fandomhigh | Entries tagged with civics

Well, students, the plus side of a field trip to the House of Representatives today mean that you got a break from the never-ending Carol of the Bells singathon back in Fandom. Plus you got to watch the Judiciary Committee make some history, but the teachers were betting you were more excited about the music.

Tony was pretty excited about the music thing!

"Alright, today might not seem exciting, but we'll be seeing how the government works in action rather than through lectures or movies," he said.

"This morning they are voting on the articles of impeachment--for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, both of which he has absolutely committed--by the President of the United States. When this passes, it will then be voted on by the entire House and he will become the third President in all of American history to be impeached: Nixon resigned before they impeached him. As we've said before, impeachment is only the first step. The trial to remove him will take place in the Senate, and we're not going to get into the extremely disturbing interview the Majority Leader gave yesterday which said that he would be coordinating the entire thing with the White House, which is not how it's supposed to work, due to separation of powers," Steve added.

"It's almost like they're all corrupt or something," Tony muttered. You know. Helpfully. "Still not a go ahead to talk about assassinations."

They just knew their class so well!

"Settle in, watch the proceedings, and then ask us questions after the vote," Steve said.

heroic_jawline

"Sorry about last week," Tony said. "Hopefully you all enjoyed the robots, though?"

Steve grinned sheepishly and ran his fingers through his hair. "It was an interesting few days. And then the news out of Washington this week was very compelling. If you watched the hearings at all, please let us know so we can assign extra credit."

Or suggest a drinking game.

"But today we're going easy--" To save their own sanity. "--with letters of thanks to civil servants."

"They can be individuals in your own universes," Steve said, "or ones here. Next week is a holiday to stop and assess and give thanks--" because Steve was not going to start on his rant about exploitation of indigenous people or they'd be there all day, "--and so starting early feels...appropriate. Write a thank you note to Eponine in the post office, or to Liam or Rosa at the police station, or the folks over at the mayor's office. Them doing their jobs efficiently and professionally means that you don't have to spend time worrying about getting robbed walking down the street that are correctly maintained on your way to getting a package from home."

"For some reason there's glitter too?" Tony said, eyeing the supplies warily.

"Definitely put some into any letters you write the sheriff," Steve said, grinning.

heroic_jawline

"Today we'll be discussing a topic that you may have heard about if you listen to the non-squirrel based news on the mainland," Tony said once the class arrived. "Impeachment."

Steve nodded. "It's the Constitutional remedy for punishing a President who gets found guilty of 'high crimes and misdemeanors' by the House of Representatives. After someone has been impeached, the trial then moves to the US Senate to see if he or she should be removed from office, depending on the severity of the charges. Two Presidents have been impeached but not removed, and one President resigned before he was going to be impeached and removed."

"Fingers crossed on this one," Tony muttered. He wasn't subtle about his feelings, just a little subtler than Steve.

Steve snorted. "So right now, the House is serving basically as a grand jury. They are interviewing witnesses and compiling evidence before they present the Articles of Impeachment--the list of high crimes and misdemeanors they are accusing the current President of having committed. Which, at this point, might be several yards long."

Subtle, Steven.

"It's almost like there was an entire investigation that was swept under the rug before this." Wow, hot takes from the teachers!

"So strange," Steve agreed. "The current investigation centers on the President extorting the leader of a foreign country to make up negative stories another American politician in order to receive military aid. Which is slimy and about ten different kinds of illegal."

"Because he thought he could both get away with it and that no one would realize it was illegal!" Tony said, tossing his hands up in the air.

"So how does it work in your dimensions?" Steve asked. "Is the leader asking for a favor just...how things work? Would anyone be surprised by his actions, or be surprised he's so bad at covering his trail? Would there be a different punishment for getting caught?"

For once, the teachers didn't say 'no murder' for that! Weird.

heroic_jawline

"There's a joke-but-not-really that goes around at Halloween about the candy tax parents take from their children's buckets," Steve began, holding up a plastic bucket full of chocolate candy.

"Which is a clever way to explain taxation and how it should work vs how it works now," Tony said, passing out equal amounts of candy to each student.

"We're going to keep it simple today," Steve said, "and not delve into how sales tax disproportionately affects lower income earners. We're also not going to talk about different state and locality taxes. We're going to focus on federal income tax. So this pile of candy is your yearly income. Don't eat it yet."

"Now taxes as a concept are actually good for a healthy government. They pay for maintenance and building of public works, emergency services, bridges and roadways," Tony said. "But say the system for extracting these services is broken."

"Since you all got equal amounts of candy, we're saying you're all at the same tax bracket. If we tell you that you are in the lowest tax bracket, you need to give us ten percent of your candy," Steve said.

"One if you will be in the top tax bracket," Tony added. "And will get that extra ten percent they've lost."

Steve rolled his eyes. "Because rich people need more."

Sometimes Steve's righteousness forgot he was dating one of the richest men on the planet.

Which was possibly why Tony shuffled awkwardly. "So, let's begin the exercise!"

heroic_jawline

"Well," Steve said, blowing out a breath, "the government seems to be imploding in real time and that is just--" he ran a hand through his hair, "--horrifically depressing and more than a bit scary."

"Remember when it was just a normal dumpster fire?" Tony asked, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "I miss that."

"Let's make this completely, crystal clear. Asking another country to help your election campaign, whether you're a mayor or president or even just a candidate is a felony. Tying it to a vulnerable nation's need for weapons to protect itself against a Russian invasion?" Steve's face was a picture. "I don't toss 'treason' around lightly, but. Yes. Definitely impeachable. This makes Nixon look like a choir boy."

"Twice! He did it twice!" Tony needed to take a deep breath.

"ONCE LIVE ON TELEVISION." Steve.

Another deep breath. "So to avoid having blood pressure spikes in class, we're going to talk about the stupidest news story yesterday: how a moron felt that making up his own opposition research where Senator Warren was carrying on an alleged affair with a 24 year old Marine would possible be considered a bad thing."

"Telling us that Senator Warren is a dominatrix cougar was somehow supposed to deter people from voting for her," Tony said. "I hope that's her Secret Service code name now."

Steve snorted. "Okay, in an effort to keep this slightly on topic, let's discuss propaganda and its effects on a population. Because right now that is a real problem. The White House released a rough transcript with the President asking for a personal, political favor from the Ukrainian president, and 4 in 10 Republicans don't believe it happened. How do you combat that kind of wilful ignorance? Do you even try?"

"How would you solve this issue?" Tony asked. "Murder is not an option."

imafuturist

Tony had his phone out when class began because it was just continually alerting to new text messages. Because it was Parents Weekend, folks.

"So, we know many of you will be busy with guests today, so we're going with an easy class," he said, glancing up from the phone.

