Has anyone else been reading the story A Story of Slavery in Modern America [theatlantic.com]? It resonated with me in more ways than one. My family never had a slave but they did have my cousin, who though she was paid quite well for her service, left her own two young daughters who were the same age as me and my brother, and her husband with severe bipolar disorder, to be our domestic servant in Hong Kong. My parents really weren't very nice to her at all. The story of domestic helpers in places like HK or Saudi or Dubai or wherever is something that no-one seems to talk about even if they're paid rather than enslaved. And you know, my uncle had a servant who he had for decades, but who was clearly dying of chronic lung disease, and who he wouldn't let go - saying essentially that the moment he left his medical bills would no longer be paid - and I think I said something about it, and absolutely no one agreed with me or backed him up. Jamis wasn't a nice man tbh, but he had every right to go home to his wife and family to die with them. My extended family have given me shit for how badly I manage my life. But I will never ever ever have a servant. That idea is repugnant to me and has been for a long time. It is exploitative and awful. I have a cleaner and an accountant and my landlord hires a gardener. But these are all professionals with whom I have a fairly equal relationship with who I pay a decent wage that they have assigned themselves, to provide a service.
@skematica