"Well, what's wrong with slavery?"

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

You have the right to be born, and be immediately deported.

 

[tomBitonti]

You have the right to be born, and be immediately deported.

Here is the exact quote from the New Yorker:

“We must vigilantly safeguard the life of the unborn, and, as soon it is no longer unborn, make sure that it leaves and takes its illegal parents with it.”

So completely bizarre. I am at a loss to comprehend this view.

Thx!
TomB

 

[Dannyalcatraz]

That article is from their resident satirist.

 

[Kramodlog]

Poe's law in action.

 

[Umbran]

Yah. You're not the first folks to be trolled by Borowitz. He's good like that.

 

[Ryujin]

I was in an AD&D game a couple months ago with a group of older people (45-60) and there were 2 slaves being played as NPCs, being controlled by the DM, but owned by the other Player Characters. There was a Paladin in their group. When I showed up, with my Lawful Good character who had the "Free Spirit" character trait (basically the anti slavery super power) my character was shocked that Good aligned characters, including a Paladin, would think this was kosher. Now, stepping outside of the Game, we get to the meat of it.

The Players thought it was perfectly natural to have slaves, if the slaves were under conditions they thought were good. Note that I've been rewatching Game of Thrones recently, and the character "Reek" is a slave who has been brain washed into loving the man who tortured him and mutilated his body.

Is the guy who tortures and flays people while laughing, is this man Good because his trembling victims say they love him? Isn't there some kind of Stockholm Syndrome at play? Is the terrorist or kidnapper rapist cannibal a good person because he convinces the victims their conditions are good, when the contrary is true? Should we pat the slave master on the back because he feeds his slaves two moldy pieces of bread instead of one moldy piece of bread like his neighbors?

I can see how Child labor sweat shops, illegal immigrants and wage slaves are all just extensions of this mentality. Eventually you get to Feudalism and landed Lords who have rights the peasants do not. The Samurai chops off your head because you didn't bow and scrape while he was walking down the street. How dare you.

Well the "freedom" angle is actually more of a Chaotic Good trope than it is a Lawful Good one.

Consider the Lawful Good character living in a society, in which slavery is the law of the land. Rome had laws that codified the rights of slaves and the duties of slave owners, for example. A person could fall into slavery for a variety of reasons; birth into the class, debt, criminality, captured during military action, etc.. Now consider that Lawful Good person in context. He stands for Law, not law, but in many cases these can be considered synonymous. There are many others, in his society, who are neither Good nor follow Law. What to do, when there are so many who might be mistreated? One thing would be to buy as many slaves as he could afford to support, add them to his household, and then treat them like valued employees or even family. In ancient Rome this was the status of many slaves.

 

[prosfilaes]

Well the "freedom" angle is actually more of a Chaotic Good trope than it is a Lawful Good one.

D&D 3 SRD:

"Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

"Evil" implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others.

I have a hard time giving any meaning to "dignity" and "oppressing" if they don't include "anti-slavery" and "pro-slavery". "Freedom" as in e.g. how tightly you're confined to your social roles is one thing, and I'm sure that CG is more anti-slavery, but I don't believe that paladins should be supporting slavery, at least not IMO or in D&D 3 RAW.

 

[Ryujin]

D&D 3 SRD:

"Good" implies altruism, respect for life, and a concern for the dignity of sentient beings. Good characters make personal sacrifices to help others.

"Evil" implies hurting, oppressing, and killing others.

I have a hard time giving any meaning to "dignity" and "oppressing" if they don't include "anti-slavery" and "pro-slavery". "Freedom" as in e.g. how tightly you're confined to your social roles is one thing, and I'm sure that CG is more anti-slavery, but I don't believe that paladins should be supporting slavery, at least not IMO or in D&D 3 RAW.

I would say that Good dictates the basic beliefs, while Law/Chaos dictates the methodology.

 

[tomBitonti]

Where this would go for a true LG would be behavior compelled for the common good. For example, compulsory military service, or compulsory civic service. Or behavior compelled by an ideal.

Is Cooper (the engineer/farmer) in Interstellar a slave?

Thx!
TomB

 

[Homicidal_Squirrel]

I think I may have to change the title of this thread to " Well, what's wrong with immigrant workers?"

The Atlantic slave trade between the 1500s and the 1800s brought millions of workers from Africa to the southern United States to work on agricultural plantations.