"If you've paid attention to the news at all this week, you'll have noticed a lot of talk about impeachment and the Watergate scandal," Steve said, "so we're going to watch a movie about that--Most of the POTUS's Lackeys. It's where the idea of 'it's not the crime, it's the cover-up' came into popularity, though in this particular scandal, it's the crime AND the cover-up."

"We even brought popcorn," Tony added. Because a good movie deserved that.

"And it's okay to laugh at the hair and pants of everyone," Steve assured them. "It was the 1970s."

"At least it wasnt the 80s." Tony's poor fashion choices in that era were never to be talked about.

heroic_jawline

"The upside of having such a trainwreck of a government right now," Steve began, making a face, "is that it provides wonderful opportunities for you to expand your civics-related vocabulary. This week, for instance, we've been hearing about whistleblowers, which is a much nicer term than 'informant' or 'snitch', but basically means the same thing. It's someone who sees something that is unethical, against policy, or hugely, blatantly illegal, and tells someone in authority about it."

"In many cases, the people who are in authority can be the very ones committing the crimes or offenses," Tony said. "In those instances, people may go to the media in order to get the story out there. The Watergate scandal,for example."

Steve nodded. "There have been a couple of famous whistleblowers recently who went to the press instead of to their departments' inspection offices and got a lot of finger wagging about 'doing things the right way' as though their information was less true because of it. In this latest scandal--which is still unfolding--the whistleblower went to their internal department with what they feel is a huge national security risk. Their inspector general agreed--and then their boss sat on it, which isn't supposed to happen. Whistleblowers have enormous protections under the law, and in this case, because the inspector general agreed that it was a national security risk, the complaint was supposed to be sent to the intelligence committee of the House of Representatives. There's a lot of screaming about this on television right now, because the complaint seems to be revolving around the President of the United States threatening the nation of Ukraine's development funding money unless they interfered with our upcoming election in his favor. And the argument the acting head of the intelligence agency made for sitting on completely illegal and horrifying thing is that the President is outside the intelligence community and therefore doesn't fall under the same rules. Which is, and pardon my language, some horse pucky."

Excuse Tony for having to pause and hide a smile behind his hands at the 'language' being used.

"So, today we'll be discussing the importance of these individuals," he said once he got himself under control. "Or, on the other end of things, why you think they are a detriment to a functioning government or business."

Since there were Some Opinions in this class.

"We're very interested in what you think," Steve agreed.

heroic_jawline

"Welcome back, everyone," Steve said with a smile. "We're not quite as annoyed with the Senate this week."

Out came the chart of the three branches of government again. "Today," he said, "we're talking a bit about the court system."

"Like we said last week, each branch is meant to balance the other so no one branch gains too much power," Tony said. Then sighed. "Ideally."

"We'll have a larger conversation about the criminal justice system and how it penalizes poor people for being poor later," Steve said. "Today we're focused on how the courts--especially those where the judges are appointed to a lifetime appointment without needing to be reelected--are supposed to serve as impartial arbiters of justice."

"Appointed, mind you, by elected officials," Tony added. "Who clearly have no bias at all."

"That was sarcasm," Steve added unnecessarily. "So conservative Presidents appoint conservative judges, liberal Presidents appoint liberal judges and theoretically they balance each other out. There have been some court cases over the years that have been considered landmark--they represent a giant societal step either forward or backwards. Dred Scott, for instance, which extended slavery. Or Brown v. Board of Education, which desegregated America's schools."

"Roe v. Wade, which gave women the right to choose safe, legal abortions," Tony said. "These court cases have long lasting and very real consequences once they are decided on. They become the law of the land. And when certain people are allowed to pick the people whole issue these rulings, it can be..."

"Disastrous," Steve finished for him. "Dred Scott in 1857 declared that African Americans were not really citizens, even if they weren't slaves, and set the country on a collision course for the Civil War less than 10 years later. But court decisions can also be immensely freeing--the Supreme Court's decision that legalized marriage to same sex partners nationwide was something I would never have even dreamed could happen in my lifetime."

Steve passed out some ~~handwavey~~ papers on various landmark US Supreme Court decisions. "Read these and tell us how the court system--if you have one--works in your dimension," he concluded. "Have they addressed these issues?"

imafuturist

"So, we might be starting in the deep end today," Tony said once the class had arrived. "With, well, not yelling, but basically yelling about the US Senate."

There would be so much righteous anger, class.

"Right," Steve said, pulling down a hand-drawn little triangle of buildings--the US Capitol, the White House, and a series of scales because he was pretty sure most people couldn't recognize the Supreme Court at a glance. "Theoretically, the US government is held in balance by a series of checks and balances. The President can't get too power-hungry or overtly crazy without the other two branches of government 'checking' him into the nearest facility for the criminally negligent."

Steve thought this was actually helping. "One of those branches in the US Congress, which is broken up into two sections: the US House, run by the Speaker of the House, and the US Senate, which is supposed to be more of a group of equals with two people as leaders to make it slightly more streamlined. But not right now." He gestured to Tony. "Mr. Stark?"

"Oh no, now we have--" Tony taped a picture of a turtle over the US Capitol building like it was some sort of slow kaiju. "--the Senate majority leader refusing to allow any new legislation to pass through the Senate to be voted on. Just flat out refusing. Because that's how responsible adults behave."

The sarcasm was strong in this one.

"I'm so disappointed in him," Steve said, looking the kind of disappointed that made people want to curl up under desks and confess to every childhood misdeed.

"And instead of the introductions we're sure you've done this entire week so far, we'll be asking you just how you would handle this completely ridiculous situation," Tony said. "With The Turtle."

"And because around here, it's important to specify, it's not a literal turtle running the Senate," Steve added. "He just kind of looks like a turtle. So. How do you make a grown man do his job?"

biotic_psychotic

Jack watched the class come in and waited until they all took their seats. "Alright. Last few classes have been full of the heavy to give you an overview of how things have worked in this country. I've mentioned episodes of civil disobedience in passing but now we're going to start talking about how to use them to get laws changed. The main purpose of civil disobedience is to get attention. Thing is, you want to draw positive attention to your cause and keep the negative sh..stuff.. focused on whatever's opposing you. Not an easy thing to do. That's why most of it focuses on remaining nonviolent even in the face of violence done to you. Not always; as we talked about, sometimes there's a moment when you gotta act. You'll usually know it when it hits. Everyone thinks they'll act, that they'll do the right thing, because in their own minds everyone's the hero of their own story.

Reality is different. Sometimes you choke, sometimes you freeze right up and can't do anything, sometimes you're so scared for your own skin that you don't dare act. None of that's wrong. Most of it you can't help because the human brain's a really weird piece of meat. If you can act when that moment hits then you shouldn't be the one standing there waiting for someone else to move first. Someone has to start it. Instead of wondering who, change the thought to 'might as well be you."

