# What slavery is Slavery is when someone has [power](power.md) over someone against their [will](purpose.md). A slave's master will be able to control what someone [says or does](results.md). Most references to slavery have historically been the concept of owning people, with most instances being: - Domination via [war](people-conflicts-war.md), with the loser becoming the property of the winner. - That person was born into an owned family. A slave, however, is anyone unable to make free [decisions](people-decisions.md) to the scope of [their rights](people-boundaries.md). APPLICATION: The current [fashions](trends.md) of modern society treat slavery discussions as [taboo](morality-taboo.md), but the concept is farther-reaching than most people realize. While we can debate the extent of "freedom", slavery in modern civilization is still commonplace: - Workers forced into lopsided agreements - Celebrities with controlling managers - Cult members - Sex slaves, such as trafficked children - [Debt](money-2_debt.md) holders when their loans have a high interest or arbitrary terms - Incarcerated individuals APPLICATION: The only outward difference between massive debt and slavery is [math](math.md) and the [stories](stories.md) people interpret about it. And, since people can make decisions on them, some things are *not* entirely slavery: - Living in a [ghetto](classes.md) with the ability to self-educate and leave it - Working a job where there are [opportunities](power.md) to change the situation - Having [debt](money-2_debt.md) that can be repaid relatively quickly Further, when a society gives people the freedom to escape slavery, they can also make decisions that put them *into* slavery as well. As long as slavery exists, it'll be a revolving door. A slave is a tradable commodity. From debt to children, the elements of a slave can be bought and sold. This certainly violates [human rights](people-boundaries.md), but doesn't change the [power](power.md) it gives the owners, and therefore is still [culturally](people-culture.md) acceptable. ## Servant vs. slave People who are temporary slaves are bound by either an [agreement](people-contracts.md) or a [purpose](purpose.md). But, they can often choose a different arrangement later on. When someone selects slavery willingly, rather than being forced into it, that person is a servant, which has an *entirely* different framing. Servants, unlike slaves, can both say and enforce [their right](people-boundaries.md) to say "no" to something. This [possibility](imagination.md) of choice distinguishes them because the servant has (or had) dictated who they're serving, while the slave is forced without negotiation to serve whether they desire to or not. Servants, therefore, are considered "voluntarily" slaves, and society interprets them as "free" even when they're bound by an [agreement](people-contracts.md) because they made a [choice](people-decisions.md). On the other hand, slaves' [decisions](people-decisions.md) mean nothing except how much [power](power-types.md) is necessary to keep them bound. APPLICATION: The line between slave and servant is murky. People sometimes consent to a slavery arrangement (e.g., foreigners who don't understand the [language](language.md) of a [contract](people-contracts.md)), but won't care because it was *better* than their [culture](people-culture.md) of origin. ## Power A slave has little to no [legitimate power](power.md). They may have some types of power (such as [understanding](understanding.md)), but never the [means](purpose.md) to become free or interact equally among society. This situation means the slave has two methods available to change their situation: 1. [Become aware](awareness.md) of otherwise unseen [power](power.md). 2. Focus their [willpower](purpose.md) into successful, [creative](mind-creativity.md) solutions to gain their freedom. This may include geographically relocating to somewhere else that doesn't recognize their status as a second-tier citizen. We can also make [decisions](people-decisions.md) to *increase* our enslaved status: - The only difference between a wealthy free person and a poor slave is a few foolish decisions breaking the wrong [rules](people-rules.md) and [dishonoring cultural norms](morality-taboo.md). - We can lose so much [power](power.md) relative to others that we become enslaved. - Whenever we have options, but our environment gives us no choice, the lack of a decision can enslave us to its consequences. ## Labels Often, the word "slave" has implications of forced labor, separating [families](people-family.md), and [destroying lives for entertainment](morality-evil.md). The practice is [*far* from abolished](http://www.endslaverynow.org), and likely never will be. The institution of slavery in practice, however, is merely an unfeeling structure that cuts off opportunities purely because of a social status. The only people worth declaring [evil](morality-evil.md) are the direct slaveholders and that [society's](people-culture.md) acceptance of the practice. However, depending on the culture and [economic necessity](economics.md), [good people](morality.md) may still own slaves. Generally, the actual value people treat their enslaved subjects is contingent on [economics](economics.md). Historically, slaves who had highly valuable [specializations](jobs-specialization.md) were assigned to the household and treated as if they were [family members](people-family.md). Hypothetically, if everyone were enslaved to a perfectly [good](morality.md) and [loving](people-love.md) master, the arrangement would be mutually beneficial. That master would take care of every need, and the slaves would be [satisfied](mind-feelings-happiness.md) and [live well](success-1_why.md). APPLICATION: Slavery is always [wrong](morality.md), with the single exception of when an individual is incapable of tending to their personal needs. This is why we have no problem with guardianship of children or the [extremely elderly](maturity.md). But, for several reasons, humans will always exert some level of evil when they enslave others: 1. When a social system permits it, they have nobody to oppose them 2. The institution itself doesn't give people inherent value for their [actual human worth](humanity.md). APPLICATION: Submitting to slavery through [fear](mind-feelings-fear.md) of a powerful and [evil](morality-evil.md) master might be worse than dying, so [calculate carefully](people-decisions.md). Because slavery is the act of forcing power over another, it's difficult in free societies to discern who owns who, or when: 1. The boss owns the employee. 2. The corporate board owns the boss. 3. The shareholders own the board. 4. Many shareholders are employees. 5. The [cult leader](culture-cults.md) owns the members. APPLICATION: In free societies, slavery typically comes from [perspective](image.md) more than [reality](reality.md). If everyone were to change their attitude to [self-ownership](success-1_why.md), millions of slaves would be freed overnight. Most people, barring [Christians](https://theologos.site/devotion-chaos/) and [leftists](politics-leftism.md), are uncomfortable with [self-identifying](identity.md) as slaves. It's humiliating in most contexts without someone to fix it or someone to blame. Most slave owners don't like to consider their activities as slavery. Far too often, the word [debt](money-2_debt.md) or [coercion](power.md) is a more [fashionable](trends.md) term to enslave people, [groups](groups-small.md), and [entire countries](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Haiti). ## Inversion Often, the requirements of a role can make [power](power.md) directly enslave us: - [Addictions](addiction.md) enslave anyone willing to devote their life to that substance. - A lifestyle filled with too much responsibility (e.g., [running a large organization](groups-large.md)) requires someone to *never* be free to live [the good life](goodlife.md). - Even abdicating our material possessions and giving ownership of everything can *still* run us into the continued risk of being enslaved to our [ideals](values.md). In one way or another, we are always [at risk](safety.md) of something or someone enslaving us. The only way to be completely free is to avoid being a slave, but also to avoid being a master (to avoid responsibility for someone). APPLICATION: Slavery is ubiquitous, even if we don't use that specific word, and [human nature](humanity.md) means it'll always be with us barring something that would directly change human nature. This temptation to own slaves is so profound that the concept of equity ownership (i.e., owning an [imaginary person](image-modern.md) defined as a "corporation") is effectively slavery without an actual slave.