Dark Universe Version 2.0

I’m supposed to write here about what to expect to find from some slave narratives. I don’t like the assignment. Besides the fact that I don’t want the world to know how ignorant I am as I declare everything I said in this post as false in the next post I am supposed to write…I don’t like the fact that it’s kind of hard to write this post in the first place. I’m writing about something I haven’t read yet. There is no way this will help me in any way except to make me feel bad about how much I don’t know, or proud for knowing everything in advance (yeah RIGHT, like that would happen). It’s a bad assignment.

Anyways, now that I’m done with my useless ranting, lets move on to the slave narratives! Let me tell you what I expect: lots of violence, lots of disturbing information, lots of bondage, lots and lots of bad words, a load of anger, enough racism to make up for all the anti-racism movements that have taken place throughout this century, and maybe, just maybe, a little bit of hope.

Now that’s the vague, emotional description of what is to come, but I can’t really predict any more than that, so lets leave it at that.

I know that slavery is a sick institution based on people who thought up guns quicker than the others getting some kind of right to make the others do whatever he wants, which is such a primitive way of thinking that it’s hard to believe humans can call themselves civilized beings. It’s the best and worst of capitalism in action, where the elite manage to get workers to work for even less than hardly any pay: they make them work for no pay at all.

Now get ready for some really cold-hearted thinking, as I am going to analyze slavery with no compassion at all, from a purely economic perspective.

One could say slavery was the most efficient system for generating production, though the measures taken to keep slaves under control, and the high initial costs of the slaves themselves, might counter this way of thinking. For instance, feeding the slaves as little as possible to keep them alive and working might not be a good idea, as the slaves will not be able to produce as much as a healthy worker could. Also, measures taken to keep the slaves in bondage such as hiring guards may make the institution less efficient. The concept of forcing slaves to work, which generates a general hatred by the slaves towards the owner, will also lessen production. The willing, barely paid, semi-healthy, selectively chosen worker may be a better option.

Anyways, getting away from that gruesome way of thinking, slavery can be an efficient source of production, and many people took full advantage of it. It shows how low people can go if it means they live a better life. It also shows how terrible the system of capitalism can get in terms of using people for production.

How can we escape this terrible system of capitalism which, although run by humans, manages to treat humans like tools, or less? The Communist movement tried to solve the problem, though it failed as it was unable to move beyond Socialism. Besides, the world envisioned by them was one where “knowledge” and “technology” do not matter and are therefore ignored. Is it impossible to prize knowledge and science while also valuing human life, without collapsing within a few years?

(Now, before I continue, for those who think I am going way off topic, I’ll just say that this is a problem that must be approached at some point, and is related in some ways to slavery, so I decided to approach it right here, right now.)

There is a solution, and though it seems to be a bit impossible, it is a solution that we can reach at some point. It involves a word many people think is stupid and childish by now, thanks to stupid and childish T.V. shows and whatnot. We need robots. Yes, we need automatic machinery which will do work for us. This way, we can have production while also protecting human values. I am horribly offended by stupid directors who make stupid science fiction movies where machines rebel and take over the world and do whatever it is they do when they are not directed by humans into doing things. This is one of two solutions to the problem of human values and hierarchical society we face right now, and I think we should put all of our hope in it.

Of course, the other solution is not as dreamy, and is very uncertain, and I’m not sure about telling it here just yet. If enough people really want to know about it, I might talk about it sometime, but I warn you, it will only disturb you about what solving the problem of hierarchical society really means.