Slavery in Trek?

[Perrryyy]

Ok, making idle chit-chat here.

I was watching M*A*S*H* this afternoon & "The Moose" was on. The episode where a Korean girl acts as an indentured servant to an enlisted man.

This got me to thinking, it seems obvious to me that in the "mainstream" of the Fed, slavery doesn't exist.

Question 1: Is abolition of slavery a requirement for membership in the Fed? I seem to remember reading tht somewhere (possibly TNG Core book, or Price of Freedom).

Question 2: Does slavery even exist Trek (say, post-TNG)?

[Greg Davis]

Ok, I'll take a stab at this one...

Answer One: Well, I think that, to become a member of the Federation, the applicant system would have to have abolished slavery, since it's a violation of one of the core principles of the Federation: the personal rights of all sentient species. I could, however, envision a scenario where slavery, perhaps because of a caste-type system, has been in place throughout the recent history of the world, and it is an accepted part of their society and culture. This may cause problems within the Federation, particularly if the society in question has something of value to offer the Federation (ie: resources).

Come to think of it, this could be an interesting adventure, or short story arc, for a campaign. A society, like the one described above, wishes to join the Federation. They're peaceful and friendly, with the only real drawback to the society being this sort of "slavery" that exists in their system of living. But, they can offer the Federation resources, or perhaps a strategic location for which to place a Starbase or Outpost. The PC crew are placed in charge of the final stages of the planet's review for Federation membership, and they find out about the planet's background, and its issues. However, certain elements within both Starfleet and the Federation want, and feel that they need, the planet as a member. Thus, the crew is faced with a dillema: Overlook the situation, so that the Federation can get what they need from the planet, or do they object and voice their concerns, and try to stop the membership from coming to pass, because of the societal problems of the planet, that seem to violate some of the core beliefs of the Federation, despite the possible setback that the Federation might suffer?

Oh well...that was a long tangent, but it came to mind, so I thought that I'd share it...

2) I think that slavery does exist, but probably not in the Federation. A canon example would be what we see in the Dominion, for instance, with the Founders and the Jem'Hadar, as well as the Vorta, who are, for all intents and purposes, slaves to the Founders. I'm certain that they exist in other empires as well, like in the Romulan Star Empire, where the issue of the Romulan enslavement of another race will be one of the focuses of the next Trek movie, Nemesis.

I'm certain that their are others, but they're escaping me at the moment...


Greg

[Phantom]

1) A certain amount of Equality among citizens is expected in Federation Members.

2) Orion Slave Girls. Need I continue?

[qerlin]

Our campaign: Orions have it, Ferengi have it. Klingons have indentured servitude, not slavery. You sell yourself into service to get off your homeworld, etc...just for non-Klingon subject races. Indenture in the Romulan Empire allows a person to sell themselves into servitude, but usually to gain access to high positions; servants actually have more rights in some ways thn the average Rommie on the street.

[Phantom]

I agree with Qerlin on the Romulans...Servitude yes, slavery don't think so. Unless you live on a penal colony. The RSN really is not as different from the Federation as everyone seems to think.

According to LUG anyway.

[ghosty]

The abolition of slavery is probably a must for Federation membership. Equality of all sentient beings is a fundamental core of Federation ideals. So if slavery exists it'll have to be abolished otherwise no membership. Although if the society wants to keep slavery, the Federation can't do anything about it because it would be a PD violation to do so. Could make for an excellent PD adventure.

Slavery probably does still exist in some form or other...indentured servitude, debt slavery...the list is endless. Different societies view slavery differently. Some approve of it or have social distinction, like Thralls and serfs which are forms of slavery but accepted social norms.

[Dan Gurden]

Slavery in the Federation. Nope.

Its one of the resons the EMH mark 1's were re-programmed rather than moved to a mining planet... besides any culture capable of the exo-bots would not need to install holotechnology into a mine to get a strong efficient workforce...

BUT.

There is a personal service industry thriving. For example, Laxwanna's constant companion, while I wouldn't consider Mr Homm a slave, he is most definatly a servant and companion... so it appears that servants are still around...

[ghosty]

Being a servant is just a job...in some cases its a well paying one and in some cases servants carry on a tradition of service passed from father to son...Mr Homm's family has probably been in the Troi family' employ for generations hence his loyalty and discretion.

[Perrryyy]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Greg Davis
Ok, I'll take a stab at this one...

Answer One: Well, I think that, to become a member of the Federation, the applicant system would have to have abolished slavery, since it's a violation of one of the core principles of the Federation: the personal rights of all sentient species. I could, however, envision a scenario where slavery, perhaps because of a caste-type system, has been in place throughout the recent history of the world, and it is an accepted part of their society and culture. This may cause problems within the Federation, particularly if the society in question has something of value to offer the Federation (ie: resources).
/[QUOTE]

I agree with you. and I had an idea similar to yours

Come to think of it, this could be an interesting adventure, or short story arc, for a campaign. A society, like the one described above, wishes to join the Federation. They're peaceful and friendly, with the only real drawback to the society being this sort of "slavery" that exists in their system of living. But, they can offer the Federation resources, or perhaps a strategic location for which to place a Starbase or Outpost. The PC crew are placed in charge of the final stages of the planet's review for Federation membership, and they find out about the planet's background, and its issues. However, certain elements within both Starfleet and the Federation want, and feel that they need, the planet as a member. Thus, the crew is faced with a dillema: Overlook the situation, so that the Federation can get what they need from the planet, or do they object and voice their concerns, and try to stop the membership from coming to pass, because of the societal problems of the planet, that seem to violate some of the core beliefs of the Federation, despite the possible setback that the Federation might suffer?

That's sort of the direction I was going. Something similar to the version of the Korean war we see on M*A*S*H.

Enter the Kolians: The Kolian star system is divided into 2 factions, the Nol-Kolians and the Sao-Kolians. The Nol-Kolians invade their brothers on Soa-Kolia, possibly with the aid of the Romulans or the Cardassians.

The Federation enters the war on the side of the Soa-Kolians, and one particular character, while on his tour of duty in the system, being of some affluence, hires the Soa-Kolians in the area who are down on their luck as his servants/hirelings (ie, Winchester)

Granted a long way around for a character, but... thoughts?

[Perrryyy]

bump

[qerlin]

Kolians, eh..?

Do they have a disk called shlimp flied lice?

[Perrryyy]

ROFLMAO!!