[ExI] Slavery in the Future

[ablainey at aol.com]

I ran into my own tissue concoction talking back to me recently. The other day my teen daughter decided not to clean her room and stated that she never asked to be born and that she resents all the stuff we make her do (which is almost nothing but she sees it otherwise). Of course she can claim self-ownership, which means I can't harm her. Nor would I want to. But I was quick to point out that if I so desired, I could still make her work for me in the office without paying her minimum wage. Does this mean our children qualify as legal slaves? 


That is exactly the point I was going to make. Children?could appear to be,?for all intents and purposes our slaves in all but name. However the differences are markedly clear, although apparently not to some parents or cultures. Would a sentient toaster with a desire for self ownership be a slave if we were protecting it and guiding its development toward self sufficiency?
In order to avoid a world full of stropy teenage toasters doing to much 'muffin' and destroying there lives and those around them. I think we need to adjust our definition of slave to include not only concepts of self ownership, but also measurement of the ability and responsibility to be self owning.

Alex
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