# Is opposition of slavery is old is slavery itself? Other Q's. **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [August 11, 2019, 5:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510 "2019-08-11T17:25:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 5\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510/81 "2019-08-15T19:22:40Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > No, I’m asking what does “there are only two kinds of people: Crooks and Joe-blows” have to do with “serfs were treated better than slaves”? I genuinely fail to see the relationship between these two statements, let alone how one is somehow an argument against the other. I’m saying the differences between serfs and slaves, and treatment of either, is so tiny that it doesn’t bear serious consideration, compared to the differences between both as a class, and their Lords/Masters. So any argument that attempts to emphasize their petty differences, rather than their similarities, is a counterproductive distraction, and only serves the interests of their oppressors (or their oppressors’ good names, at any rate) and all current oppressors of that same ilk. > [@](#): > > I’m not doubting that you’re making an argument, I’m simply saying that I’m not following. That’s clear. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510/82 "2019-08-15T19:30:10Z")
> [@MrDibble](#): > > As far as I see it, there’s 2 broad categories of people - Worker, and Parasite Hm. I never knew you were anti-welfare. ---
**Author:** ![MrDibble](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mrdibble/32/114_2.png) [@MrDibble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrDibble)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2019, 8:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510/83 "2019-08-15T20:34:31Z")
> [@Derleth](#): > > Hm. I never knew you were anti-welfare. I’m totally for welfare. But then you \*know \*I don’t think anyone on welfare is a Parasite, so this is just performance art on your part. How _droll_! What \*fun \*it is to mock the exploited! \*Such \*a laugh! ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510/84 "2019-08-23T15:55:38Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Well, perhaps when the North Africans enslaved Christians. > > But yes, Southern Slavery was not only “peculiar” but also unusual. Southern slavery was particularly horrible from a historical context. ---
**Author:** ![Damuri\_Ajashi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Damuri\_Ajashi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damuri_Ajashi)\ **Post date:** [August 23, 2019, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510/85 "2019-08-23T16:03:13Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I have no problem with that. I think that the suffering a serf experienced, while it certainly existed, was trivial in comparison to the suffering a slave endured. > > Keep in mind that when you say that serfdom was as bad as slavery, you’re also saying that slavery was no worse than serfdom. Isn’t that true for wrt the sort of slavery you saw in some societies? Serfdom wasn’t nearly as bad as Southern slavery but it was comparable to some forms of historical slavery. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-opposition-of-slavery-is-old-is-slavery-itself-other-qs/838510.md?page=4)