In our headlong rush for change we are sometimes in danger of over-looking the virtuous lessons of history in dismissing the past as all bad.
I mention this given the much admired Sir Mo Farah’s revelation (since confirmed by official enquiry) that he was abducted at 9 years of age and taken to England as a domestic slave under a false name. Well, look how well he turned out. Surely this provides adequate testimony for considering the reintroduction of slavery.
Take the bums lying about with begging bowls, despoiling our central cities. I venture they would be immensely happier if confined in barracks and put to work during the day. The lash may be necessary in the early stages but they’d soon get the hang of things. Result: great joy all around.
When back in the 1930s then newly crowned Abyssinian Emperor Haile Selassie, bright eyed with youthful modernising enthusiasm, issued an edict banning slavery, much distress was caused.
Abyssinia, (now Ethiopia) comprises a number of different self-governing statelets. One remote such statelet in the north had bowled along perfectly happily without central government busy-bodism and thus ignored the new anti-slavery order.
Their social structure worked perfectly. The locals swanned about all day, drinking tea, preening and chatting while the perfectly happy slaves in each household, descendants of Ugandans captured centuries earlier, did the house-work and cooking.
When they learnt their ill-thought edict was being ignored, the out-of-touch Addis Ababa bureaucrats sent in the army.
The soldiers duly arrived and ordered the slaves out of their respective households. Much misery ensued. The slaves sat in the street outside their former homes and now homeless and hungry, wept and wailed. Meanwhile inside, the locals, not having a clue how to even boil an egg let alone make their beds, began to starve and they too set up a weeping racket. So the army wisely retreated and the former happy order was quickly restored.
The National Party, as always, devoid of ideas are (correctly) assuming they will coast into office next year by saying nothing. But what if Jacinda or perhaps the Greens should run with this reintroduction of slavery suggestion on humanitarian grounds? It could well save them for a 3rd term, such would be its popularity. Best of all, it would be another significant step forward in mankind’s march of civilisation.
5 Comments
I must protest Sir Bob , at the suggestion of using the lash to get the lazy bums into action . We’ve moved on from the olden days of the lash , surely . Tasers and cattle prods are much less barbaric .
Brilliant Sir Bob. Why dont you act as volunteer strategist for National/Act. Given the current anti media hype against Luxon/National I can appreciate why they are loathe to release any definitive policy at this stage of the election cycle. It would however be great if we had an understanding of policy on critical issues, those at are currently dividing and destroying our country. Personally I do not believe the Act suggestion of a referendum to be actioned after the 2026 election is strong enough to arrest our slide to Zimbabwe of the South Pacific. Corrective action needs to be taken within 100 days of election 2023. Then we might have some expectation of winding back the move to an ethno state as so well defined by Dr Elizabeth Rata. This move has been seeping into our systems since 1987 and must be stopped by Parliament as a matter of urgency.
I’m already a slave to the taxation system – a mere drone to the Beehive. As far as the lash goes, I’d prefer the cat (o’nine tails). The recipient will be ok but the cat will be right off his miilk.
If the maori uppercrust enslaved the maori lower crust (in accord with rangatiratanga) the welfare burden for all of us would be much reduced.
Correct, Sir Bob. Have any of the people criticising the lithium mining practices in the Congo using barefoot children considered what would happen to them if we all ceased buying electric cars? Would death by starvation be preferable to healthy hard physical work? Maybe someone should ask the kids!
Do I need to add (sarc.)?