( She pulled up a slide )

"Your assignment today: Pick something you consider an injustice. Pick something from the list and tell me how you'd use it to raise awareness and try to get the public on your side."

biotic_psychotic

The students had been ~~handwaved~~ sent notice to meet at the parking lot on the far side of the causeway. They'd been told to dress for the weather and to wear shoes comfortable for walking in. There was a bus waiting for them. Jack checked them in and then hopped into the driver's seat. She explained about the trip while she drove.

( On the bus, talking about the class today )

She let them think about it until they got to Sandy Springs and the Woodlawn Manor. As she checked them off the bus, she continued.

"For some of you, this class is way too real. I get it. Others of you, this is nothing you've ever had to think about before and it's heavy and I get that too. These last few classes have been to give you a foundation of how laws work. Next week I'm going to run you through how civil disobedience can help change a law. Then? We get into how to resist unjust laws and how to break them when they need to be broken. There's consequences to everything and we're gonna work on how to minimize them and what to do if you can't.

In this country, today's a holiday. It celebrates the life and achievements of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He was a black man during the era of segregation. He was spearhead for a lot of those non-violent protests and marches we talked about. He insisted that his people stay calm and non-violent and for the most part they did but the violence was done to 'em and it was done bad every time. He gave a famous speech and part of it, the most famous part, goes: "I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'"

Jack was quiet for a moment. "He gave that speech in 1963. In 1968 while organizing another rally, he was assassinated. His dream sounds like a fantasy. For all people to be decent to one another? Pfft. Right. People generally suck. But that's also kind of the great thing about people and a society - they can suck, but they can change. They can be changed. His dream? It's a good dream to have."

Another moment of silence.

"Go on. Get your hike on. If you get cold, come back here to the manor to warm up. There's snacks and hot drinks and stuff. If you need me, I'll be here. Don't worry about the time. It's 4th period, nobody's going to care if we're a little late getting back."

[OCD is up.]

biotic_psychotic

Jack watched the students file in. She kept an eye out for Mae and Vette. If they showed up sounding like bad ducking Sean Connery imitations, she was sending them straight to Skywalker to deal with.

On the desks are packets. No slides today. In the packet are the texts of the Constitution and the Amendments with a crib sheet to what the Amendments mean, practically speaking.

"Welcome back. I touched a little bit last week on the Constitution and its Amendments. The Constitution is the governing document for all laws in the United States. A great deal of time is spent by the highest court - the Supreme Court - determining whether or not laws abide by the tenets of the document. Whether they're constitutional or unconstitutional. If a law is found to violate the tenets of the constitution, it's overturned.

Having a governing document that's fairly reasonable is a pretty good basis for law. The problem comes from people. People interpret what the words in the document mean and as the times change, sometimes the meanings do too. You heard last week how the word 'man' in the document changed over time from meaning strictly white men to including free men and then free men of color and then women.

Amendments are just what the word says - they're additions to the Constitution that amend what it says. Usually for clarification purposes but sometimes to broaden the scope for what's covered by the Constitution. Right now there's 27 of them and they mostly deal with what the government and police can and can't do with regard to citizens. It also handles how the government operates.

( Class )

"Your assignment today is to answer: What would you do? Someone comes up to you and tells you the person standing next to you doesn't count as a person. Maybe calls them a name that denies their status as a person. Maybe tells them they can't participate in something the way everyone else can. Do you talk to them and try and explain why they're wrong? Do you call them names in turn? Do you leave the scene? Do you look away and pretend it's not happening? Do you punch them out? Do you ignore them and focus on the person who got their attention? Those people are out there. Sooner or later you're either going to see it happen or you're going to be the person it's happening to. The only answer off the table is 'kill them'. Murder's generally not the best answer so we're putting that one right off the table today. So: What would you do?"

Syllabus is here.
Link to last class is here.

biotic_psychotic

Jack sat on the corner of her desk. Her feet didn’t touch the ground and one swung idly back and forth. She was waiting for the students to arrive. A new fresh batch of Gifted kids unlike any she’d worked with before.

This whole ‘nexus of realities’ island was a trip. Sometimes it was even a good trip, like now when she got to watch a new class file in and do the ‘seat where I can see everything but not in direct line of teacher fire’ choice. Her lips curved in a bit of a smirk.

Once the kids were seated she looked around the room and met their eyes in turn. Taking their measure.

"Listen up," she began, "My name is Jack. Not ‘Ms. Nought’, not ‘M’am’, not ‘Miss’. It’s not an attempt to be buddy-buddy or treat you like equals. We’re not equals. I’m the teacher, you’re the students. I don’t hold with any bull...crap; Jack is my name, that’s what you’ll use." Jack watched the students to see how they were taking that.

"How many of you know how to break the law?" she asked, "How many of you know when and why to break the law?" She didn't wait for an answer. She wanted them to think about it, not make them admit it in front of the class. Jack stood from the desk and moved to turn on a projector. "In this class, you’re going to learn the laws and you're going to learn when to break them and you’re going to learn why you might need to."

She met their eyes in turn again.

"And then? I’m going to show you how. Let's talk about the difference between laws and social justice to give you an overview."

( Class )

Jack looked around the room again. "Let's discuss. I doubt any of you are from a world that has no laws, because any group big enough to become a society will end up making some. Give an example - one - of a law that doesn't meet the definition of social justice. If you come from somewhere all the laws are just, give an example of one and tell me why it meets the definition."

[Syllabus is here.]

heroic_jawline

"Well, we're at the end of the year," Steve said, "and so hopefully you've learned more about the American system of government than you did in August."

"And how strange the system is slash has become over time," Tony added. "Especially in recent years."

"And most importantly, that you have rights, duties, and responsibilities to hold those in power accountable to those who put them there--the voters, not the donors," Steve said vehemently.

Tony nodded in firm agreement. "They win when you remain apathetic to the process."

Oh, so it was inspirational speech time.

Well. Superheroes.

"They wouldn't work so hard to keep you from voting if it wasn't so very important that you did so," Steve said. "So today's exam is for your grade, but what we really want you to take away from this class is a lifelong engagement with the government. Because when no one's watching them, they do stupid, ugly, tragically misguided things."

"These past two years being the case in point." They'd never stop ranting about it, though.

Neeeeever.

"Good luck on your exam, and have a good break," Steve said with a smile. "We'll see you next year."

heroic_jawline

"Tony offers his apologies for missing class," Steve began with a smile. "He has a board meeting that he absolutely couldn't get out of."

