"What offends a great intellect in society is the equality of rights, leading to equality of pretensions, which everyone enjoys; while at the same time, inequality of capacity means a corresponding disparity of social power. So-called good society recognizes every kind of claim but that of intellect, which is a contraband article; and people are expected to exhibit an unlimited amount of patience towards every form of folly and stupidity, perversity and dullness; whilst personal merit has to beg pardon, as it were, for being present, or else conceal itself altogether."
― Arthur Schopenhauer, Essays on Counsels and Maxims
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April, 3 months ago. The enrolment ceremony. I rode the bus to school. I was in a state of bounce and bobbing in my seat. As I idly looked out of the window, gawking at the changing scenery of the city, the bus picked up more and more passengers as time went by.
Most of them were young people wearing high school uniforms.
There was also a disgruntled clerk who looked like the type who had once accidentally groped a girl on a crowded bus. In front of me stood an unsteady elderly lady who was wobbling so badly that I thought she was on the brink of falling. Given that I'd known how crowded the bus was likely to be, I suppose I was simply reaping what I'd sown by getting on.
I was lucky enough to have found a seat, but even so, it was still a packed affair. All of a sudden, with my mind as clear as a passing stream, I forgot about the unfortunate fate of the old woman and waited patiently for my destination. The weather was exceptionally fine today, not a cloud in the sky. It was so refreshing that I nearly fell asleep right there and then.
However, my gentle respite was swiftly interrupted.
"Excuse me, but shouldn't you give up your seat?"
My eyes, which were on the verge of closing, snapped back to reality.
"Could this person be angry at me?"
I thought, until I realized that it was someone else who was being scolded.
A young, well-built, blonde-haired man of high school age - well, not quite with the posture of one, but still wearing his uniform - had taken a seat in one of the priority seats. The older woman was standing right next to him, with another woman standing next to her. This second woman appeared to be a younger woman.
"Hey, can't you see this old woman is in trouble?" the lady said.
This younger lady, who appeared to be an office worker, urged the young man to give up his seat. And soon after making such a suggestive remark, her voice carried quite well throughout the quiet bus, which was enough to attract the attention of several people to what would have been a potential conflict.
"That's nuts, young lady," the boy said.
The boy was angry, unobservant, or simply painfully honest. Either way, he grinned broadly and crossed his legs.
"Why should I give up my seat? There's no reason for me to do so."
"You're sitting in a priority seat. It's only natural to give up those seats to the elderly."
"I can't see the point. Priority seats are exactly that: priority seats. I am not obliged to move. Since I'm currently occupying this seat, I should be the one to decide whether or not to move. So I'm supposed to get rid of where I'm sitting because I'm young? HA! This argument is rubbish."
Much like his posture, he didn't speak the language of a normal high school student.
His hair was dyed blond, which made him stand out.
"I'm a healthy young person who certainly wouldn't find standing unpleasant. However, I'd obviously expend more energy standing than sitting. I have no intention of doing such a stupid thing. Or are you suggesting that I should behave a little more lively, I wonder?"
"Wh-what kind of attitude is that to have in front of your superiors?" she demanded.
"Superiors? Well, it's obvious that both you and that old woman over there have been alive longer than I have, no doubt about that. However, the word 'superior' implies that you are referring to someone of a higher position. Besides, we have another problem. Even though our ages are different, wouldn't you agree with me that you have an impertinent attitude and that you are behaving extremely rude?"
"Wha- you're a high school student, aren't you?!
You should keep quiet and listen to what adults tell you!"
"It's f-fine, whatever..." The older woman mumbled.
She obviously didn't want any more commotion, and tried to calm the office lady down.
But after being insulted by the high school student, the younger woman still seemed to be very upset.
"Obviously that older woman is more astute than you, which is nice. Besides, I haven't given up on Japanese society just yet. So please enjoy your remaining years."
