The Starboard Particle Interference Dampeners

World Creators: Chris Gouin, Daniella Emanuele, Cristian Lorca, Maya El-Iskandarani, Victoria Leoni

At the dawn of the 22nd Century, after more than 100 years of brutal war, MUSKCORP controls the globe from its massive headquarters in the Greater Toronto Area. There exist two classes of people: “The Socs,” select beneficiaries of all the wonders made possible by Elon Musk, and “The Greasers,” the great mass of people who toil for the benefit of the few, forever cut-off from the splendors of MUSKCORP.

A painting of the Year 3000 split of the Greater Toronto Area. Painting depicts the division between the Socs (Upper Half) and the Greasers (Lower Half).

History and Politics

By the late 21st Century, Earth has been wracked by decades of war, pandemics, and ecological disasters, leaving most of the planet uninhabitable. The old order of governments has collapsed, and countries have been replaced with a complex network of competing corporate entities. These entities, including MUSKCORP and BEZOSCORP are engaged in a global struggle for the planet’s few remaining resources. Things seem bleak for humanity.

But then, in 2097, a miracle happens, and Elon Musk makes two discoveries that would change the world forever: a cure for death, and an endless supply of clean energy. With these two discoveries, MUSKCORP was able to conduct hostile takeovers of the world’s remaining corporate entities, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity that lasts even now, at the dawn of the 22nd Century.

Of course, this prosperity comes at a high price. Because what Elon discovered was this: a means of converting the raw misery and hardship of 99% of the world’s population into a life-giving force for the remaining 1%. These toiling masses, known as "The Greasers," provide the raw energy that makes possible the lavish lifestyle of those known as "The Socs." And because more hardship from the Greasers means more luxury for the Socs, the Greasers must forever live on the outside of MUSKCORP, cut-off from the benefits of their labour.

Some Socs are critical of this relationship, despite their own benefits. But these Socs are misguided and must be reeducated at all costs. Because, as is clear to all correct-thinking Socs, the Grease / Socs relationship is mutually beneficial: the Socs get to live a life of the mind, pushing human knowledge and potential ever further, and the Greasers get to enjoy a life of the body, finding peace through hardship and labour.

Please note, this wiki entry is for Socs’s Eyes only. This entry is for your education. Do not share this info with Greasers.

Education

The Greasers:

A Greaser child learning how to farm.

In the low-class society of the Greasers, there is zero formal education. At best, basic education is facilitated in the home where standard subjects such as science, math, and fine art are not focused on. Instead, young Greasers learn trades and home-steading skills such as farming, cooking, tailoring, butchering, hunting, building, and other important skills necessary for survival. These skills are passed on from generation to generation and are necessary for survival because of the Greasers’ lack of access to the luxuries of the higher-class Soc world. The Greasers learn about the history of the divide between themselves and the Socs mainly through folklore and storytelling practices.

On days where the children are not needed at the household for farming, hunting, or gathering food, some parents may choose to send their children to school where they learn basic topics and concepts needed for survival in their community. The teachers in these schools, though, are not skilled enough to establish inquiry-based learning practices and instead utilize a more traditional banking concept of education. The banking concept of education focuses more on teachers filling students with predetermined knowledge and less on students building knowledge on their own.

The Socs:

Socs children learning in a high tech facility.

In the high-class society of the Socs, there is an emphasis on good quality organized education. Children of the Socs spend most of their day in clean, high-tech learning facilities and are provided with the best tools for education. They learn distinguished subjects such as science, math, fine art, English, history, STEM, and politics. High test scores and academic achievement is a high priority in order to output intelligent members of society. Socs learn about the history of the divide between themselves and the Greasers, but this teaching very strongly favors the story of the Socs and focuses on the negative attributes of the Greasers.

Instructors in Socs schools focus on helping students create and develop knowledge through inquiry-based learning. Inquiry-based learning focuses on student-led learning where students are encouraged to come to develop their own knowledge and conclusions with the support of the instructor. Instructors make sure they first assess what the students already know through Assessment As learning and assess how they are learning during the lesson through Assessment For learning. With the advanced technology, students in the Socs society also employ the multimodal literacy skills that they have been developing since birth both in the classroom and in everyday life.

Entertainment

The Greasers:

Stripped of technology, the Greasers would mainly rely on their imagination, and the company of family and friends for entertainment. Community members would often get together after school or work and engage in activities such as singing, dancing, wrestling, or storytelling. They would also create makeshift forms of entertainment by using nature or any resources made available to them, such as sticks, rocks, rope, boxes, or waste, along with their wild imaginations. The Greasers also played many games where resources or materials were not required. These include touch and go (tag), hide-and-seek, charades, truth or dare, broken telephone, or red-light green-light.

