(CNU Lecture hall, Late for Class due to sick rooster)

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyI9flHHT2Q]

Sorry, was running a bit late this morning. Had to drop the kids off at their school due to missing the first streetcar, and it was a good run. So, excuse the sweat, and I appreciate you sticking around instead of sticking to American Custom on classes.

It's a good introduction to American Imperial Etiquette, which all stems from the same principle. The average Imperial citizen was so averse to work, that all conversations had to do with exactly who would be responsible for fixing any problems. In essence, nearly every interaction within the Empire had to do with winners or losers. If you were not winning the conversation, by coercing action or appropriate responses out of the other person in the conversation, you were losing the conversation.

The Average American political discussion involved angrily shouting at each other in a public forum until one side relented and became silent. At that point, the person still talking would be declared the winner and the conversation would be considered settled. Further discussion after silence would be considered a major Faux pas, as it was considered clear that you did not feel strongly enough about the subject to continue to press your claim in the face of opposition.

Of course, this applied mostly to public discussion. In private, Americans were expected to never discuss politics, the cults, or private behavior because if they did, they were expected to resort to Public behavior and defend their position aggressively. Of course, public behavior was considered boorish and insulting in a private setting, so certain topics were never to be broached without severe social stigma.

What this resulted in was a society where nearly all topics were essentially considered forbidden. Unless you were willing to be publicly scrutinized by the cults, and have every single facet of your life subject to judgement; you were expected to remain silent, lest your taste in music, entertainment, sexual partners, or even physical appearance be subject to ridicule or praise by the various public figures.

American etiquette existed primarily to avoid work. You must remember that the American aversion to work was rife throughout their society, and if they could avoid work by passing the task on to a slave or a machine, it was considered the height of intelligence and nobility. A technological object made by machines in a far off colony was valued far more than a handcrafted item by a master craftsman. Even if the item in question lasted far less time than your average mayfly's lifespan, it was still a status symbol, because it represented work not performed by the owner.

The more work you could avoid, the more polite you were considered. If you could help others avoid work, it was considered extremely polite and generous. Unless of course, the people you were helping were considered to be avoiding their mandatory labor as a slave. While this may seem to make no sense, you must remember that assisting the lowest of the low was considered to be actions against the Empire itself.

This is a hard topic to understand, so I shall elucidate further. Imagine that you had purchased an item with the local currency. It was considered extremely polite to pay a tip to the slave selling the item. The "Tip" in question was for the "Service". It did not matter how well the item had been made, or the actual value of the item in question. That was not negotiable. Instead, you were to pay the amount specified by the office thousands of miles away, and the only judgement you were allowed to make was on the worthiness of the slave. That was represented by how much of your currency you were willing to give to the slave at the counter.

However, to give a tip was not the only way to gain favor while making a purchase. Often customers would feign anger at slaves, loudly, for the purpose of gaining favor with the more powerful of the slaves. Since slaves with status were expected to punish those without status, as well as properly apologize to the publicly offended, this often resulted in a one time devaluing of the product to zero cost to the offended party. Of course, that cost was recouped by punishing the slave, often by giving them less currency to maintain their life.

Keep in mind, that was only ONE of the myriad ways that Americans were expected to tiptoe around their true intentions. When it came to cult behavior the layers of avoiding discussion became far more American in their complexity. It was well known that anyone who was part of the cults had to keep two totally different positions in their mind. One for speaking to slaves, and one for speaking to cult members. For the higher initiates of the cults, a third position was required: One for speaking to cult slaves, who were ignorant of the true purposes of the cults.

Now, if you did confront your problems directly, American society had a special term for you, and would refer to you as a "Bully". This was one of the gravest social errors to commit, and if you were caught, you were usually punished via social ostracism. Those of you that showed up for the Saturday Lecture might recognize the American Social Code at work. The lowest of justice was extremely effective at policing this kind of behavior. Ironically, it was those who used the social code to inflict wrath on their enemies who were considered the most intelligent and witty of the Americans. Again, the American avoidance of work comes to the fore.

Americans even tried to avoid doing the work for their political and military assassinations, relying on the social code to deal with those within the society, and Machines to deal with those outside of the Empire proper. Keep in mind that colonies and anywhere the American Soldier was active was considered to be outside the control of the Empire.

Phew. So yes, American Etiquette was extremely complex. Much of the American Humor was centered around breaches of the societal rules. We know know this form of comedy as the "Awkward" school, and you will still see a few productions of their comedies in theaters. Of course, half of the modern enjoyment of these comedies is laughing at the weight given to these ludicrous rules.

[video:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PIh6-aD-Cc0]