After a pointlessly vigorous smile, the boy slipped in his headphones and began to listen to some rather cacophonous music. The office lady gritted her teeth in frustration. Although she tried to prod the boy by continued arguing, his smug, self-important attitude remained fixed. At any rate, I had to at least partially agree with what the boy was saying.
To be fair, if you ignored the notion of Kantian moral imperative, it was true that he wasn't legally obliged to give up his seat. In fact, a 'do the right thing' statement such as "You ought to help those in need..." or "You ought to give your seat to an elder..." was an irrelevant matter for the current society, given the fact that such words were merely empty words contained in rules which could not be applied to the current society, not to mention that this principality appeared to be so rigorous that it didn't take into account dire circumstances which didn't seem to fit the modern upholding, especially when it came to engaging in the act of freedom-
"I'm sorry..." A sudden voice interrupted the intrusive thought I previously had been pondering as the office lady, who desperately fighting back tears, apologized to the elderly woman.
After all, it was just a minor incident.
And to be honest, I was relieved that I hadn't been caught up in such a situation. Because, to be fair, I couldn't care less about giving up my seat for an elderly person, let alone sacrificing myself in the process. Obviously, the egotistical boy had won his rights.
Or at least that was what everyone secretly had in mind.
"Um, excuse me... but I think the lady has a point."
The woman received unexpected support from someone standing next to her. The helper, a girl dressed in my school uniform, gave the boy her courageous and frank opinion. Although it wasn't necessarily rude of her to say so, the aforementioned boy seemed to react with a grin that was condescendingly proud of his young self.
"The new challenger is a pretty girl, eh? It would seem that I'm rather lucky with the fairer sex," the boy said.
"This poor woman appears to have been suffering for some time. Won't you please give her your seat? You may find such courtesy unnecessary, but I believe it would contribute greatly to society."
Clack! The boy then instantaneously snapped his fingers.
"A contribution to society, you say? Hah, that is a very interesting opinion, fair lady. It is certainly true that offering one's seat to the elderly could be seen in such a positive light. Unfortunately, I have no interest in contributing to society, let alone giving up my seat to this wise old lady. I am only interested in my own satisfaction. Oh, and one more thing. You're asking me to give up my seat, but couldn't you just ask one of the other people on this crowded bus? If you really cared about the elderly, something like priority seating would be a rather trivial matter, wouldn't it?"
The boy's haughty attitude remained unchanged. Both the office girl and the elderly woman simply smiled bitterly in response. But the girl didn't back down.
"Everyone, please listen to me for a moment. Won't anyone give up their seat for this woman? It doesn't make any difference who it is."
"Anyone, please!"
How could someone put so much courage, determination and compassion into so few words? That was not an easy task. The girl may have seemed like a nuisance to those around her, but she appealed to the other passengers earnestly and without fear.
Even though I was not in a priority seat, I was near the elderly woman. I imagined that if I raised my hand and offered my seat, the matter would be settled. However, like everyone else, I didn't move.
None of us had thought it necessary to move. Apart from the boy's attitude and remarks, everyone on the bus had, for the most part, agreed with him.
Now, of course, the elderly have an undeniable value to Japan. But we, the youth, will be the backbone of Japan in the future. And considering that our society ages more and more every year, you could say that our youthful value only increases. So if you were to examine both the old and the young and ask yourself which group is more valuable, the answer should be obvious.
It's a perfect argument, wouldn't you say?
Still, I wondered what these passengers would do. As I looked around, I saw two types of people: those who had pretended not to have heard, and those who looked hesitant - I fell into the former category, as I had plugged in my earpiece then turned on some classic masterpiece to relax.
Then I stared at the girl sitting next to me, because in hindsight she seemed rather distant and seemed to have no friends. But the thing is, she was different. She herself hadn't been carried away by the confusion, let alone the paranoia. Her face remained expressionless. Thus, the piece I listened to seemed to suit her presence, which could only be described as a wave of terror with a deep sense of mystery, shrouded in darkness that could only be absorbed by the demon's calm and cold nature.
