I don't understand this Gorean thing.

What is the TCO of a slave these days?

Well, that all depends. If you let your slave work outside the home (or inside even) then the TCO may well be none at all. In fact the slave could be a new source of income as whatever s/he owns/earns becomes the property of the owner!

But if the owner elects to keep the slave from earning money then the cost goes up...extra groceries, extra utility usage, and something few think about....health insurance. What if that slave gets sick? Are you going to pay for medical treatment out of pocket? Ouch! Since no employer that I am aware of offers medical coverage to one's property, you'll have to pay for independent health insurance.

Of course this is supposing the owner hasn't married the slave. Or, with the issue of civil unions getting more heated, maybe your slave could be covered by your employer as your "life partner" or some such. But what if you have more than one?

-Kiamat Dusk

These are all very good questions.

How did you handle your slave ownership?

I was introduced to the D/s relationship less then half a year ago, and even I can see half the crap spewed here is ignorant babble just from the similarities between D/s and S/M.

Note: I am not a submissive, or slave, or master, or dominant nor have I ever been or plan to be.

I'm going to sum this up for all of you:

- If you see a Gorian slave in SL, IT IS BY THEIR OWN CHOICE THEY ARE A SLAVE.

There is nothing "forced" about anything that goes on. An SL slave may leave the relationship at any time.

- To the slaves of Gor, this is ULTIMATE FREEDOM.

Freedom from what? Freedom from responsibility. Sometimes we all wish all of our own responsibilities could just be lifted from our shoulders ourselves. These women get to live a bit of that in SL. If they want responsibility, they can just leave and go find some.

- It is also ULTIMATE EMOTIONAL FREEDOM.

The masters of the slaves treat them as their own property. Property that must be taken care of completely by the master since it is considered that the slave cannot take care of herself physically or mentally. The master wishes to know everything he can about his slave, every opinion, every thought, every desire. And the slave has no choice but to tell him. She cannot hold anything back. How many of us are that open in RL? Can just LET IT ALL OUT? Slaves have this perk few of us "free thinkers" will ever know. The same is also true about the Master. He wants his slave to know him as well as he knows her so she may serv him to the best of her abilities. How else will she know if he tells her nothing?

- And a truly deep form of Love.

When two people know eachother so deeply on so many levels, share so much time with one another and care so deeply for one another on many levels...it's a form of love most of us will never know.

If a slave does not, in time, love her Master, it will never work. If a Master does not love his slave, his property that he puts so much time, resources, and care into, more than anything else he owns...no, it won't work.

The difference between a NORMAL SLAVERY and a GORIAN SLAVERY:

The normal slave has to work harder for its master.

The Gorian Master has to work harder for his slave.

This is pretty much the operating principle behind the joy people describe in submitting themselves to God's will, a la Christianity and Islam.

*ducks*

Hm, interesting analogy, but no. The slaves actually get *satisfaction* from it *before* they die, and the Masters actually put some effort into it. *also ducks*

No, but really, Christianity, to me, is following the example left by the Son of God, and hoping I'm not completely wrong in believing that. That's about it to me, before anyone starts derailing this thread.