O Tempora!

On the plantation, there are two classes of people. There is the plantation master and his minions, and there are the workers – slaves – who produce the plantation’s product. The master pays the minions, but he does not pay the slaves. The slaves are not completely destitute, though, because the master allows the slaves to keep part of the product they produce. The slaves, in truth, pay everybody, because the product supplies the entire income of the plantation.

On the plantation, the master and his minions have rights, but the slaves do not. For example, any property that a slave claims as his own can be seized by the master or his minions at any time, even if the slave has done nothing wrong with his property. Also, if a slave wants to leave the plantation, he must get permission from the master. And if a slave tries to speak against the master, the slave may find himself in serious trouble – jail, or worse.

On the plantation, the master lives in a big white mansion. But the master is kind-hearted. He allows the slaves to build housing on the plantation. Of course, the buildings must comply with all the master’s whims about housing. The master allows the slaves to grow, harvest and process food – with the same kind of compliance requirements. Some slaves seem to be unable to get housing or food on their own, so the master supplies that. Of course, the money to pay for these commodities comes from the other slaves.

On the plantation, the master has armed guards to protect himself and his high-ranking minions. He does not feel that the slaves need to protect themselves, even though there are sometimes murders among the slaves. The master wants the slaves to be unarmed.

On the plantation, the master takes care of the slaves’ health. He does not do this because they are people. He does this because they are valuable property; they are machines that cause all the money to roll in to the plantation’s coffers. The master does not like the idea of slaves caring for their own health, for if they do that, they are not dependent on the master.

On the plantation, the workers are not free – they are slaves. But why should they want to be free? After all, the master and his minions provide the slaves with everything needed for a good life – using the slaves’ product, of course.