Finally, the Greasers often spend time training for the monthly Greaser Official Wrestling Tournament. This event is exciting for the community as the winner of the tournament is provided with (5) extra clothing vouchers (See 'Fashion and Style' for more details).

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  The Greasers singing songs around the campfire.

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  The Greasers, Ricky (front) and Johnny (back), practicing for the Greaser Official Wrestling Tournament.

The Socs:

With advanced technology, the Socs mainly rely on their phones, television, computers/laptops, video games, virtual reality technology, online shopping, and social media for entertainment. The Socs also listen to the music made by their own community members - as long as it made the Top 20 Songs list of the month.

With the increased wealth, the Socs also entertain themselves through betting and gabbling. One popular activity that the Socs partake in includes betting on the wrestling matches for the Greaser Official Wrestling Tournaments. From the comfort of their own homes or at their local restaurants, the Socs are able to watch the fights through virtual reality streaming.

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  The Socs engaging in one of their favourite activities, gambling.

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  The Socs watching the Greaser Official Wrestling Tournament through virtual reality.

Culture and Cuisine

The gap between the Socs and the Greasers has reached an unprecedented ratio. On one end of the spectrum the Greasers are heavily centred on their ability to adapt to climate conditions, build community through storytelling and skilled trades, as well as hunting and gathering and understanding nature. While the opposing end sports the Socs whose culture revolves around social status through parties and events, flaunting wealth with the latest fashions, dinning out at luxurious restaurants, and owning the most recent technologies. Due to the advancement on Algorithmic Literacies, the Socs have short attention spans and often struggle with identity.

The Socials (Socs) high-class eating habits are a world apart from their lower-class Greaser neighbours. Elite specialists carefully prepare high-class cuisine using the freshest premium ingredients, such as tropical fruits and vegetables out of season or rare spices that are no longer typical or common. Only those who can afford it can indulge in the exotic, varied flavours delivered to your doorstep. Dining out is quite common as hundreds of local restaurants serve only the finest fare that compliments thrilling live entertainment. The Socs food scraps are dumped in a refuge well that the Greasers rely on to survive during winter when hunting, fishing, and farming are scarce.

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  The Socs High-class Cuisine

While the upper half Socs eat out for the enjoyment of it and have premium cooking delivered to their doorsteps, the lower half Greasers struggle to stock pantries and food cellars with canned and dried goods, root vegetables and cured and frozen meats they find from scavenging. They prepare meals from scratch out of necessity and do not have the luxury of nearby restaurants or doorstep delivery. Recipes, skills, stories, and knowledge are passed down from generation to generation. Cooking takes time, love, effort, and a sense of reward from hard work. These skills create trade and craft opportunities for gardeners, farmers, butchers, hunters and more. Community gardens allow locals to harvest their fruit and vegetables, although conditions make it challenging to grow, resulting in a poor yield. Many harvest meat, eggs, and fish by raising chickens and farm animals and hunting or fishing.

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  Greasers Smoked Meat

Work Life

The Greasers: For the Greasers, much of their work life involves doing what is necessary to gain the resources needed to survive. Farming, building, hunting, trading, and tailoring are some of the most common jobs among the community members.

The Socs: For the Socs, the Greater Toronto Area is their oyster. As they live in a community of high socio-economic status and advanced, high-quality education, the community members have the freedom to choose their career as they have all the resources and knowledge necessary to accomplish their goals and dreams.

Fashion and Style

The Greasers:

Greasers' everyday attire.

The Greasers have only the scraps from the materials and hand-me-downs from the Socs to use as garments. They have many second-hand stores and often are not able to wear what is necessary for the extreme Toronto temperatures. The fashion scene for the Greasers is grungy and slouchy whereas the Socs are more put together, crisp and advanced. The Greasers shop at the general store which has the most basic necessities. Since the Greasers do not make much money they are given clothing vouchers once a year for one new garment, because of this the fashion scene for the Greasers is highly dependent on sharing and circulating each other's clothing.

