Meta: Abolitionists and Slaves

[telesilla.livejournal.com]

So, I have a bit of a meta question....

We've seen people like Jeff, Dylan and even the Catholic Church, argue that, given the state of things in the USNA, keeping slaves and treating them well is the right/humane thing to do.

Then there's the argument that keeping slaves at all is wrong, and that it's better to either pay the fines and remove yourself from society (Cate Blanchett is a good example) or to deliberately live poor so that you don't have to own slaves (although we haven't gone into this much yet, David Hewlett's mother and his sister Kate live like this).

I'm kind of curious as to what people here think: which way makes more sense in the context of the AKB verse and which way is more ethical in that same context?

PS: There may be other examples of both sides, I'm kind of behind on the more recent additions to the 'verse.

Comments

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

See, I wasn't aware of the miners being in space. (Just how powerful is this empire? How much of the rest of the world is against them?

PT's been deliberately vague on that. I should add that the miners being in space is my assumption based on the "orbital station" references--she may have something completely different in mind.

I think the numbers issue is what will eventually get them, when there are more slaves then free.

Yes. If there's no safety valve on the system and the current trends of more people being enslaved and the concentration of wealth continuing, then eventually, they'll reach a point where the slaves are the overwhelming majority--and they have nothing to lose by rebelling.

[epeeblade]

The hopelessness of this universe is just starting to get to me a bit:) Once a slave, you can never, ever be free, and the society is so tightly bound, that even dreaming of revolution is impossible. And then you have slaves like Jensen who wouldn't know what to do with freedom if they were given it.

Just a wee bit depressing!

[darkrosetiger.livejournal.com]

The hopelessness of this universe is just starting to get to me a bit:) Once a slave, you can never, ever be free, and the society is so tightly bound, that even dreaming of revolution is impossible.

The thing that makes it work, for me, is focusing on how individuals negotiate their place in the system, and find a way to live with and under it. But it is grim, no question.

And then you have slaves like Jensen who wouldn't know what to do with freedom if they were given it.

I'm not sure Joe would either, to be honest. He's spent almost his entire life taking care of someone. If emancipation happened tomorrow, I think he'd probably want to stay with Jason and David--he'd just be a lot more open about how clueless he thinks they are. And then he'd jump them.

Just a wee bit depressing!

Yeah, I hear ya. Even the stuff like the Rachel/Kavan has a bittersweet undertone, because no matter how much they love each other, in the end, he's still her slave.