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ORIGINAL: bandit25

I agree with Level...See?  No quarreling here

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ORIGINAL: Rule

Whomever wrote that text appears to have had some notion of what a slave is, but he also has some notions that are incorrect.
1. The contract idea is ludicrous.
2. The suggested option of making a slave do something against his or her nature is plain stupid.
3. The suggested option of making a slave do something for which he or she is not suited is plain stupid as well. One cannot use a plow horse to race and one cannot use a racing horse to plow. Well, one can, but it would not be even a tiny bit smart.
4. This text is all about the slave. What about the responsibilities of the owner? This text suggests an owner that is not responsible for the well being and optimum use of the abilities and talents of his slave at all - someone, therefore, who is unfit to be an owner.

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If your Owner makes a mistake, you will get punished for it.

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ORIGINAL: MrSpectacular

I think you can promulgate all of the written rules you want - but at the end of the day you are entering into a human relationship and we are flawed and not consistent. My advice would be to throw out the rule book and work things out in a fun and interesting way that actually develops into the relationship you both want.

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ORIGINAL: salilus

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If your Owner makes a mistake, you will get punished for it.

And if you have an owner that does this, regularly, you should kick in him in the shins. A lot.

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ORIGINAL: Padriag

Articles and debates like this are examples of why I've largely, in my own personal thinking, thrown out preconceived notions of what submissives and slaves are.  Over the last year I've increasingly simply used the term "companion".  It seems to me that often the objective difference between a "submissive" and a "slave" ends up being trying to split some very fine hairs.  Subjectively, these words have personal meanings to various individuals, and those meanings are just as varied which does not help foster communication.  If I say I want a "slave", what does that really mean?  Unless you know me personally and the details of what sort of relationship I want you at best only have a vague idea of what I might mean.  My "slave" might be someone else's "submissive" and yet another's "switch" or "free companion".  For me personally, I've reached a point where I no longer care what terms are used.  I still tend to use "slave" and "master" simply because those are terms I've long used out of habit... but a word of warning, don't assume you know what those words mean to me until you know me.  For the most part what I seek is a companion, with specific qualities and traits... among which include a degree of submissiveness I find palitable.  At some point in the future, when time allows, I plan to rewrite my profile to better reflect exactly what sort of companion I want.

Submissive, slave, switch, role playing, real, twue... yawn.  I couldn't care less about these words anymore... in my not so humble opinion what matters most are the people behind these labels, who they are, what they want, their sincerity, their goals, all the varied things that affect a relationship.

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ORIGINAL: OnyxDelphi

it is about giving up control - 100% control - over your life to someone else permanently. 

Once a contractual slave: you are complete and total property, and there's no way to change that after the contract has been finalized.

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ORIGINAL: eyesopened

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ORIGINAL: OnyxDelphi

it is about giving up control - 100% control - over your life to someone else permanently. 

Once a contractual slave: you are complete and total property, and there's no way to change that after the contract has been finalized.

What i want to know is what happens when the slave is, say, 85 years old and trying to bring hot tea to the Owner while using a walker and maybe a slight case of Parkinson's..... i'm guessing that the Owner would just take the poor slave out to the back yard and shoot her when she is no longer pleasing to keep around.  Since she can never change her status, then what is the meaning of the word "permanent"?  Sound either totally illegal (consentual or not) or totally fantasy.

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ORIGINAL: EclipseAbove

And a very necessary item for a community to have (I'm assuming it is for a web site/community).  It ends the constant bickering about "slave vs. sub", "you can't define my slavery", "my definition > yours", "twue", "real", etc, etc, etc.  It didn't say that people who considered themselves slaves and didn't meet that definition were somehow less-than.  Rather that they didn't meet that particular definition, which they don't.

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ORIGINAL: txnights05

The OP asked "What do you think?"

I would find it a lot more helpful if the responses were along those lines instead of finding fault with the OP.

Perhaps a discussion of your different POV's on the topic of slavery would be more productive. What parts of this article do you agree with, which parts do you find fault with?

I am new to posting on these boards but i have spent a lot of time reading them. My first impression is that a lot of people here seem to quarrel and belittle more than discuss in any meaningful manner. For someone like me who is looking for information, interested in learning and wants to hear all opinions, it is sometimes a daunting task.

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ORIGINAL: AquaticSub

If they are still slaves even though they don't meet that particular definition, how is having this document needed in the community and how does it end the bickering?