Ellynne wrote:

Leylan's character: I think he represents the full tragedy of what the Federation can do to the good - or potentially good - people under its control. He _knows_ what's right and he's willing to make some gestures towards it, but with a great sense of futility.

One of the weapons of any wrong-headed administration is just that sense of futility, of cynicism, of apathy. Many will see the injustices and the corruption, few will take any action.

And Carol Mc wrote:

... heroism is an impulsive act. Time and again, the honorees state that

they don't consider

themselves to be heroes. They saw and they reacted. I think that happened

a number of

times in B7. A character saw someone in danger and reacted to save

him/her. Which is

heroic, because some people wouldn't react; they'd slink the other way or

freeze.

True. The really interesting part, to me at least, is that to oppose the injustices and corruption of the Federation administration requires heroic action(s), but it's not of the impulsive sort, it's considered and premeditated.

I would guess that the proportion of people who would risk their life impulsively, say, to save a child from drowning would be much higher than the proportion who would risk their job to oppose a multinational corporation that, say, abuses child labour.

Tavia