The Starboard Particle Interference Dampeners

In the land of the Greater Toronto Area, as of the early 3000’s there became a divide in social classes after McDonalds and Tesla took over as government. There exists two classes of people, the Greasers and the Socials (Socs) each same in nature, different in opportunities.

Education

The Greasers:

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, farming, 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.

If there is time and knowledge within the household, some parents may choose to teach their children whatever knowledge of distinguished subjects such as science, math, and fine art that they may have left over from the old world. These parents, 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 Socials (Socs):

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, 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.

Entertainment

The Greasers:

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

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 [style] for more details).

The Socials (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.

Culture and Cuisine

The gap between The Socials (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, and hunt, gather, and understand nature. In contrast, the opposing end sports the Socs, whose culture revolves around social status through parties and events, flaunting wealth with the latest fashions, dining out at luxurious restaurants, and owning the most recent technologies. After hundreds of years of education and research on Algorithmic Literacies, the Socs discovered that media decreases the attention span of individuals and creates identity confusion among individuals.

High-class eating habits are a world apart from their lower-class 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. Even clean drinking water is considered a rare delicacy. All food scraps are dumped in a refuge well that the lower class relies on to survive during winter when hunting, fishing, and farming are scarce.

While the upper half eats out for the enjoyment of it and has premium cooking delivered to their doorsteps, the lower half struggles 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 are challenging to grow, resulting in a poor yield. Many harvest meat, eggs, and fish by raising chickens and farm animals and hunting or fishing.

Fashion and Style

The Greasers:

The Greasers, ruled by McDonald’s, 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 Socials (Socs):

The Socs, ruled by Tesla 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. Each individual in the society of the Socs is assigned a head designer at birth who caters to all their fashion needs to ensure 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

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