Afterwards, I inadvertently stared into her eyes, which met for an instant. And to be honest, even without saying a word, I could even tell that we had the same thoughts on this matter. Neither of us had deemed it necessary to give up our seats, let alone-
"Hey, you."
Once again, my intrusive thought had been obliterated by the voice of a young girl standing in front of me, staring deeply into someone's eyes. It was an average high school freshman who had been pondering the current situation on a bus.
Hold on, it was me. Never mind, back to the story.
I had deliberately pretended not to hear what she was saying, because I was wearing my earpiece and listening to masterpiece I'd only heard back to my childhood.
However, despite such a gimmick, the situation couldn't be helped, as she had slowly approached me and tapped me on the shoulder, as if she already knew that I was listening to her greetings earlier on.
"Do you agree with what he said earlier?"
I intended to respond to her whisper before she carried on, potentially with my own rhetorical statement. Yet I couldn't, as I didn't confirm nor deny her question and was left confused. Besides, had we had a meeting before? If so, why was I unfamiliar to her? Rather, why didn't she know my name?
To be fair, I had never thought of seeing her figure anywhere before, given the possibilities. Nonetheless, it was almost as though she anticipated this encounter, or it was an awkward coincidence.
"If you look at it, doesn't it make more sense for him to give up his seat? Or were you with him earlier? For me, it seems wrong to take a seat that's already claimed by elderlies or persons with disabilities, especially in an emergency situation."
I couldn't help but nod at the 'well-constructed' argument but refrained from answering the rhetorical question to avoid disturbing other bus passengers.
Although the argument remains effective, it is uncertain whether the young blonde man would concur as he seemed determined to keep his seat due to the perceived energy expenditure of standing. Freud described this behaviour as the pleasure principle, in which humans pursue their needs by ignoring external influences.
In other words, they do not adhere to the guilt principle that is governed by moral values.
However, the young girl's point regarding the urgent situation, where prioritized passengers were desperately seeking a seat, does describe the necessity of giving up one's seat. Yet still, wouldn't such a rhetoric have weaknesses in understanding human nature?
Speaking of which, in terms of rhetoric, there are three genres of public speech, one of these is known as judicial, which aims to deal with the just and the unjust. And based on her arguments, she used this by seemingly proving what is true. And throughout the argument, she was talking about the importance of giving up a priority seat to a supposedly elderly person who needed a seat there.
And what she had been trying to do was to convince me then attract some others into agreeing on her opinion, as it appeared that no one still did give up for their seat, before-
"Hey, are you even listening?"
She called me once more. This time, with a slightly concerned face as if she wanted to ask me whether I was alright as I just snapped back into reality. Perhaps, it might have been because I had been in my own world for more or less 2 minutes and 43 seconds.
I then nodded as a sign that I was listening to her argument.
Seeing that no one had given up their seat, despite some of them were hesitating to do so, it appeared that the only solution was to initiate something. While the blond girl in front of me still was trying to convince me that it's better to give up the seat, I didn't prefer to be bothered by doing so.
"What are you two talking about?"
A stern, cold stare met my eyes and those of a girl next to me, as it appeared that the commotion we had caused had attracted her to speak some words for the first time in a long while.
The girl who was next to me then by all of a sudden had approached her and pleaded in front of her. No, not just her but also everyone as she appeared to have tears in her eyes.
"Is it too much of you to give a seat for an elderly lady in need? It's not only for society's benefit sake, but for moral reasons too! If you feel this way too, please stand and give up your seat. I don't care who you are, so long as you have the compassion, just do it!"
The girl who was sitting quietly before then let out a sigh and said,
"Fine, you win. I'll give her my seat."
She offered the elderly woman a seat, who later expressed gratitude to her and the girl.
I had expected it was undeniable that moral reasons could induce a sense of guilt in individuals, especially those whom it have their own moral values. And it didn't really matter whether they had intended to act on their morals or not, such reasoning persists in their thoughts.
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