He leaned back against the desk. "The elections are finally over, so that means it's time to turn our attention to other civic matters. And since we're entering the holiday season that prominently features a census as part of the tale, let's talk about our census." He smiled again. "I promise not to make it too boring. It is Constitutional mandated that the government do a complete count of everyone in the country--men, women, children, undocumented immigrants, homeless populations, everyone, every ten years. And those numbers are crucial in deciding small things like the number of Congressional districts a state gets, how much money gets allocated for schools versus hospitals versus public housing projects, and so on, and so on. Naturally, this current administration is doing absolutely unconscionable things like trying to stick a citizenship question onto the questionnaire, or sending up a trial balloon about 'how about we share this highly sensitive information with law enforcement groups' in, I believe, an effort to depress the number of minorities who fill out the census when it's time. Again, these numbers are used to decide funding and how Congressional districts are allocated and if there isn't an accurate count, there won't be enough money sent to those areas and they won't have the representation they deserve."

He grinned. "Luckily for all of you graduating in the next few years, they'll be hiring Census takers--money's pretty good from what I remember. So? What questions do you think should be on a census questionnaire? What does the government need to know to better serve its population?"

heroic_jawline

If any students made it over to the door of the Civics class, they'd find an apologetic note that had been printed out and put up by the moose.

We're still up in New York for the holidays, everyone! As your assignment, think about organizations deserving of your money for Giving Monday, okay? See you next week!

Steve and Tony

heroic_jawline

There were two tiny boys and a distinctly unamused looking Paris Geller at the front of the classroom today. "Hey there," Paris said dryly. "Fandom's being weird again."

The slightly sturdier, dark haired boy shrugged at that assessment. One guess at who that one was. "The house said we had to go to school. This... wasn't what I thought it'd be."

"Yeah, we're both a little disappointed," Paris muttered, looking at the smaller kid who looked like a good stiff breeze would give him consumption or some other old timey disease. "We're talking about the federal holiday of Thanksgiving, and these two wanted to cook for you, but I got here early and managed to save us all from having them burn the school down."

"I know how to make toast," Steve said indignantly. "And popcorn."

Truly a meal for the ages, folks.

"I know how in theory," Tony offered much quieter. Things would possibly catch fire.

"What's 'in theory?' mean?" Steve asked.

"Means I haven't done it yet." Or that it might catch fire, but that wasn't important and Tony would definitely apologize a lot for it.

"So I will be supervising the snack making," Paris said loudly, "while they explain to you what Thanksgiving is all about." From tiny children. So this should be super accurate.

"Its a holiday celebrating the arrival of the pilgrims to the New World," Tony said almost by rote. "Where they almost died, but the people who already lived here gave them food so they wouldn't."

"And so they had a big feast with alllll the things to eat," Steve said, eyes wide because it was the Depression when he was from and all the things to eat hadn't happened for him in a while. "And made sure to say please and thank you."

It was possible Ma Rogers had tacked that part on herself.

Tony nodded in complete agreement with that being a rule. Up there with only speaking when spoken to. "Next time we can ask the cooks to make more food."

The cooks. Yes. Sorry, Paris.

"Cooks?!" both Paris and Steve echoed.

"Um. How about we watch this movie the robot on the house suggested?" Tony said, hiding behind technology from everyone in the room.

"Is that a colored cartoon?!" Steve gawked, sitting down immediately.

heroic_jawline

"Anyone else just exhausted by the news these days?" Steve asked.

Tony raised his hand, clutching his coffee close with the other. "And that's understandable. Especially with the news cycle as it stands these days. Sometimes you need to take a little time off to take care of yourself."

"Otherwise we'll discover if rage-stroke is a thing you can really die from," Steve said, shooting Tony a dubious look. He didn't think it was, but Tony had said it in an attempt to get Steve off of one of his "Someone is Wrong on the Internet" spirals. Bless his heart for trying to shame trolls into submission.

"So, today we've brought some tea and cookies and pillows for a nice, relaxing Friday," Tony said like he didn't notice that look he was getting. "Turning off your phone can help you unwind from non-stop news too."

"Watching something far removed from our current world," Steve said. "Like cartoons, or baking shows."

Tony nodded, going to start two different TVs with one of the offered selections playing on each of them. "We tried to find a cartoon baking show, but no such luck outside of Japan." And they didn't have the power of god and anime on their sides.

"But we're working on it," Steve assured them earnestly.

heroic_jawline

"We've been discussing the voting process and the importance of it," Tony said once the class had arrived. "But the fact that voting is in the middle of the traditional work week can still deter potential voters. So, there are options. In a majority of states, there is the option of mail in ballots or early voting."

Steve nodded. “I'm registered to vote in New York, so I requested my absentee ballot months ago because I'll either be here or out driving people to the polls on Election Day. There are a couple of advantages to voting absentee, or early. You can avoid standing in extremely long lines on Election Day, when it's often really cold. You can take your time without feeling pressured to finish quickly.”

"Please tell me you're renting a car," Tony muttered, looking a little concerned. "We don't need you shuttling the elderly on the back of your motorcycle."

But what an image that was, huh?

“I'm getting a sidecar,” Steve told him, smiling, “and an extra helmet." He turned to the students. "But back to voting, and I know this might not apply to you this cycle, but it's important anyway. Make sure you know what name you registered under: am I Steve or Steven? I also know they will give me a fight about my birthday in 1918 because I don't look like I was born in 1918. If your name is hyphenated or easily misspelled, prepare for that, too.”

"Have you changed your name or address recently?" Tony asked. "You can check your registration online these days to make sure everything is order."

“And to confirm you're still there,” Steve said a little dryly. “There have been some...errors...recently.And be sure to follow the instructions on your ballot exactly. Don't fill it out in pink ink. But you also don't have to vote on everything—it won't get dismissed if you don't have an opinion on county commissioner and leave it blank.”

"Just a little purging of voter records to disenfranchise people," Tony muttered angrily.

Steve frowned just as hard. "So you can see how important it is to vote because if it wasn't, people who don't want you to vote wouldn't go to all of this trouble," he said as he passed around sample ballots. "Okay. See how you do filling this one out. That way you can help people who need it this week and next."

heroic_jawline

There was movie already queued up to play when the class arrived. Because your teachers were well aware that this weekend was going to be a thing for everyone.

"I hope you all had a good break," Tony said with a smile. "Ancient Greece aside."

Steve nodded. "Today we're watching a classic movie about civic duty, starring one of America's great film stars, Jimmy Stewart. You probably know him from that Christmas movie that comes on every year."

"And probably ignore whenever it comes on," Tony added with a little cough. "But we know you're probably more eager to get to the carnival than to learn to day, we thought we'd do our best to keep your attention with this."

"Jimmy Stewart was a swell guy," Steve added, "and this movie is heartwarming and shows you how one voice can make a difference."

Especially if that voice is a Senator who doesn't just lament about how terrible things are and then vote with his party anyhow. Jeff Flake, you have deeply disappointed Captain America.

"We also brought popcorn," Tony said. "And links to a few websites where you can volunteer to help with early voting if you want the extra credit."

Paris.

heroic_jawline

Today Steve and Tony met the class out in front of Portalocity. "We're going to register people to vote," Steve said with way too much enthusiasm, "in Brooklyn."

