Apologies for the forthcoming wall of text.
And while I agree that
The best argument we have regarding slavery shouldn't be that we don't do raids, it should be that we A) release slaves once they achieve spiritual enlightenment, B ) educate slaves, both academically and spiritually, and C) ban the use of TCMC's (outside of Tash-Murkon and the Kingdom because they're bloody heretics).
What would be better for slavery isn't to abolish it, or cease taking slaves, but to enforce the actual positive aspects of it.
I don't think that more focus on the 'good' sides should be done by white-washing it. Vitoc and slave abuse happen. So does child abuse, irl, mostly by family members - is the institution of family therefore bad? Thing is, if you white-wash slavery, it stops being realistic. Thus, focus on it's good sides, yes, eliminating all the bad sides? Nah, please don't. Keep it realistic.
Not what I was saying at all. I'm not saying the bad sides should be completely and utterly removed. Afterall, something I really try to hit on with my own RP is that you can play an Amarr/Slavery-supporting Minmatar while also playing the slavery card straight.
What I do want action taken against, though, is those aspects that are wrong
by Amarrian morality. I like to point to the TCMC debate for this, since that's
exactly what I want to see. It shows that the Empire does not have a binary good/evil view on slavery, but rather a complicated system of variables, that certain methods are considered good and certain methods are considered evil. Sansha's Nation is another good example... Sansha actually thought that the Empire would be his ally because they were slavers, and was utterly flabbergasted when the Empire went, "NOPE. Your kind of slavery is bad, m8. /glassplanet." It established that the Empire understands that there is "good" slavery and "bad" slavery.
The Empire needs to have specific rules for how you conduct slavery, rules that ensure that it is something noble (by Amarrian morality) rather than something evil. I want to see CCP move away from the TonyG "Empire is ebil cackling slavers" crap and go back to recognizing that there are lines that the Empire won't cross, that it actually has integrity. That's not to say these things should never happen, afterall there's always the exceptions and exploitations and abuses; I do not advocate "whitewashing" at all. But there needs to at least be that conflict. Vitoc should not be accepted simply because it's more efficient. TCMC's should not be accepted simply because they're more efficient (thankfully, PF recognized that, even if it had the TC sit on their ass and refuse to play moral police like they're supposed to).
I'm also saying nothing about torture and beatings, by the way. If anything those should be focused on, too, as they are a
good thing by the Amarrian moral paradigm (essentially, my posts are arguing by Amarr morality, not Western. I want to see the good aspects acknowledged... but what is 'good' by Amarr is not necessarily good by Western ethics). They are traditional methods that adhere to the 'hardship brings the soul closer to God' line of argument that is key to rationalizing slavery in the Empire. Those are "good" punishments and should be maintained, even though they're wrong by Western morality.
Sorry, it's hard to describe. Basically, here's what I want to see from Amarrian slavery, and how I personally rationalize it when playing Samira and how she is able to argue in favor of it.
[spoiler]
Amarr SlaveryPurpose: Spiritual enlightenment and education
Pro-purpose:-Academic and spiritual education.
-Slaves are actual human beings worthy of God's love.
-Slave raids are necessary to save the soul, even if it ruins the Empire's reputation. You can't 'be patient' and say "oh we'll Reclaim everyone eventually", because everyone who dies apart from God is forever lost. Slave raids are pro-purpose, and therefore good.
-Hardship purifies the soul. Pain purifies the soul. Torture and beatings are necessary in the battle against temptation. Pain teaches you not to put your hand in a fire, beatings teach you not to fall to sin. Torture is pro-purpose, and therefore good.
-It can be difficult if not impossible to convert someone resistant in a single lifetime. By raising their children in slavery, and their children's children, you ensure that they are brought up in an environment where they will not be surrounded by temptation. Generational slavery is pro-purpose, and therefore good.
-Slaves are released once they prove that they have truly given themselves to God.
Anti-purpose:-Transcranial Microcontrollers remove free will. Without free will, you cannot be taught. You cannot choose to turn to God. You are a "true slave", working solely to provide free labor for your owner. TCMCs eliminate the purpose of Amarrian slavery, and are therefore evil.
-Vitoxin removes free will, though to a lesser degree in comparison to TCMCs. They may be acceptable for problematic slaves who can be controlled no other way, but are a sign of failure to educate and bring up the slave properly. Vitoxin is anti-purpose and therefore evil.
-Breeding colonies focus on having more slaves to do more work to make more money for their Holder. There is nothing educational about breeding colonies. It makes slaves cattle to be exploited instead of people to be educated. Breeding colonies are anti-purpose and therefore evil.
-Death is absolutely anti-purpose. Spiritual enlightenment requires the slave converting to God prior to death. Killing a slave while they are still a slave (and therefore, still unenlightened) is ensuring that their soul will never unite with God, and therefore evil. The conditions of the mines, where slaves are often allowed to die in awful conditions, are therefore evil and completely against the purpose of Amarrian slavery, and slaves should never be arbitrarily killed or even killed as a punishment unless completely irredeemable.
A chronicle outright says that the Amarr try to avoid killing in favor of converting their enemies through slavery.[/spoiler]
Simple rules that, IMO, make a very legimate case for slavery as a good thing,
even though some of the "good" aspects are still very bad by Western morality. You do not have to "whitewash" slavery. What you do have to establish is that there are cultural rules, and ensure that those rules are followed and enforced (if slavery can't be considered Good, it can at least be respected as a
Lawful institution that has internal integrity). The occasional people acting against purpose are fine, with conservatives largely adhering to it and liberals acting against it, but they should ultimately be
recognized as being against purpose. Heresy is heresy because it goes against established orthodoxy. You need an established orthodoxy, and people (TC, Speakers) who are able and willing to enforce the orthodoxy. Right now we have some implementation of the former (TCMC arguments, anti-Nation viewpoint, etc), but very little of the latter. I want to see more of the latter, more actual enforcing of the orthodox view. We saw it happen with Arzad, but not with equally bad stuff like TCMCs and breeding colonies, which bugs me.
tl;dr: Not saying we should cover up bad stuff and just write about good stuff. You can make slavery a good thing (or at least respectable)
without abolishing it, and
without whitewashing it. I just want some integrity in the orthodoxy, and moral police who will actually do their job of policing (Articio can't do everything...).
