Slavery In Modern Society

The United Nations has passed resolutions against slavery. The vast majority of nations have also anti-slavery laws in place, and the world crawls into bed each night content with the thought that slavery no longer exists on this planet.

And yet, a form of slavery does exist today. A slavery which in most cases, one that is self-imposed upon one's self.

In the gay community, and to a lesser extent the general community, the Master-Slave role has been in existence for centuries. Originally the Master would "buy" the slave and use him for his own needs. As slavery at the time was normal, the role of Master-Slave took on the normal and the erotic aspect. In today's society though where slavery is not only illegal but also frown upon, the role of Master-Slave is more of the erotic side.

A friend of mine [Gus] who has dabbled in the Master-Slave role, and who has connections within this subculture, says that it is widely practiced within our community. A quick look through the personals section of our community newspapers and in the chat rooms, one often sees profiles and ads like "Slave available 24/7" and "Master seeking Slave". Most of us look at them, chuckle, and move on. Yet for these people, the role of Master-Slave is real.

Gus reckons that the subculture of Master-Slave is so prevalent within our community that if real statistics were obtained, it would shock not only our community, but also the general community as a whole. Master-Slave gatherings are not uncommon although they are held in discrete locations and organised through a secretive network of contacts. Breaking into this sub-community is not easy and generally done through associates.

Yet once in, a whole new subculture is there - one where slaves are "auctioned" off to the highest bidder or shared.

What I find scary is that these people are willing participants in the whole thing. Willing to put their lives on the line to serve another human being willingly in any aspect necessary. To subjugate themselves to the Master's whim, whether it is pleasure in bed or in some cases, more harsher pleasures like whipping etc.

To test out his claims, I created a nic in one of the world's popular chat rooms and went searching for a slave - all in the interests of research.

The results were surprising and shocking. I sat in the main room without participating in the main room conversation nor privating anyone. My bio simply read "Master,41, seeking Slave for 24/7". Within the hour I had found myself five guys aged between 18 and 30 who were willing to be my slave. All of them were genuine and willing to introduce me to their former Masters for references. All of them provided me with their personal phone numbers and websites with well-hidden URL's with photos. With the exception of one, they all were reasonably good looking guys who, if one bumped into them in the general community, would see them as normal people. Occupation wise, all of them worked in fulltime jobs ranging from clerks to one being a local lawyer in a well-known firm.

One thing I found surprising with all of them was their desire to be subservient to another person, to obey their every whim. All of them privated me with their opening comments beginning with "Sir,....". In the private chats, I dug deeper and deeper prying information out of them, and testing them to see whether these guys were genuine or simply role-playing to get their rocks off.

A further quick search on the internet to see how widespread the Master-Slave subculture existed within the gay community, resulted in some surprising finds. There is even a website that is well-visited that allows Masters and Slaves to meet and hook up. All free of charge, and complete with every nitty gritty detail about each other. The other surprising thing I discovered was the Master-Slave Charter which comprises of the "do's" and "don'ts" - a sort of agreement which both parties sign prior to officially entering the Master-Slave relationship. How many adhere to it, I don't know, but the agreement is pretty thorough. It incorporates things like respect, boundaries beyond which neither will go, etc.

In some ways, modern slavery is rather civilised, yet one wonders why people would put themselves in a situation where their lives are controlled by another. I for one, prefer a truly equal relationship where the role of Master-Slave is not involved. But by the same token, I can not and will not pass judgement on another as to how they live their life. For who am I to say what is right and what is wrong?

But slavery in the modern world does exist, even if it is civilised and between consenting adults.

James