BSG Blog 7: Laura Roslin-Pragmatism vs Idealism
(Note: This blog is in response to a game going on at the 13th Colony on Myspace, the analysis is still relevent though.)
7 Juin 2007
Blog 7
Laura Roslin: Pragmatism vs Idealism
Spoilers for through the end of Season III
So, as everyone in the room already knows, Laura Roslin is my character of choice.
With reference to the elimination game, I am frankly surprised she has made it this far. This is probably a credit to RDM because most of the time, leaders are hated while they're in office and their supporters aren't all that vocal because it is easier to look for greener pastures (oh and no one wants to take responsibility for their votes). Consider our current and past presidents if you need examples. Here, in the greater Seattle area anyway, everyone bitches about whomever is in charge. Without side stepping into our current swamp of political despair, it is very realistic that people have problems with Laura Roslin.
That said, I really like how realistically RDM portrayed the short sightedness of the general public, as it is in our reality, with the election of Baltar. It was obvious to everyone watching the show that whatever Roslin's faults, she was certainly the better choice, but people so often think only with their hearts (and information is often so limited). Fatigue is powerful and so is desire for change, any change, when things are bad. (People whined about how horrible Bill Clinton's moral standards were and now here we are with an approval rating of 29%.)
Back to my surprise at Roslin's top five status: I think RDM has softened her from what she really might be like because he wants the audience to like her. A pragmatist with her brains and political skills would not win a popularity contest very easily. We are presented with a cleaned up image of Roslin because we are privy to her private moments which the press are not. And, since those private moments don't sell newspapers, the press doesn't want to present a human version of Roslin. They want tar, goo, muck and puke coated Roslin so that people will listen/watch their broadcasts. Scandals make news, not nice people who do their jobs well. I also feel this is very reflective of our society. I think that for all the faults our leaders have and we see in the media, underneath they are human. I am making NO comments about my like or dislike of the current administration when I say that. (not that you all cannot read between the lines about my political affiliations.)
If we were the fleet, Roslin would not be in the top five favorite people if this were presented as a popularity contest for our leaders. I think she wouldn't be the first out, but certainly not in the top five.
Let's talk pragmatism vs idealism. As mentioned before, the general public, those with the luxury, think with their hearts and want, and rightly so, the very best, most moral outcome in any situation. In a word: perfection. This idealistic perspective often conflicts with pragmatism when the going gets rough. A pure pragmatist could be defined as an evil person because they would ignore all moral considerations for the desired outcome. IE: the ends justify the means. Laura Roslin is not this person. Laura Roslin is a pragmatist, but she is tempered by morality. Consider this: the options available to Laura Roslin surrounding Hera were: 1. Airlock Athena as soon as they returned from Kobol, 2. Airlock her as soon as she discovered the pregnancy was real, 3. Keep her around and see if she could be used, 4. Abort the fetus, 5. Airlock Hera after birth, or 6. Adopt out Hera unbeknownst to everyone. (I'm sure there are other possibilities that would keep fleet security in the forefront but I'm not going to bother coming up with every last one.)
Can anyone honestly say that it would have been ok to either tell Athena (at that point in time) and Helo their child was going to be raised by someone else or let them raise her? Think: Roslin was right, if the Cylons knew Hera was alive, they'd go after her and endanger humanity (priority number one). That left the only choices to be: airlock Hera or fake her death. A pure pragmatist would have simply airlocked her and not looked back. Roslin's a pragmatist with heart and so she did the right thing. Yes she did try to abort the fetus, which in my pragmatic opinion was a good idea given the information available. But failing that, the other was the next best option.
Bottom line: Hera presented a serious threat to the fleet, it was the duty of the president to eliminate or at least minimize that threat as best she could. Both of her choices reflected sound reasoning and heart.
Do I think baby-napping is ok? NEVER. But no one ever said that anyone (myself included) had to be ok with it for it to be the right thing to do. (Do you really think that Roslin herself just felt all warm and fuzzy about kidnapping a child? Hell no! She would really rather not have had to do that.) The luxury of not having to make the decisions ourselves is that we have the latitude to consider a perfect world. It is the job of our leaders to dream of that perfect world with us and then make the decision that is as close as can be to that image.
Decision making is hard and many people are really miserable at it. So I have the utmost respect for Laura Roslin because she has the guts to make good decisions whether or not they are ideal. Thus I accept Roslin's decision regarding Hera. Though if it were a perfect world and the Cylons weren't going to destroy humanity, I would give Sharon Agathon a big hug, thank her for her help and let her raise her child. But, the BSG world is not a perfect one and if it were, we wouldn't watch.