"Prepare for lectures about moral purity in not voting, " Tony said dryly. He judged Steve for choosing Brooklyn. He judged him so much. "Consider it practice for college."

"If you absolutely have to, you may kick one Bernie Bro in the shin. But only one," Steve said, handing out registration forms to everyone.

Tony mouthed 'At least three' behind Steve's back before giving the class a thumbs up. "Stick together. Captain Rogers and myself will be there if you need any help."

"The first person to register 20 new voters gets extra credit," Steve said with a smile.

heroic_jawline

Steve and Tony were in the front of class. Steve was glued to his phone, watching clips of the Senate confirmation hearings for Judge Kavanaugh and muttering under his breath.

Tony wasn't doing that only by virtue of his brain being a computer that could do that for him. But he did look a little hazy as he half paid attention to that.

"So, today we'll discuss the power of the Judicial branch of the US government," Tony said. "And how certain people and certain parties shouldn't be allowed to control it."

"Because they're criminals," Steve muttered, "in probably a couple different jurisdictions." He put his phone down. "Right. The Judiciary, along with the Executive and the Legislature--that's Congress--make up the three theoretically co-equal branches of the American government."

Tony gave him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "Now, the Judiciary only came into power as the third part of the balancing act with Judicial Review where the Supreme Court is the be all and end all of questions of constitutionality of laws passed and approved by the other two branches. Which... well, the Constitution is a document written by a bunch of rich, old, white slave owners, so..."

"So it can be tweaked a bit," Steve said. "The Constitution, for instance, didn't directly address marriage. Or health care. Or non-white, non-maile, non-landowners being allowed to vote."

"So a lot of things," Tony added brightly. "Now, there is certainly precedence for trying to stack the court to a certain ideological mindset. FDR attempted it through changes to the make-up of the Supreme Court in order to prevent many of his policies from being overturned the moment he left office. Of course, he won that battle by being elected more than any US president ever was before or since."

"And then they passed a bunch of laws to make sure another President couldn't do that again," Steve said a little dryly.

Be honest, kids. You missed this class.

Tony tried not to smile, hiding it behind a cup of coffee. "So, let's discuss. Do you think public opinion should be taken into consideration for the courts?"

"Keep in mind that while the people chosen to be judges are picked by the President and confirmed by the Senate, they stay there until they retire or die," Steve said. "There's really no other way to get them to leave. They affect decades of interpretation of law."

Current Mood: aggravated

heroic_jawline

Steve was trying very hard to look like he didn't have a Santa hat stuck to his head. It wasn't working. "Well, we're almost out of classes," he said, "so a refresher about how agencies can affect your everyday life are probably in order. For instance, there are federal agencies in charge of enforcing the quality of the air you breathe."

Tony was making that hat work for him on the other hand. Just embracing the weirdness today.

"Agencies that protect employees from being overworked or placed in unsafe conditions," Tony added. "Agencies that set standards for the education provided to your children in public schools... this is a private school in case you're wondering."

Which explained, kind of, why the teachers just rolled with having non-removable hats on their heads today. "Agencies that decide what can and can't be brought onto an airplane, whether you need to take your shoes off to get cleared, and what happens when your hair sets off the metal detectors."

Very lax hiring practices at this school too.

"And whether or not to impose rules on what a company can and cannot do in regards to basic services," Tony added. "All these things will affect you at some point in your life if you live in this country. So the people who make these decisions are very important."

"Which is why there has been, well, basically non-stop screaming about the massively unqualified to actively dangerous people working in agencies in charged with, say, airport security, environmental controls, nuclear safety, and the internet," Steve said.

"So, today we'll discuss what qualifications you think should be in place for these jobs," Tony said. "An ideal résumé if you will."

heroic_jawline

"Right," Steve said, looking generally disappointed with humanity, "if you've been watching the news, you've probably felt the need for a good, long, hot shower, and to maybe hit things very hard."

"For a wide variety of reasons," Tony added. "But a lot of focus is being put on so-called fake news."

"Now, there's definitely something called propaganda," Steve said, "which is defined as information put out with a definite angle to promote a particular point of view. You see a lot of it on posters, for instance, in wartime. Loose lips sink ships, all that sort of thing. Playing up an enemy's viciousness, trying to dehumanize them--that's all straight out of the propaganda playbook, and could be categorized as fake news. What can't be considered fake is actual things that happened that you just don't like."

Steve was so, so frustrated.

"Which isn't to say healthy skepticism over media is a bad thing," Tony said. "But that is between the extremes of believing a news source without question and rejecting it outright because you don't like what they're saying. And it doesn't help that we've had entertainment muddying the waters of legitimate journalism for the past decade or two."

Steve nodded vehemently. "So today we're going to spend time on learning how to be a responsible consumer of news, which means you need to check sources and read from a variety of outlets, most of which should not have 'freedom' 'red' or 'trump is amazing' in their names."

"Or fair and balanced." Be nice, Tony.

Steve snorted. "You can read fair and balanced. You just can't back them up with Red State and Infowars because they're propaganda."

"So, let's get on the internet and check some sources," Tony said, clapping his hands together.

heroic_jawline

Class today had the words 'special elections' on the board in case anyone was wondering just what they were learning about this time around.

You know, really killing the mystery and all.

"Welcome back. Today were going to talk about something that you might have seen in the news lately," Tony said. Because he ~~obsessively~~ watched the news from time to time and noticed these things.

"Now all elections are special in the way that they are an essential part of our democratic government that should involve the participation of all citizens who are registered to vote," Steve said, smiling. "But ones specifically referred to as special elections are ones taking place at a different time than normal Election Day--the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November."

Because that was nice and easy to remember, Founders. Thanks for that.

But the founding fathers were infallible!! jk, they were angry white dudes in wigs.

"These happen for a variety of reasons. A position was abruptly vacated due to death or impeachment or someone taking a job within the presidential cabinet," Tony said. "Which makes them important, but also easy to forget about for most voters."

Steve nodded. "In addition, there are also gubernatorial races in a few states--Virginia and New Jersey--because," he frowned. "I don't actually know why they scheduled their regular election in an odd year. Huh."

"Because it's Jersey," Tony muttered under his breath with all the disdain a New Yorker could muster. "In any case, these elections tend to have much lower turn out. Election day is a holiday for some, allowing them to take the time to vote. Special elections don't have that option for most. And simple voter apathy factors in. It's big and exciting when it's the president and pretty boring for the rest."

"Which just such a shame," Steve said earnestly, "because when it comes to things that affect you every day, that's your local races--mayor, school board, governor."

"Remember out talk about gerrymandering? You can prevent that with these smaller elections," Tony added. "Moral of this story is to vote. People fought long and hard for your right to vote."

