Forward March: Wickedly Ethical

Over the weekend, I saw Wicked for the fourth time (yes, I know) in New York with my boyfriend Mike. Every other time I’d seen the show, I was reminded of the magic of theatre and drawn in by whimsical costumes. But this time, I noticed something new: a complex conversation about this concept of truth. Different plot points stuck out to me like blaring CST sirens: Glinda proclaims to the Wizard that she’ll tell all of Oz that Elphaba is innocent, but the Wizard reminds her that everyone will only turn against her.

Mike and I seeing Wicked together - it's truly the best musical.
Photo on iPhone 6 by another theatre-goer. 

The Ozians are told by the powerful Wizard and Madame Marrable that everything Elphaba says is a lie. And so the people believe them. I was repeatedly reminded of a question that had stuck out to me since we began reading Enemy of the People: What good is truth without power? 

CST is absolutely the main source of my new noticings. I push myself to put every dilemma into a Paul and Elder context in order to find the most ethical solution. However, I think that the most impactful works we have studied this year have been those of Bobbie Harro. Diving into The Cycle of Socialization allowed me to put into perspective how being a member of multiple agent groups has shaped my understanding of the world. Reading The Cycle of Liberation showed me a step-by-step process for how myself and others could break out of our individual society-crafted boxes and truly understand others through the self-love and security that is at the core of this cycle. Most of all, these works taught me that I had a choice: I could choose to stay socialized and participate in the ignorance and fear of socialization, or I could take control of my responsibility in a position of privilege to better the world by reaching out and making change.

The SAMO experience has also been rewarding for me. The experiences being assignments excited me since day one, but they’re starting to feel more like life experiences than cool homework.

Senior Erin Kenny and I proudly holding our
poster at the women's.
Photo on iPhone 6 by Sarah Guggemos
I attended the Women’s March last week, which counts as a SAMO, but I’m still planning to attend a CST-relevent play later on in the quarter. Just because it sounds awesome.

Everything I have learned in CST matters because, cheesy as it sounds, it is step one to changing the world. I am a firm believer in the ripple effect, and if I can teach one person a little bit more about ethics or empathy or media bias, then who knows how far that same piece of information could travel and how many mindsets it could change? And even if no one wishes to spread a ripple I start, I’ll know that I am acting in the most ethical way I can by looking at a situation from every viewpoint and hell, just being a nice person. Yeah, it’s pretty simple when it all comes down to it.

Onwards in the first semester of the rest of my life, I plan to instill all I have learned into my actions. Apologies for more cheese, but these are people I most likely will never seen again after high school. In the least narcissistic way possible, I want to leave a positive impact on as many of my peers as I can. But more than anything, as stated above, I want to be nice. What good will gossiping about people I’ll never see again do? Why bother judging when we’re all headed in separate directions that we all chose for ourselves? The answer, quite obviously, is that there isn’t a point to it. Kindness, empathy, authenticity, and ethical reasoning? Oh, they are timeless.

A colorful poster among the post-march madness.
Photo on iPhone 6 by me. 



Comments

  1. UnknownFebruary 4, 2017 at 2:44 PM

    And, quite frankly, what good will gossiping about people you DO know do? It is about being nice, which is something that everyone struggles with - although I would say that maybe some people don't struggle so much because they've stopped being nice to too many people (or just to the people they don't agree with).

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