The odd thing is, the concept that “owning humans as property is bad” is a rather recent notion in the scheme of human civilization.
Isn’t the idea of owning humans just a fad in the history of civilization? Pure subjugation by force died down and we started experimenting with different forms of exploitation and some justification.
I tend to examine the issue from the economic and technological perspective. Until the widespread adoption of electricity and steam power, nearly all physical work was performed through a biological mechanism which actuated a simple machine (wheel, lever, etc.). Now yes there were items such as water wheels and windmills but these were static. If you wanted a source of motive power that you could move around, it was primarily biological. Now this biological engine could either be something like a horse, mule, water buffalo or elephant or it could be a human being. The latter has certain advantages on that it is capable of a wider series of actions and is not necessarily buttonholed into a single role. Now to make use of this resource you can either entreat it to do so (provide pay and benefits) or you can compel it to do so which reduces it to the level of a smart ox. The latter course allows you to reduce your resource usage (just provide sustenance and shelter) while maximizing the return. And thus we have the institution of slavery and all the horrific things it entails.
What percentage of people in Rome where slaves ? Compared to today where mostly everyone is a slave to the system
Lol but we can’t change or discard the artificial systems we cobbled together hundreds of years ago to maintain the power of wealthy aristocrats and pretend are democratic through an increasingly diaphanous facade.
Wouldn’t it just be easier to genetically re-engineer ourselves from scratch to better conform with the will of our masters? Or at least a little eugenics? Oh! Have you ever read the ‘red rising’ series? That seems pretty cool. Why not shoot for that?
How about genetically engineering Dark Tetrad traits, out of humanity.
…out?
I really like Ursula K. Le Guin as an author and her philosophical perspectives.
This is one of my favourite quotes OAT…
If Socialism is supposed to be the analogue to Feudalism in this meme, that’s… not exactly an endorsement.
I think feudalism is supposed to be feudalism in this meme. I do not think this is supposed to be an analogy at all. Just a “demonstration” of how non-sensical the “this is the best it will ever be” mentality is.
This is either making fun of Winston Churchill’s quote “democracy is the worst form of Government except all those other forms that have been tried.”, or of the idiom that came from it “It’s not perfect but it’s the best we got” and is frequently used to defend capitalism
The current system has led to the 6th mass extinction.
