Be awake!
(A short story about common sense and civil courage.)
Young law students are gathered in a lecture room of their university.
Ready to learn their first lesson - and it's gonna be a true life lesson.
The professor enters and takes a look around.
"You there, second desk. Blue jacket. What is your name?" he asks a student.
"My name is Alexis."
"Please leave my lecture room. I don't want to see you at one of my lectures ever again."
Everyone is quiet.
The student is irritated.
"I don't understand."
"I am not going to ask a second time. Thank you."
The student packs her things, gets up silently and leaves the hall.
The other students are speechless too.
Quite shaken not to say shocked.
They stare at the professor who looks at them attentively.
"Why are there laws?" he asks the group.
Still, nobody dares to speak.
Everyone looks at the others.
"What are laws for?" the professor asks again.
"Social order." someone says hesitantly.
"To protect a person's personal rights." Another student says.
A third replies.
"So that you can rely on the state."
The professor is not satisfied.
"Justice!" calls out a student.
The professor gives her a warm, encouraging smile.
"Thank you very much. Did I behave unfairly towards your classmate earlier?"
Everyone nods.
"Indeed I did. Why didn't anyone protest?
Why didn't any of you try to stop me?
Why didn't you want to prevent this injustice?" he asks.
Silence.
"What you just learned you wouldn't have understood in 1,000 hours of lectures if you hadn't lived it.
You didn't say anything just because you weren't affected yourself.
This attitude speaks against you and against life. You think as long as it doesn't concern you, it's none of your business.
I'm telling you, if you don't say anything today and don't bring about justice, then one day you too will experience injustice and no one will stand before you.
Justice lives through us all.
We have to fight for it. In life and at work, we often live next to each other instead of with each other.
We console ourselves that the problems of others are none of our business.
We go home and are glad that we were spared. But it's also about standing up for others.
Every day an injustice happens in business, in sports or on the tram.
Relying on someone to sort it out is not enough. It is our duty to be there for others.
Speaking for others when they cannot.
I am here to teach you the power of your voice.
I want you to learn criticial thinking
to empower you to stand up for what is right even if it means going against what everyone else is doing.
Let's begin."
Based upon a post by Joerg Storm and a short film by Chiara Gizzi.
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