used to," Peridot replied, sighing. "It'll be... good for me."

Unless it wasn't. But hey, the solution to that was hopping on a portal to... anywhere but here, right? Easy fix.

Steve smiled. "It's important to grow," he said. "Even if the process can be painful."

"We really had no concept of growing, back home," Peridot replied. "But I suppose I'm in the right place to get my head around it, too."

"Societies that can't adapt...well, it doesn't tend to end well," he said. "If you can learn, that's probably for the best."

"I'm trying," Peridot promised. "And it's hard to unlearn my entire life to adjust to this, but... I want to."

"Wanting to will make the difference," Steve said, smiling.

"And having... friends... doesn't hurt, either."

All of these things were still pretty comparatively new and novel. Peridot leaned in a little as if she was about to share on some big secret.

"I kind of like that part about this place."

"Me too," Steve said with a quick grin over at Tony.

I will kill a man for coffee right now.

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