That part that really gets me is that the slave can't seem to even comprehend his own existence. Free him, and he'll remain a slave, since it's his mind that is enslaved, not his body.
I hope that that at least alleviates the suffering that someone with a different mindset would experience - but it makes it much harder for the people viewing it from the outside. And it also adds a huge risk of people making it worse for him physically, in the name of making things better mentally.
If it were me I would not start by freeing the slaves (they have no skills for the outside world), I would start by requiring masters to educate them (at least minimally - basic math, and reading, but not fact based education). The next step would be requiring a government mandated fixed salary per slave (let them build up some savings before having to subsist on their own). Only after that would I actually free them.
reminds me a bit about the way we're (mostly) taught life ought to go in the U.S.. go to school, work hard, get a good job (working for someone else).. get a car (now you have a car payment..now you need that job!).. start a family, get a house (now you can't even THINK about quitting that job!).. and if you come close to paying off any of your indebtedness.. BUY BIGGER!
Are we free in the U.S.? Nominally, yes. Culturally? Culturally, it seems like we're encouraged to indenture ourselves right from the get-go. The mindset is probably a lot less common on places like HN, where people are paid significantly better than median, admire the entrepreneur, and so on, but out in the rest of the world it is prevalent.
Reminds me of "we are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind...." Marcus Garvey, 1937
That part that really gets me is that the slave can't seem to even comprehend his own existence. Free him, and he'll remain a slave, since it's his mind that is enslaved, not his body.
I hope that that at least alleviates the suffering that someone with a different mindset would experience - but it makes it much harder for the people viewing it from the outside. And it also adds a huge risk of people making it worse for him physically, in the name of making things better mentally.
If it were me I would not start by freeing the slaves (they have no skills for the outside world), I would start by requiring masters to educate them (at least minimally - basic math, and reading, but not fact based education). The next step would be requiring a government mandated fixed salary per slave (let them build up some savings before having to subsist on their own). Only after that would I actually free them.