KEOMANIVONG, Noah

PURVIS, Fiora
ROBINS, Aleem
STEFAN, Anisia
234

Equality is Key

Project presented to Ms. Manoukian

ANE304

Collège Beaubois

December 2, 2021
 Part One

a) Our main character lives in the Noke community. Our flag

has three main elements. The first and most important
one is equality. We have displayed the concept by
illustrating two people holding hands. The second one,
freedom, is shown by a bird freed from his cage. Finally
the third one is education. We have put books and a
mortarboard hat (graduation hat) on top. To symbolize
equality through genders, we also added signs to
represent them. The three colours in the center show that
all races are equal in our community. Also, we have
displayed all of those elements in a Venn diagram to
show they’re all interacting with each other.

b) We have a democratic government system where the community votes on who they
want to run the city and help develop it. Ten people are elected. These people stay
for two years but they are allowed to re enter the election as many times they want.
The main role of the government is to improve and develop the community by
installing rules and regulations, to make decisions concerning jobs and to fix any
social conflicts.

c) (Who goes to school, age, subject, mandatory) In our community, school is

mandatory. To earn a job, you need to complete every stage of education (10 years
of diverse education + 2 years in a specific field). Otherwise, you can get kicked out
of the community for your lack of competence. People in the community start school
at the age of 5 which means they finish their mandatory education at the age of 17
but you can continue until the age of 25. By that age, young adults have to be
working in the community under the possibility of being expelled from the community.
In the 10 years of diverse education, the developing adults learn the English
language, simple math, some of the roles the government plays, some law concepts
and science. School is free and made to be accessible for all children who live in the
community.

d) (3 unusual laws, break the laws)

● No abusing the item system:
You are allowed to choose fifteen items per month. Items include toys, accessories, etc.
Food is delivered three times a day and is not considered an item (except treats such as
candy and chips who can be chosen).
Sanction: If you steal sixteen or seventeen items instead of fifteen, you would have to do
community service to earn your items. In bigger cases (18 or more items) the same sanction
that applies for the equality rule is used.

● No equality rule:
Equality is the pillar to this community (it’s what we based it on).
Sanction: If you disobey the rule, we will take you to a room and we’re going to put you in a
realistic virtual reality game (for a full week) where equality and peace is not respected.
Hopefully, it will make you realize the importance of it in a modern society.
● Respect of others, yourself and the environment:
Sanction: One warning then you get sent to a correctional facility where they will teach you
the importance of respect. If you compromise respect multiple times, you will spend more
and more time at the center. You will be sent away from the community to a rehab center
where they will show you no respect to get back at your actions.

e) (Jobs, training)
1. Government: Group of people (10) who are chosen by the community to develop said
community. They assure that the community is moving forward and maintain the
peace inside it. To get the job they must qualify for the 2 years of training in the
specific field which include courses on law, on a lot of other communities so they can
learn how to make the best decisions regarding their community. They also follow
courses on ethics/quality of life to assure a peaceful community with minimal conflict.

2. Advisers: They advise the government and the members of the community when it is
needed. For example, when they have a hard time choosing a job or when they have
questions or remarks about certain aspects of the society. To receive this job, they
need to have a high amount of wisdom (most people who qualify for this job are
elders because they have a lot of life experience and have had other jobs). There is a
special type of training for this job in which you have to continue learning on every
subject 5 more years after spending 10 years of diverse education because they
need to be able to advise anyone in any situation. This means that they will be
finishing their education at 22 years old to be truly ready to advise their community.
They also need to take courses for specific jobs including the ones for the
government and law concepts, for teachers, agriculture work and so on. The people
who are training to become advisers also have to take 5 extra mandatory years of
education so that they can be truly ready (they will finish their education when they
are 22 years of age. This is the job Aiko is trying to get because he wants to help his
community regarding equality. Everyone agrees he should become an adviser
because he has a much higher level of wisdom compared to everyone in his age
group.

3. Engineers and architects : They assure the development of the community (they are
able to build all sorts of housings/ buildings) and/or fixing problems related to housing
and public spaces. Future engineers and architects need to complete multiple
science courses, modeling courses and technological courses. In the last 4 months
of the training, they need to design and model any type of building (the final exam)
using the skills they learned. They will have to make a miniature version in real life of
their design that contains some science principles to make sure the building can
support itself and other civilians without breaking down. This is very important to
assure that the future buildings that are going to be built by them won’t collapse.

f) (Family portrait) Spouses choose each other and there is no limit of kids they can have.
Grandparents are allowed to live with their kids and grandkids.
 Equality is the Key

A few weeks before the event…

“I don't think you should go,” my mom told me.

“Why not?”I asked.
“Aiko, you should know that other communities aren’t like our’s.”
“But this is a one time privilege! If I don’t go now, I’ll never be able to go! We’re in 2121 in Japan,
mom. What could be so dangerous?
“It was different when Emi went on the trip. Now, things have changed,” my mom said.
“This isn’t fair mom!”
“I guess it isn’t but it is what I have decided.”
“I know equality is important to you and you’re not respecting it right now,” I replied.
“Equality is important to me. This is different. I’m trying to protect you.”
“But mom!”
“Actually… It would be an interesting experience you would acquire. You can go. But with one
condition: I’ll have to approve the communities you choose,” she answered.
“Thank you so much mom! I promise I’ll choose good ones!” I said in an excited voice. “Emi told me
that I should go to the Riverview and the Liverside communities because apparently there's a lot of
ancient artifacts and information about the old times. She also mentioned that I absolutely have to go
to the Haon community because it’s an interesting one.
“Ok. Those aren’t bad communities, but promise me you’ll be careful. I hope you have a good time,”
she wished me.