Dramatic much, guys?

heroic_jawline

"Alright, we know tomorrow is the start of vacation and Friday is bad for an attention span regardless, but we do still have a class today," Tony said. "It's about taxes. Don't worry, we brought coffee."

You might need it.

So much coffee.

"So the government--at the federal, state, and local levels--provides services to its population," Steve said. "And in order to do that, they need money. Schools don't build themselves, roads don't fix themselves, militaries don't arm themselves. If you come from a world where they do, um, see us after class?"

Tell them your secrets of a perfect egalitarian society. Or despotic one. That could also be it.

Tony nodded along with Steve's explanation. "So, to gather revenue for those services, the government levies taxes. A tax would be a charge added onto goods or services that is set aside for the government. You will pay taxes on property--usually going to local schools and libraries, gas to pay for roads... things like that. "

"The tax code in the United States could fill up a room," Steve said, "and it is considered ridiculously complicated. When April comes around, there will be a lot of income tax jokes because everyone files their taxes at that time and you either give the government more money if you owe some, or they send you back a nice check, which is better."

"Or you pay an accountant or... twenty to do the taxes for you," Tony said, coughing a little to cover up the twenty thing. "If you donate to charities, you get a tax write off. Charities and religious institutions are tax exempt. Which is good if they're legitimate in helping people. Less so if they're, say, Scientology."

He was going to get sued.

He was totally going to get sued. "Now do you think taxes should exist? Should everyone pay them? Should only the rich people pay them? How much of their money should they have to give? These are questions that come up all the time, and should be constantly re-examined. Since you're the next generation of taxpayers--or not, depending on your income level--we want to hear your thoughts." Steve smiled around the room.

heroic_jawline

Today, the teachers were phoning it in! Well, kind of. They were there, but so was the television and a DVD player. "Today, in an effort to make government systems more fun," Steve began, "we're going to watch it in singing cartoon form."

As you do!

"Edutainment," Tony said, raising his eyebrows like clearly everyone was into it. "Its a Friday. Just enjoy the break."

And maybe hope whatever weirdness happening would skip over the room.

...or not, as the less technically adept of the pair of them went to press play on the DVD and hit the "fire" button lying in wait for him on top of the machine. Glitter, everyone?

Tony sneezed, sending out a little puff of glitter. "What. The hell."

"Language," he corrected immediately before adding an, "I'm sorry. I have no idea what happened." His hair was entirely coated in glitter, as was his shirt. It was a Look.

"A glitter bomb," Tony suggested. "Maybe we should all avoid pushing buttons in the class?"

"Good idea," Steve said with a sour look at the DVD player. "Write notes as you watch the videos and we'll have a discussion if there was anything unclear about the presentations after, okay?"

Tony hesitantly pressed play , breathing a sigh of relief when it played as expected. This time.

imafuturist

There was a lack of glitter in the classroom this week, so hopefully no one was crushed by this. They could make up for it with supplied coffee at least?

"Welcome back," Tony said to their tiny class. "Today we'll be discussing the types of government out there and which is the current governing system in the United States. Again, the one we are currently in."

The one that was dabbling in a variety of populism with a heavy emphasis on racism and nativism!

Plus bonus sexism!

"There are a variety of options out there," Steve said. "For a good portion of history, a monarchy--government by a sole king or queen, someone not chosen by the people--was very popular. Those that are left over have become, for the most part, constitutional monarchies where the ruling family is largely ceremonial and someone else--normally a parliament--does the heavy lifting of governing."

"Not to say there aren't still governments where one person or a very small group of people hold immense power over the rest of the population," Tony added. "There are dictatorships where someone controls all aspects of the state and maintains that with force or the threat of it. There are theocracies where religion and religious leaders are the controlling force in the government."

"And there are swaths where someone says they're in charge but the reality is laughably--or tragically--otherwise," Steve said. "But today we're going to mostly focus on the various kinds of democracies--representative and direct--and republics--parliamentary, federal, or single party."

"For democracies, direct democracy is... well, what it sounds like," Tony said. "You vote directly for things and a majority vote gets it approved. This... is not very common to see as it's very difficult with large populations. Representative is what you may be familiar with as that is what we see in the US. We vote to elect someone who is supposed to vote or work on our behalf in the government. It's a bit more hands off for the general population."

"The US is also a federal republic," Steve said, "which means power is broken up into several sections--the national government, and then the 50 states. Below the states are local government as well, all the way down to school boards."

"Which is why we fear the school board visits." Tony, no.

"Plus from what I've read, they're kind of insane," Steve added. "Today we're going to talk about the different kinds of government, how they work, and when they don't. Dictatorships, for instance, are extremely streamlined because there's no pesky 'asking other people for their opinions' part."

They really were, Steve.

"Pick a type of government and tell us what you think are the biggest flaws in them and what, if any, ways they could be fixed," Tony said.

heroic_jawline

"One more day," Tony said as class began. "You made it through the first week of the semester with, hopefully, minimal damage. I'm Tony Stark, you can call me Tony if you want. And this--" He paused, glancing over at his teaching partner.

"I'm Steve Rogers. Please don't call me Steve. It's strange."

TONY.

"This is civics class--the study of our government, which will hopefully lead to greater understanding of how it works. Or doesn't, depending."

Welcome to class where your teachers vented about the current political situation going on off the island. It was fun. Sort of.

Tony tried very hard to look cheerful as he added, "If you are new to this place or come from a different time, planet, or governmental system, we will be focusing on the version of democracy practiced within the United States we currently reside in. This timeline. This awful, awful timeline."

"But if it's not your real one, it's an excellent case study in what not to do," Steve said, trying to be optimistic. "Today's going to be the last time you'll have to do introductions, we promise."

"Until next semester. Sorry." Tony was not sorry at all. "But we'll let you off easy because it's Friday and you've been through enough. Tell us your name and your experience with government and we'll do something both political and crafty."

imafuturist

There was just the one teacher at the front of the class today and it wasn't the triangle shaped one. Sorry, Isabela.

"Captain Rogers couldn't be here for the last class, but I'm sure he wishes he could." Debatable. "It's our last day and look at that, you've survived a lesson in civics."

Though, really, it was more like a number of rants about it.

"In lieu of a final exam, I'm going to ask that you continue to be aware of the world, ours or yours, and be engaged in the political process."

Yeah, that was some 'Oh captain, my captain' bullshit right there.

"I brought coffee and donuts, so... enjoy."

imafuturist

"A huge, not exciting part of government is making sure basic expectations of service are met," Steve, in his Captain America costume, began. "Social security checks arrive on time. Trains don't explode. We don't start a global war over Twitter. Easy stuff like that."

Super easy! No, your teachers weren't trying not to sob over the state of the country at the moment. Don't be silly.

"The bare bones," Tony added. "The total minimum of what is expected of you as a governmental official. You show up and at least pretend to be competent when in public. Smile--" He gave his very best PR smile to illustrate it. "--and say the right things at the right time to stay in office."