Heheh. I love BSG.
7 Juin 2007
Blog 7
Laura Roslin: Pragmatism vs Idealism
Spoilers for through the end of Season III
So, as everyone in the room already knows, Laura Roslin is my character of choice.
With reference to the elimination game, I am frankly surprised she has made it this far. This is probably a credit to RDM because most of the time, leaders are hated while they're in office and their supporters aren't all that vocal because it is easier to look for greener pastures (oh and no one wants to take responsibility for their votes). Consider our current and past presidents if you need examples. Here, in the greater Seattle area anyway, everyone bitches about whomever is in charge. Without side stepping into our current swamp of political despair, it is very realistic that people have problems with Laura Roslin.
That said, I really like how realistically RDM portrayed the short sightedness of the general public, as it is in our reality, with the election of Baltar. It was obvious to everyone watching the show that whatever Roslin's faults, she was certainly the better choice, but people so often think only with their hearts (and information is often so limited). Fatigue is powerful and so is desire for change, any change, when things are bad. (People whined about how horrible Bill Clinton's moral standards were and now here we are with an approval rating of 29%.)
Back to my surprise at Roslin's top five status: I think RDM has softened her from what she really might be like because he wants the audience to like her. A pragmatist with her brains and political skills would not win a popularity contest very easily. We are presented with a cleaned up image of Roslin because we are privy to her private moments which the press are not. And, since those private moments don't sell newspapers, the press doesn't want to present a human version of Roslin. They want tar, goo, muck and puke coated Roslin so that people will listen/watch their broadcasts. Scandals make news, not nice people who do their jobs well. I also feel this is very reflective of our society. I think that for all the faults our leaders have and we see in the media, underneath they are human. I am making NO comments about my like or dislike of the current administration when I say that. (not that you all cannot read between the lines about my political affiliations.)
If we were the fleet, Roslin would not be in the top five favorite people if this were presented as a popularity contest for our leaders. I think she wouldn't be the first out, but certainly not in the top five.
Let's talk pragmatism vs idealism. As mentioned before, the general public, those with the luxury, think with their hearts and want, and rightly so, the very best, most moral outcome in any situation. In a word: perfection. This idealistic perspective often conflicts with pragmatism when the going gets rough. A pure pragmatist could be defined as an evil person because they would ignore all moral considerations for the desired outcome. IE: the ends justify the means. Laura Roslin is not this person. Laura Roslin is a pragmatist, but she is tempered by morality. Consider this: the options available to Laura Roslin surrounding Hera were: 1. Airlock Athena as soon as they returned from Kobol, 2. Airlock her as soon as she discovered the pregnancy was real, 3. Keep her around and see if she could be used, 4. Abort the fetus, 5. Airlock Hera after birth, or 6. Adopt out Hera unbeknownst to everyone. (I'm sure there are other possibilities that would keep fleet security in the forefront but I'm not going to bother coming up with every last one.)
Can anyone honestly say that it would have been ok to either tell Athena (at that point in time) and Helo their child was going to be raised by someone else or let them raise her? Think: Roslin was right, if the Cylons knew Hera was alive, they'd go after her and endanger humanity (priority number one). That left the only choices to be: airlock Hera or fake her death. A pure pragmatist would have simply airlocked her and not looked back. Roslin's a pragmatist with heart and so she did the right thing. Yes she did try to abort the fetus, which in my pragmatic opinion was a good idea given the information available. But failing that, the other was the next best option.
Bottom line: Hera presented a serious threat to the fleet, it was the duty of the president to eliminate or at least minimize that threat as best she could. Both of her choices reflected sound reasoning and heart.
Do I think baby-napping is ok? NEVER. But no one ever said that anyone (myself included) had to be ok with it for it to be the right thing to do. (Do you really think that Roslin herself just felt all warm and fuzzy about kidnapping a child? Hell no! She would really rather not have had to do that.) The luxury of not having to make the decisions ourselves is that we have the latitude to consider a perfect world. It is the job of our leaders to dream of that perfect world with us and then make the decision that is as close as can be to that image.
Decision making is hard and many people are really miserable at it. So I have the utmost respect for Laura Roslin because she has the guts to make good decisions whether or not they are ideal. Thus I accept Roslin's decision regarding Hera. Though if it were a perfect world and the Cylons weren't going to destroy humanity, I would give Sharon Agathon a big hug, thank her for her help and let her raise her child. But, the BSG world is not a perfect one and if it were, we wouldn't watch.
Heheh. I love BSG.