Bonding
Posted: Thu May 26, 2005 1:17 pm
Slavery is a tarnished concept, ever since the Romans got hold of it and made the rules so harsh. There were arrangements in history that were less onerous, which these days we would class as slavery. Perhaps we should go back to distinguishing the different states, and re-legalize the concept of the Bondsman (a man who was bonded to another) and the female equivalent, the Handmaid. Margaret Atwood discussed this state by implication in her "Handmaid's Tale" a few years ago.
The rulebook is Exodus 21, as amended by Leviticus 25. It says it doesn't concern itself with slavery (which is also allowed under different rules) and that slaves can only come from abroad - they can't be your own countrymen. I'm not advocating that we go back to that, it would be both politically and morally incorrect.
Bonding, though, is a different matter. For a fixed period of six years, a Master can buy a Bondsman, and enjoy his labor for the price of his running costs. The Bondsman can't terminate the contract, and he has to obey all lawful orders. He can be beaten into compliance if need be, though he may not be killed. At the end of the contractual period, the Bondsman has the right, at that moment but not before or after, to extend the Bond contract period to the remainder of his life - in other words, he can't be thrown out onto the scrapheap after being used up, the Master is duty-bound to continue the original relationship for the remaining life of the Bondsman if that choice is made. The Master's other duty, for the period of the Bond, is to keep the Bondsman fed, watered and housed sufficiently well that the Bondsman can continue to live. The Master, of course, could be either a well-off individual needing any form of labor, or a corporation.
How do you become a Bondsman? Two routes, either you volunteer - put yourself on the Bond market, get paid the contract price and use that money as you will; or the State sells you into Bondage from its court, as a sentence for criminal behavior. The State avoids the cost of imprisoning the criminal, the Bond price pays for the investigation and trial. I would imagine that the State enforces the Bond contract by judicially killing any escaped Bondsman that it apprehends, but I'm not sure what sanction has been used at different times.
Anyway, there it is - an alternative to the mammoth-sized prison system that is crippling both the UK and the USA. It doesn't involve slavery as originally practiced (both in Rome and in the Colonies and Empire). Currently, Bonding would be illegal. Should society consider enabling it?
The rulebook is Exodus 21, as amended by Leviticus 25. It says it doesn't concern itself with slavery (which is also allowed under different rules) and that slaves can only come from abroad - they can't be your own countrymen. I'm not advocating that we go back to that, it would be both politically and morally incorrect.
Bonding, though, is a different matter. For a fixed period of six years, a Master can buy a Bondsman, and enjoy his labor for the price of his running costs. The Bondsman can't terminate the contract, and he has to obey all lawful orders. He can be beaten into compliance if need be, though he may not be killed. At the end of the contractual period, the Bondsman has the right, at that moment but not before or after, to extend the Bond contract period to the remainder of his life - in other words, he can't be thrown out onto the scrapheap after being used up, the Master is duty-bound to continue the original relationship for the remaining life of the Bondsman if that choice is made. The Master's other duty, for the period of the Bond, is to keep the Bondsman fed, watered and housed sufficiently well that the Bondsman can continue to live. The Master, of course, could be either a well-off individual needing any form of labor, or a corporation.
How do you become a Bondsman? Two routes, either you volunteer - put yourself on the Bond market, get paid the contract price and use that money as you will; or the State sells you into Bondage from its court, as a sentence for criminal behavior. The State avoids the cost of imprisoning the criminal, the Bond price pays for the investigation and trial. I would imagine that the State enforces the Bond contract by judicially killing any escaped Bondsman that it apprehends, but I'm not sure what sanction has been used at different times.
Anyway, there it is - an alternative to the mammoth-sized prison system that is crippling both the UK and the USA. It doesn't involve slavery as originally practiced (both in Rome and in the Colonies and Empire). Currently, Bonding would be illegal. Should society consider enabling it?