That did not sound too difficult, right?

"There are a few traditions that senior politicians are expected to attend or preside over every year. The National Prayer Breakfast. The St. Patrick's Day Lunch. The Easter Egg Roll." Steve made a small face. "So far this new administration has not exactly covered themselves in glory at these things." Don't get him started on Speaker Ryan's sad excuse for a Guinness. Just don't.

"It's almost as though they're all woefully under-qualified and can barely form coherent sentences without offending everyone who has any sense of decency." Tony, find some chill. Like, a modicum of chill. "With a holiday coming up this weekend that will probably get us chocolate eggs raining from the sky or something, we thought it might be fun to allow you kids to figure out how you would handle attending an event like those."

"The Easter Egg roll, for instance, is an event the White House has held for the last 139 years, so it's not a huge surprise that it's coming. Generally about 30,000 people attend, either through a lottery of winners or through specific groups being invited, like school kids in the DC area or military children."

"It's an easy shot at getting a fluff piece written about you," Tony said, speaking from experience. Though he also tended to enjoy spending time with the kids during those things. "As long as you don't do something stupid. Like trip a child to get the egg they were after."

And the fact that he believes it was a possible outcome was... yeah.

"So, we've--" He'd. "--programmed a copy of the event for you."

"And Isabela, you've been picked to be the Easter Bunny," Steve added. "Congratulations."

Or something.

heroic_jawline

"Some of you might be thinking of working in the government--either ours or one in your own dimension--after graduation," Steve said. "There are thousands of different jobs available in a wide range of fields...assuming you don't have a hiring freeze in your dimension."

Which. You know. Might be an across the board deal. "Because, hey, if a morally repugnant reality show 'star' can do it, anyone can." Tell us how you really feel, Tony.

"Well, for some jobs, your clearance will be more looked at than his," Steve said, also making a face. "Because standards and job experience are for other people."

"Some of those standards involve preventing nepotism," Tony added. "Which is when someone uses their power or position of authority to give jobs or sway to their family members. Such as letting your son-in-law act as your surrogate with the armed forces."

"And also point on Middle East peace, government reorganization and the opiate addiction epidemic," Steve said dryly. "Standards also prevent people in high security jobs from being compromised because of shady dealings with foreign countries, being associated with hate groups, or being up to your eyeballs in debt."

Tony gave him a wide eyed look. "Wow, those standards just sound great to me!"

Yes, this class had turned into constant dragging the current administration. What of it?

"Now 90 percent of federal jobs aren't in Washington, DC, so if you don't really like it here, that's not a dealbreaker," Steve said. "There are also hundreds of different departments and agencies to work for, and that's just for the federal government. There's also state-level government and local government."

"Our government works not because of the people at the top, but the people who do the day to day jobs," Tony said. "And it's not always a complete... mess. We promise. In fact, if you think it is a mess, running for public office might be the best way to fix that mess."

imafuturist

Today the class met in the Danger Shop, which had been programmed to look like the floor of the US House of Representatives, complete with some seriously '70s looking leather chairs. The place was empty other than some simulated tourists up in the balcony and the presiding officer--a hapless junior Republican Congressman signing photos of himself with a group of school kids who visited from his district.

"Today you're going to pretend that you're all at least 25 and are thus duly elected members of the House of Representatives," Steve began.

Tony raised his eyebrows at the class like he was urging them to consider this cool. "And the topic of discussion will be Internet privacy, as a very recent vote occurred repealing the protections granted to people in regards to what their Internet service providers are allowed to store, use, and sell concerning your information and browsing habits."

Which was only a lot dystopian sounding.

"It's even worse than it sounds," he added cheerfully.

"And it sounds pretty bad," Steve said. "There is a tradition in the House of the one minute speech at the end of legislative business of the day. Members can talk about anything, although the parties send out suggestions, and today we're giving you the topic of internet privacy. You get a half hour to research the topic since you don't have staff that already did that part for you, and then you get exactly 60 seconds to make your case in front of God, country, and the fourteen people watching on C-SPAN."

"Half of them are asleep, so don't be too nervous," Tony assured the class.

imafuturist

"While not part of any official government framework," Steve began, "political parties have been a part of the United States since the beginning."

"Originally, the major parties were the Federalists, lead by Alexander Hamilton, and the Anti-Federalists--also known as the Democratic-Republicans--lead by both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison," Tony added with a grin. "The name of the first party came from two treatises, Federalist Paper No. 9 and No. 10, written respectively by Hamilton and Madison that warned of the dangers of political parties."

And he found history hilarious sometimes.

"They weren't exactly wrong," Steve said dryly. "While the names of the parties have shifted over the year, the general framework has remained the same: one is in favor of greater federal oversight and involvement in the lives of their citizens, and one prefers the major work of government to be at the more local level. Both make good points, if each is not being run by completely crazy people."

Current GOP, Steve Rogers is judging the crap out of you.

Thank god no one thought it was a good idea to ask him to comment on the news. So far.

"A political party is a method of allying yourself with the ideals that most fit you. Or should be." Also with the judgement there, Tony Stark. "And applying those ideals to your government. In other countries where coalition governments are done, the number of parties increases massively in comparison to our own."

Steve nodded. "We have...two, more or less. The way that Congress is set up demands it: we have a majority in the House that rules absolutely, and the minority kinda...takes it. Committees are set up for one majority party and one minority party. If you win a seat as something other than a Democrat or Republican--Senator Bernie Sanders is an example of this--you have to choose which party you will caucus with in order to get a committee assignment. Parliamentary systems are set up for multiple parties, and many nations run on a coalition of different political parties--liberal or conservative--leading together."

"With varying degrees of success," Tony muttered.

Brexit.

He cleared his throat before moving on from that. "So, today we'll have you decide on a party you would most likely align with. Whether it's one of the two big ones or a smaller fringe movement."

"And if it's a smaller party, also come up with a way to make it more relevant on a national level, because 'and then I vote for Jill Stein for president because reasons' isn't actually an effective strategy," Steve added

imafuturist

"Today we're going to talk about how a bill becomes a law," Steve said, "because Executive Orders, regardless of how many you sign in a day, only have the force of law if there is existing legislation behind them. They are used to regulate how the various executive departments operate and are subject to judicial oversight."

Steve was mentally betting that the current president didn't know either of those things.

No bet, Steve. No bet.

"We'll cover judicial oversight in another class," Tony promised. Because it was looking to be important for the kids to understand the other other stuff going on. There was so much. Oh god. "A bill can be drafted by, well, anyone who wishes to. But then it will be submitted to the one of the two chambers of our legislative branch, the House of Representatives or the Senate. If it involves spending, it has to start in the House. And from there, it goes to committee. Which is a fancy way of saying they get to play favorites on what they want to push forward and what they want to quietly kill before it even takes it's first steps."