The Socs:

Socs' high-technology fashion

The Socs, ruled by MUSKCORP have accessibility to futuristic, high-technology clothing and fashion - including heat-protective suits and weather-changing clothes suited for any climate. The malls in the Socs society include designer brands and custom shops. Many Socs shop online from the comfort of their own home or with the help of their custom style algorithm. The algorithm is specific to each individual in the society of the Socs as it caters to all their fashion needs and interests while ensuring they are always walking in custom, well-made garments. Fashion for the Socs in the early 3000s has the main emphasis on metallic and chrome along with luxurious accessories including chunky moon boots, sunglasses, helmets, etc. It is safe to say, you cannot miss a member of the Socs, their futuristic, shiny sense of fashion makes their presence known from a mile away.

Notable Stories

Elenora's life as a member of the Socs society.

A young teacher, Winnie, rebels against the school system.

Surviving as a Greaser - Ricky's Story

The Exile

FROM THE DESK OF ELON MUSK

Reflection

During the process of creating our world, we learned a lot about how we currently view the present, specifically on education and understanding youth. Throughout the assignment, we were able to reflect on articles studied thus far in the Bachelors of Education program and gained insight into what a segregated world in the early 3000’s would be.

Imagining the future of education was somewhat challenging because we found ourselves wanting to imagine a better future for education for all, yet the most “realistic” future of education for us is simply an exaggeration of the present. The idea of a great social divide between the fortunate and the less fortunate, and the discrimination against the less fortunate, is very realistic. We see children in inner-city schools receiving a lower quality of education today, and the absence of formal education for the Greasers in our world reflects this. This lower quality of education is not because the Greaser parents and students do not care, it is the system of the Greasers vs the Socs that prevents Greaser students from having the education they need. There were a few resources that informed our future story and the future in education. To start off, Brayboy and Maughan (2009) discussed how Indigenous Knowledge Systems (IKS) focus on holism such that everything and everyone is interrelated. “This emphasis on relationships puts animals, plants, and landscapes in the active role of the teacher” (Brayboy & Maughan, 2009, p. 13). As our current education system has steered away from IKS and towards Western Knowledge Systems (where there is more emphasis on the individual), and as technology, media and algorithms continue to advance (Roswell & Walsh, 2011; Thumlert et al., 2022), we felt that citizens will continue to be selfish, have short attention spans, and rely on technology for educational and personal use - this inspired the education and culture of the Socs. However, we felt that if people were stripped of technology, media, and algorithms, then there would be a stronger appreciation for nature, the community, and survival which inspired the education and culture of the Greasers. In addition, with increased research on the success of using inquiry-based learning and multimodality in the classroom to enhance student learning as discussed by Roswell and Walsh (2011) and Thumert et al. (2018), we felt that the future of education for privileged citizens would take advantage of these pedagogical approaches which inspired the future of education for the Socs. However, communities with lower socioeconomic status who have less access to the educational resources necessary to drive student inquiry and utilize multimodal literacies often take on the banking concept of education in which the teacher makes deposits knowledge into the students and the students patiently receives, memorizes, and repeats what was deposited (Freire, 2000).

Thinking critically about the future helped us to think critically about the present because we were able to anticipate in what direction youth and society are headed towards. As future educators we are constantly having to adapt and adjust as we get older and the students stay young. Thinking critically about the future can help us redirect our thinking to the present day and to see how we can better adapt for the well being of the students. Our world was an exaggerated representation of the segregation of high and low class. Although this was an exaggeration and perhaps the future could look like this some day, this helps us to understand the inside stories and experiences of the segregation which occurs in today's world. When thinking about this future world, we realized how symbolic it was to the current day world. Our speculations arose from how we anticipate and dramatically alter what is currently happening in the world we live in. Predicting the future of topics such as society, culture, education, economy, ect. will allow us to reflect on how we view the current day issues around these topics and how we can begin to implement change.

In conclusion, we had a really fun time creating this world and being creative in our learning. It was really great to have community support when working collaboratively in a group setting along with having minds from different backgrounds to contribute from. We also were able to reflect on education and how this form of media literacy can be used in the classroom. Whether it be for a science class, math class, english or drama, having students work together on how these subjects/topics would play out in the future allows for a great creative and explorative assignment which includes media technology.

References

Indigenous Knowledge and the Story of the Bean

Inquiry-driven Learning

Pedagogy of the Oppressed - The Banking Concept of Education

Multimodality, Multiliteracies, & New Literacies

Algorithms

GTA In Year 3000 Painting

Campfire Picture

Greasers Wrestling

Socs Virtual Reality

Socs Gambling

Greaser child farming

Socs children in a high tech classroom

Socs' high-technology fashion

Greasers' everyday attire