Slavery - Why not? — Go Cynic.com

The most famous cynic of antiquity, Diogenes, did not just live in a barrel. He owned slaves, for example. And he himself felt into slavery. The ancient Greeks, even if they themselves were affected, did not seem to have had a very big problem with slavery. Why not at least discuss the decriminalization of slavery?

When some people were advising him to make search for a slave who had run away,” he said, “It would be a very absurd thing for Manes to be able to live without Diogenes, but for Diogenes not to be able to live without Manes.”
The Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers by Diogenes Laertius

The fact that he owned slaves further proves that he was by no means poor. At that time, a slave cost as much as a medium-sized estate.

Diogenes, after all, had once been in slavery himself. And did not reject it. Rather, he wanted to put it on a somehow voluntary level: if a slave runs away, he will probably have his reasons and hope that a better lot awaits him. So why not rethink slavery?

Voluntary slavery? Isn’t that a nutty idea?

When we think of slavery, images from the American past first come to mind for most. People from Africa were imported as slaves for home and field and exploited and mistreated in every way imaginable. They were beaten and humiliated. Nobody can want something like that back. A person who voluntarily wants to expose himself to such suffering must be deranged.

True. But does slavery have to look like this?

The dog as “man’s best friend”

Let’s briefly consider the relationship of people with their dogs.

Not to equate people with animals, but to see bond between dog owner and animal as what it is: a property relationship. The dog is clearly the property of its owner¹. It was usually bought and depending on its characteristics a high price was paid for the animal. Obedience is expected from the dog and dog psychologists never tire of repeating that dog owners must show the animal without exception that it is by far the lowest rank in the family compared to humans. Otherwise, the dog would not feel comfortable.

“The only, absolute and best friend that a man has, in this selfish world, the only one that will not betray or deny him, is his Dog.”
King Frederick of Prussia, 1789

But what do people do? When mom or dad comes home, the first thing they do is greet the dog. They cuddle with him; for the children, it’s just enough for a fleeting “hello”.

Or the slave as best human friend

Now it may come as a surprise. But criticism like that from the dog psychologist was also the daily agenda in ancient Greece. Many heads of household, it was complained, would coddle their slaves, taking care only of them, while they had no time for the other members of the family.

The owners were proud of their slaves. They were a status symbol. The more beautiful and intelligent slaves one had, the more respected one was in society. And often the relationship between master and slave was a very friendly one.

Early Cynics and later especially Stoics criticized this. They were convinced that one could lead a happy life without many slaves.

And what about the big, the really big love?

People who feel very great love often want to sacrifice themselves completely for the sake of the beloved, and are even willing to gladly die for them; isn’t this total devotion even more like slavery? Is it not voluntary? So, is voluntary slavery not so extreme in essence?

Slavery according to the Koran

At the time of the Quran’s creation, slavery was quite common throughout the world. It is discussed in detail in the Koran. It is considered part of the divine order. However, slaves must be treated well, just like other family members. Men are also allowed sexual contact with female slaves, but conversely, women are not allowed sexual intercourse with male slaves. (The fact that this requires regulation, however, shows that it probably did occur). Slaves should be allowed to marry. Young female slaves should not be forced into prostitution.

But what now comes, well, that beats everything: Slaves who so desire are to be given the freedom. ² And they should also be given a small fortune so that he can build a new life.

It follows implicitly from this that the slaves in Islam remained slaves to a large extent voluntarily. Obviously, not all of them longed for the (apparent) “freedom” so highly sacred in the West today. Maybe it’s us who are nuts?

It is not slavery, but loveless exploitation that is the problem.

Immigration laws

The immigration laws of Western countries regularly know only one criterion for immigration: usefulness on the labor market.

Such laws are the continuation of the US slave trade by other means. In Germany, a country that prides itself on not wanting to be racist and that watches with horror the deaths of blacks in police operations and supports the “black live matters” movement, it is five times more difficult for a Negro, say from Kenya, to get a visa than for a white person. I would have liked to show my kenyan girlfriend Europe.

But despite an invitation, taking out health insurance and a commitment to pay for all expenses, the visa application was rejected. This is not an exception, but the rule. The reason is always the same: “lack of likelihood of return.” Only professionals who are urgently needed, preferably from countries with people with white skin color, are desired. Desired, however, not as friends, but only as workers. In contrast, slavery, as described above, seems to me much more humane.

So what?

So what else is there against, for example, giving illegal immigrants the opportunity to legalize their stay if they voluntarily put themselves into the slavery of a citizen? Or also to offer seven years of debt slavery to a debtor who became insolvent, as described in the Old Testament? We could even provide family connection via slavery to a lonely or impoverished person who wants it? Or even to legalize an erotic relationship in which one is slave, the other master? Many people long for the security they associate with their enslavement. They do not want to be free and independent at all, but prefer to be like a child, enjoying the security and serenity of having to obey.

In the children’s home where I started my first job as a social worker, a little girl once said to me with a very sad look that she was jealous of my dog. If she were my dog, she wouldn’t have to live in this terrible home, but would be allowed to sleep in my dog basket at home. Shocking?
People today leave other people as if they were just a piece of furniture that they replace with a new one. What becomes of their former partner does not interest them, that is their problem. Cities are filled with apartments where sad singles vegetate, killing themselves with alcohol or drugs because they can’t stand it any other way. Leaving a partner overnight is considered normal. Abandoning a dog, for example before a vacation, is seen by many as a crime.

Who has the better lot?

1
At least, this is still so in 2022, when writing this text. There are already demands to put animals on an equal status with humans and also to prohibit the “slavery” of keeping pets..
2
since some readers could not believe this, here is the link to the verse in the Koran with English translation