The day of the trip…

We were on our first community visit to Riverview. We explored the culture of the society. It seemed
quite different from our’s. People didn’t have the same jobs and schedules. For example, we usually
see agricultural workers do their job all around our community, but when we visited this one, we didn’t
see any agricultural workers. People also seemed to have a little more liberty. We remarked that kids
were playing around and could walk through the community as they wanted while our access to
certain places is restricted. It seemed a bit nicer than ours in terms of aesthetic too. The trees looked
more lively and had much brighter colours than ours and the buildings were more interesting. Also,
the houses all had different shapes and colours while ours have the same exterior design.

While we were walking on the sidewalk, I saw a person passing by so I waved at her. Suddenly, I saw
someone of different skin tone shouting at her. She answered back with some disturbing words. I
thought everyone had the right to walk there. I tried interrupting their conversation but my friend
stopped me and told me that that’s the way they communicate in this community. I knew that that
wasn’t really the way they communicate, but I tried to forget about it.

As we walked through a park, I could feel the wind and it was a very nice day to be outside. I saw a
group of boys playing soccer and a girl heading towards them. She was probably asking them if she
could play too. To my surprise, they stopped playing right when she tried to integrate herself in the
game. I heard them criticizing her. I didn’t understand why those boys treated that girl that way so I
decided to interfere in their conversation.

“Why won’t you let this girl play?” I asked.

“Well she’s obviously not good enough to play with us,” one boy replied.
His comment shocked me because, in our community, females and males have equal chances .
“Have you ever seen her play?”I asked.
“No, we don’t need to. We already know girls aren’t good enough to play with us so you can let us
continue our game if you don’t want the police to know about your attempt to make us transgress a
rule.”
“Not letting a girl play with you is a rule?” I said in a confused tone.
“Yes.”

I knew I needed to make a change. This wasn’t right. How could they treat people differently just
because of their skin colour or gender?

I decided to call my dad and ask him for advice.

“Dad, today I witnessed two situations where people were discriminated against. I was wondering if I
should do something about it.”
“Well, I think if it’s important to you, you should.”
“What can I possibly do to change this situation?” I questioned.
“You could go talk to the government of the community and explain your point of view.”
“That’s a good idea! I’ll do it!” I answered excitedly. “Thanks dad!”

The next day…

I woke up early to have enough time to think about what I was going to say to such important people.
However, I started to doubt myself. Why would they listen to a child like me? Should I even be going?
I finally concluded that I should because equality is important to me and I should fight for it.

I got to the Government Plaza. I explained to the woman sitting at the front desk the reason I was
there. She then said a member of the gouvernement is free and that I’ll be able to meet her.

A middle aged woman suddenly walked out a door situated at the end of the corridor.

“Hello young man,” she said in a soothing tone.

“Hello,” I replied timidly.
“I understand you wanted to discuss equality.”
“Yes.”
“Ok, follow me.”

I followed her to her office. It seemed like a normal office I’d seen at my dad’s workplace: a desk,
many scattered documents on it, chairs, and diplomas hanging on the walls.

“What is it that concerns you about our community?” asked who I assumed to be the principal
member of the government.
“Well I live in a different community and in our community, one of the most important concepts is
equality. For us, it’s important that everyone is treated the same way. When I first visited your
community, something seemed different: equality isn't as respected as it is in our community and I
think that’s a problem. You have put rules in place that discriminate against certain groups of people.
For example, the fact that only light skinned people are allowed to walk on the sidewalk unlike the
darker skinned ones isn’t fair,” I said trying to convince her.
“Well, we kept the rules that have been put in place a long time ago by our predecessors. We never
questioned the rules that they put in place. I think you have an interesting point though. No one ever
brought this aspect to my attention. I will talk about it to my colleagues and get their opinions,” she
agreed.
“Thank you for listening to me. I hope you get to an agreement and put rules in place that favor
equality,” I said gratefully.
“Thank you for sharing your point of view with me.”
“Thank you for listening.”

That was the last day of my trip. I really enjoyed it! I couldn’t wait to tell my parents and my sister
about how I met with the government members. I first told my mom. She was really happy to hear
about this especially because equality is so important to her. Then I told my dad. He was very proud
too and happy he helped. My sister didn’t really react. But she said she was proud of me and that was
enough. I was proud of myself too. I fought for an important value of mine. Even if I’m not completely
sure the government is going to make a big change, I was, and still am, able to say I tried. After all, l
couldn’t just close my eyes on how people were treated in this community. I thought of all those
people who were discriminated against by the rules and who won’t be anymore if things change. How
everyone is finally going to be perceived and treated equally. No one is ever going to feel superior or
inferior to anyone and they’ll all have the same chances to prove themselves. For example, everyone
will be allowed to walk on the sidewalk and any girl that wants to play with boys won’t be refused and
criticized just because of her gender. I’m sure mom will be proud of me. Dad too. It’s always been so
important to them as well. After this experience, I did realize something I never had: all communities
aren’t the same and aren’t perfect. That’s when I understood what my mom meant when she said all
communities aren’t as good as our’s. She meant that all societies don’t have the same values we
have.

Since equality is so important to me, I want to make sure it’s respected. Therefore, I want to become
a member of the government of my community when I'm older. I want to visit different communities
and try to help with their problems concerning equality. Then maybe, it’ll inspire others to fight for
things that are important to them too.