Reflections on Æstas Society - an editorial

(The following article is published on the Matrix forums under the handle "GoldenBoy" - as untraceable as Zeke can make it)

In a recent conversation with a respected elder, he conceded that I was "intelligent, but perhaps merely young."  Having acknowledged that I am not an utter fool, he now must explain my behavior in some way that does not require that he admit to any worldview other than his own.  So, he resorts to ageism.

I suppose, for my species, I am young, but it's rather limiting to assume that my outlook and biases will change as I grow older.  It's also a misconception to equate age with maturity, especially considering how brief a lifespan some races are allotted.

For all the diversity which Æstas boasts, we are, in fact, a fractured society.  We have ageism, speciesism, tribalism, ableism, and reigning over all: classism.  We're not even satisfied with these divisions; we have had to invent more factions in which to divide ourselves.  One might think that intelligent beings forced to share limited resources in order to survive would be able to put aside the law of the jungle for the duration.  Instead, we have refined it to an artform.

We divide ourselves by wealth, but it is not so simple as merely the haves and the have-nots.  Lines are drawn according to how one earns a living, whom one works for, whether one works at all, or needs to.  Many of these lines are visible -- on need only glance at the city districts, and how well each is maintained.  Many more exist only in our minds.

The various races make up another demarcation.  The less another person looks like oneself, the less one is likely to regard them as trustworthy -- or even as a person at all.  It also defines a large part of our tribalism: to wit, the street gangs.  At least three (that I know of) include or exclude membership specifically based upon species.  The Council, which from one point of view is yet another tribe, would make that four, considering how humano-centric it is.

And while we're on the subject of race, we may as well add "sizeism" to our ever-growing list of divisions.  It's noticeable enough when the difference is only a few centimetres of height: in business and personal interactions, taller individuals tend to dominate.  When the difference is measured in metres, the much larger person is often regarded as monstrous, and taken as less intelligent. From the opposite point of view, the greatly smaller person may be regarded as immature, or even an object or pet -- not a person at all.  I've witnessed adult fae spoken to as one would a child, in an otherwise professional setting.

Which brings us back, full-circle, to ageism.  Of course, it's only natural for adults to feel protective towards actual children.  It's an instinct that crosses species barriers, and I would argue that it is a healthy one.  However, each race matures at different rates, and there are variances among individuals within the races.  I know of one talented minor who regularly executes complex live performances, another who runs a successful business.  Children, while deserving of protection, may nonetheless be exemplary individuals in their own right. 

The infirm likewise deserve our respect.  A Border Patrol agent (to cite a random example), having lost a limb in the course of their duties, should not be pressured to endure experimental procedures and "restored to service" just to feel like complete, worthy beings.  

In fact, the more that I think about it, the more that I am led to wonder whether some force has deliberately been pushing us all apart, convincing us that the only game in town is to build our towers ever higher, stability be damned.  Shouldn't we, instead, be building the base wider -- fortifying our community as a whole?