Silverbud

Previous Familiars: Cumulus Seal

Awkwardly, they decided to meet up more, to explore deep debates and topics together, but keep it calm otherwise. When they'd meet up, they'd be prepared to learn and defend, it would be a fair playing field where they both felt up to the task at the same time.

As time passed, they felt more and more comfortable with respecting the other while disagreeing vehemently with the opinion, and though they still occasionally set up times to duke it out over the latest news, they began allowing politics and such to slip into conversations that included others.

More time, and as the population on the arch grew, including hatchlings and long-term though temporary inhabitants, Current's democracy began to struggle with who exactly was eligible to vote. And what made a good voter? Someone who understood themself, who could defend an opinion in terms of their own values, be they selfish or altruistic. As long as they thought and didn't just follow, and understood both short term and long term causes and effects, they were a good voter.

Hatchlings took interest in being able to have some power in the governance, but while some could only parrot back parental beliefs, others matured quickly and could meticulously deconstruct a situation, identifying what they believed needed to be done in accordance with more central values and not disconnected ideas. Current needed a way to split the two, so those who would truly vote in their own interest were able, while those thoughtlessly vessels for someone else's thoughts could not.

Of course, Silverbud and Current fought for weeks over this. In fact, Current fought with absolutely every adult dragon on the arch about this. Finally, Current offered Silverbud a job. Over all this time, Silverbud had honed her skills into a brilliant one v. one debater, never tripping over a fallacy and learning to argue multiple sides of issues. In a simple debate, Silverbud would argue with the dragon trying to gain a voting privilege, but also guide them, asking them to work out an opinion on various issues. Others would watch and judge. And it was open, so anyone could call out unfairness in the judging. An overwhelming majority passes, and it's mostly turned into a way to force hatchlings to think about their decision-making before attempting to join the society*. After all, if you want to be treated like someone who can make good decisions, you need to prove you can.

*Note: Only taxpayers may decide what to do with taxpayer treasure. Taxes are mandatory for anyone who earns money. Jobless kids therefore cannot vote in areas concerning spending. Non-monetary voters may vote on various legalities, foreign (non-monetary) policy, or in a jury if the situation arises.