"There are a lot of bills that get introduced and never go anywhere," Steve said. "Thousands each session. And a good portion of those bills are poorly thought out, useless wastes of paper."

Tell us how you really feel, Steve. "But yeah, it then goes to a committee. And if the committee is really feeling like doing its job, there will even be committee hearings debating the merits of the bill."

"And if they decide there's merit to the bill, it goes to the floor for a full vote on the matter. Should a majority approve, it'll be passed onto the second house, the Senate. Where the process repeats itself," Tony said like he was trying to sound excited and failing miserably at it. "All over again. But there they might add amendments to the bill. Or gut the entire thing while keeping the name the same."

Wasn't government fun, kids?

"And then they'll take the two, possibly wildly different bills and have a conference committee with members of the House and Senate and, which definitely includes a lot of yelling and probably scotch, and come up with one version of the bill that then goes to both chambers at the same time where they vote on it again. At this point, usually, months if not years have passed."

"And then," Tony paused for dramatic effect. "It goes to the president to be signed into law or vetoed--rejected, for those of you who aren't familiar with the term. But Congress can overcome a veto with a two-thirds majority vote in both houses. And that is how a bill can be passed into becoming a law."

Didn't you all wish you'd just watched a cartoon piece of paper singing about the process in the most optimistic of terms?

Yeah, but that cartoon was about making people stop at railroad tracks instead of being free to be squashed like patriotic, idiotic bugs because freedom from government interference or something.

"Not surprisingly, it doesn't happen very often if the subject matter is controversial," Steve said. "Congress is supposed to pass spending bills every year, and sometimes that, designating National Cheese Day, renaming post offices, and congratulating sports teams is just about all they get done."

"I love National Cheese Day," Tony commented quietly. Then cleared his throat. "We'd like you to tell us, in a perfect world where all of this goes how it was originally planned to, what law you would want to be passed. Bonus points: tell us how you would make the current process better."

And yes, throwing rotten fruit was a valid suggestion.

imafuturist

Tony had an extra large cup of coffee and the sort of manic expression that came from reading the news. At any point this year so far. So, there was that. He both regretted this class and was glad to be able to teach it at the exact same time!

"Last week we discussed the right to protest and the weekend following we saw one of the largest protest movements of our time," he said.

"And then, after the inauguration, there was another, even larger, protest," Steve teased.

Those empty parade routes had been sad. In a hilarious way. "Today we're going to talk about how you build on the momentum of a protest," he continued. "Decisions are made by those who show up, and you have to just keep showing up and making sure the people in power know you are going to hold them accountable. So--" he gestured around the room to the phones on their desks. "We're going to call your Congressmembers."

They were funny in a sad drinking sort of way. If nothing else, these next four years should have increased liquor sales!

"There are a... veritable plethora of topics you can contact them about," Tony added. "From reproductive rights, to protection of voting rights, to protection of undocumented immigrants, to that f--stupid wall. God, I never actually thought it would come to this."

And he had spreadsheets of potential disaster scenarios!

"Now, for this exercise, we are giving you members to call based on where you live--they will not care what you have to say if you will not vote for or against them next election," Steve said. "So we've added the major town of their district to your information so they don't hang up immediately."

Sneaky, Steven.

Well, Tony clearly approved of that method as he brightened up considerably. "If you need any help, just let us know," he said. "We have easy and quick scripts in case you don't know what you want to say exactly."

"And be nice to whoever's answering the phone," Steve added. "They aren't much older than you are, are getting paid practically nothing, and are answering angry phone calls all day long."

imafuturist

"Well, if you're paying attention at all to the news in this dimension, a new President is being sworn in tomorrow," Steve began, doing his full-on stoic Captain America face. No one needed to know his actual opinion about the new president just yet.

Yes. It was very hard to see when Steve disapproved of something. Sure.

"With the most members of Congress boycotting the event since Richard Nixon," Tony added with cheer that came from a cup of coffee. "Along with them, a number of groups both in D.C. and around the country are holding protests. Which is one of the many rights granted to citizens from the get go of the establishment of this country, the right to peaceably assemble and petition the government for a redress of grievences."

Someone should maybe get a copy of that to the new guy. "It's in the First Amendment, which covers the freedom of the press--and of people to worship, or not, as they choose. There's a long history of peaceful protests in the United States dating back to before the United States was a country." He gave Tony a little smile. "I wasn't there for that part."

Maybe if they condensed the constitution down to Twitter sized...

"Are you sure?" Tony asked with mock surprise. "So, today we'll be discussing methods of protest. Sit ins, boycotts, work slow downs..."

Founders say protests are protected. So do the Courts. Sad!

Steve nodded. "Letter-writing campaigns, marches, walk-outs...the ways the masses of people get the small group they've elected to represent them to remember there are, well, masses of people. What rights would you join a protest for? Are such things allowed in your home dimension at all?"

heroic_jawline

Steve stood in front of the classroom with a small stack of pamphlets. "This is a copy of the US Constitution," he began, handing them out. "And no, before anyone asks, I don't carry them in my uniform pockets."

Tony might have lost a bet on that one. But it had been with Barton, so it didn't even count.

"The Constitution is a document that outlines the framing of the the government of the country, along with the basic laws governing and rights granted to it's citizens," Tony said, picking one up to wave at the class. "You'll each get a copy of your own to keep. "This has been amended from time to time as the world has changed, but it is essentially the concrete law of the land."

"It's also not that long," Steve said. "Fewer than 7,600 words including all of the amendments. It's clear and concise, laying out the framework of our government as the Founders envisioned in a few hundred years ago. The amendments mostly help to keep it a current, living document: banning slavery, letting women and people of color vote, and protecting freedom of assembly, religion, and the press, for instance."

Tony might have cleared his throat a little for no reason at all at the mention of the press. "Today we'll be focusing on the duty of a free press in regards to providing information the the people so that they are able to make informed decisions about their government. And the duty of the government to not infringe upon those abilities."

And then you have, oh, say, Buzzfeed. And certain stories breaking.

Steve nodded emphatically, then passed around another sheet of paper. "This is the latest world press freedom index," he said. "It's compiled annually by Reporters Without Borders and takes into account seven criteria: pluralism of ideas represented in the media; the independence of the media; the degree to which the press self-censors to avoid conflict; laws that govern news and its release; the transparency of information being released; the infrastructure that supports making the news; and the levels of abuse and violence against reporters in the countries. The US currently ranks 41st out of 180 countries, despite press freedom being listed in the very first Constitutional amendment. What do you think contributes to that low-ish ranking? Do you believe that next year's ranking will be higher or lower?"

"And if you don't feel familiar or comfortable enough with using the United States as the subject, let us know what your home is like in regards to the press. Does it even exist? Is it free or controlled by the government?" Tony added for all those dimensions out there.

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.

Fandom High RPG

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