Slavery in my country: an explanatory note... and a new picture
Some visitors of this blog show themselves quite shocked when I casually mention my domestic slaves (see posts tagged HT at home) or, more generally, when I refer to the practice of slavery in my country. I think this is a good time to offer an explanation to clarify the situation.
In my country, slavery is common at least since the times of the nation's organization, some two thousand years ago. This practice spread, progressed, even survived the European occupation between the 16th and 19th centuries, and eventually became better regulated. Nowadays, we live in a fully democratic republic, with an economic system based on capitalism, much as most countries in the world. Unlike other nations, however, we still consider slavery as a most natural feature of our society.
Slaves are part of the property of any man or woman who can afford to keep them, and enter the same legal category as any other possession: a house, a car, furniture, clothes, etc. They can be bought and sold like ordinary merchandise -of course, there are specialized shops and dealers- and can be used as the owner sees fit. As living property to be cared of, they are trained and treated on the basis of a simple reward/punishment system, much like domestic animals. However, they rarely elicit the affection that real pets evoke in their owners.
It must be understood that our country's citizens cannot be enslaved on any ground. All our slaves are brought from abroad, with no discrimination of origin, race, or social class. This diversity grants broad availability and variety of choice, which satisfy most needs and tastes. The total number of slaves in the country is around three times the population of adult citizens, but the distribution is very uneven, because it depends on the financial means of the owners. Although there are huge variations depending on quality, the typical price of a healthy young slave (male or female) is equivalent to some 5,000 US dollars.
I am lucky enough as to be xunhan (=master, lord) to some 140 slaves. However, only 40 of them are destined to my domestic and personal service. Being a wealthy citizen with an income above a certain threshold, I am legally bound -as a form of tax- to maintain some 100 slaves which work in communal premises, where much of the food used up in the country is produced. In my slavestock, these "field slaves" are from all over the world, while in my residence I only keep Caucasian specimens from North America and Europe -except for my African foreslave.
Feel free to drop a line with any question that you may have on the above information. Best wishes!
He Thong
PS: Here goes a recent image of myself at home, during a minute's relax before going back to work.
In my country, slavery is common at least since the times of the nation's organization, some two thousand years ago. This practice spread, progressed, even survived the European occupation between the 16th and 19th centuries, and eventually became better regulated. Nowadays, we live in a fully democratic republic, with an economic system based on capitalism, much as most countries in the world. Unlike other nations, however, we still consider slavery as a most natural feature of our society.
Slaves are part of the property of any man or woman who can afford to keep them, and enter the same legal category as any other possession: a house, a car, furniture, clothes, etc. They can be bought and sold like ordinary merchandise -of course, there are specialized shops and dealers- and can be used as the owner sees fit. As living property to be cared of, they are trained and treated on the basis of a simple reward/punishment system, much like domestic animals. However, they rarely elicit the affection that real pets evoke in their owners.
It must be understood that our country's citizens cannot be enslaved on any ground. All our slaves are brought from abroad, with no discrimination of origin, race, or social class. This diversity grants broad availability and variety of choice, which satisfy most needs and tastes. The total number of slaves in the country is around three times the population of adult citizens, but the distribution is very uneven, because it depends on the financial means of the owners. Although there are huge variations depending on quality, the typical price of a healthy young slave (male or female) is equivalent to some 5,000 US dollars.
I am lucky enough as to be xunhan (=master, lord) to some 140 slaves. However, only 40 of them are destined to my domestic and personal service. Being a wealthy citizen with an income above a certain threshold, I am legally bound -as a form of tax- to maintain some 100 slaves which work in communal premises, where much of the food used up in the country is produced. In my slavestock, these "field slaves" are from all over the world, while in my residence I only keep Caucasian specimens from North America and Europe -except for my African foreslave.
Feel free to drop a line with any question that you may have on the above information. Best wishes!
He Thong
PS: Here goes a recent image of myself at home, during a minute's relax before going back to work.
