How much slave can you afford (given true historical pricing)?

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How much slave can you afford (given true historical pr... - 4/25/2010 11:11:46 AM

pompeii

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This wonderful picture got me thinking again about how much slave I could have afforded in my historical daydreams ...
http://galleries1.adult-empire.com/70/7042//048v/4.jpg

I always assumed that slaves throughout history were sold at competitive prices ... but the question is ... say for Roman times (my favorite to daydream about being a wealthy slaveowner in) ... what do you think a slave cost in today's dollars (i.e., how many could you afford to own)?

As much as a power tool? A cell phone? A used car? A new car? A house?

EDIT: Trying to upload a thumbnail to save you the search but can't seem to get it up.

< Message edited by pompeii -- 4/25/2010 11:14:05 AM >

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 11:31:56 AM

Aylee

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IIRC the cost of a slave was similar to the cost of a new car today. A nice car, not a Geo Metro.

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 11:38:27 AM

Lucienne

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I don't really understand this question. Are you trying to compare the purchasing power of fantasy you (wealthy slave-owner of Roman times) to the real you? We do have a modern slave trade. I imagine how much they cost would depend on gender/age/utility and where you find them on the distribution chain. You could probably score a few girls kidnapped from Eastern Europe for under 5k.

(in reply to pompeii)

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 11:48:29 AM

ishyB

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It depends on how scares or abundant slaves are, and which economy you are talking about.

In the US, minimum wage is currently $7.25 an hour. This means that in terms of economical value, a slave laborer that is made to work 365 days a year at an average of 15 hours a day saves an employer 40,000 dollars a year. If you would say that you get a good, healthy 30 years out of slave labors (before their neglected health cost slows down their productivity) the minimum total savings are 1,200,000 dollars.
This is obviously for minimum wage work, and doesn't take into account slaves trained to do more skilled labor, or using them for prostitution or the porn industry.

When considering Europe, where the minimum wages are much higher, the cost goes up even more. I'll take Belgium as an example, because I'm familiar with their minimum wages.
Belgian minimum wage is about $11.61 an hour which equals to about $63,500 a year and $1,905,000 savings over the course of 30 years when using slaves verses using minimum wage laborers.

So based on those numbers, how much a slave would be worth economically, I don’t know, but I do know that it would be quite a bit, and there is no way in hell that a slave would ever go so cheap as for the price of a cell phone or a power tool.

A house seems more reasonable to me, although that would again depend on what kind of house we’re talking about.

< Message edited by ishyB -- 4/25/2010 11:51:13 AM >

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 12:04:00 PM

DarkSteven

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I'm scared to think of what I would get for $2000. Which by the way was the cost that I was asked to fork over for a slave recently...

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 12:17:30 PM

Lucienne

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quote:

ORIGINAL: ishyB

It depends on how scares or abundant slaves are, and which economy you are talking about.
...
So based on those numbers, how much a slave would be worth economically, I don’t know, but I do know that it would be quite a bit, and there is no way in hell that a slave would ever go so cheap as for the price of a cell phone or a power tool.

The presumption of 30 years of work struck me as terribly optimistic even before I did a google search. A taste:

Widespread poverty and social inequality ensure a pool of recruits as deep as the ocean. Parents in desperate straits may sell their children or at least be susceptible to scams that will allow the slave trader to take control over the lives of their sons and daughters. Young women in vulnerable communities are more likely to take a risk on a job offer in a faraway location. The poor are apt to accept a loan that the slave trader can later manipulate to steal their freedom. All of these paths carry unsuspecting recruits into the supply chains of slavery. "The supply side of the equation is particularly bleak," says Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas. "While there are 100,000 places in the developed world for refugee resettlement per year, 50 million refugees and displaced persons exist worldwide today. This ready reservoir of the stateless presents an opportunity rife for exploitation by human traffickers." During the era of the American plantation economy, the slaveholder considered slave ownership an investment. The supply of new recruits was limited. The cost of extracting and transporting the slave, and ensuring that they would be serviceable by the time they reached their destination, was considerable. In the modern slave trade, the glut of slaves and the capacity to move them great distances in a relatively short period of time drastically alters the economics of slave ownership. Kevin Bales' description of modern slaves as "disposable people" profoundly fits: Just like used batteries, once the slave exhausts his or her usefulness, another can be procured at no great expense.
Link

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 12:20:45 PM

DomImus

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I could afford the couple in that picture but I couldn't afford the ones I'd really want.

quote:

ORIGINAL: pompeii
but can't seem to get it up.

Life is a bitch, sometimes.

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 1:50:46 PM

reynardfox

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The sound you can hear is William Wilberforce and his mate Abraham Lincoln both turning in their graves.

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 2:29:51 PM

Apocalypso

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You really can't draw historical parallels in this way. Apart from anything else, in general, most people are not looking for agricultural slaves. So, unlike historical slavery, strength and endurance are not the same draws. And that's before even getting into the issue that the entire Roman economy was based on a large number of slaves, so there's no way you're going to be able to work out a valid exchange rate in an entirely different economic context.

(Strangely enough, most historical slaves were not bought for sexual purposes).

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 3:51:46 PM

Malkinius

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{fast reply}

Well...if you want to fantasize about owning slaves in ancient Rome, then enjoy your fantasy. A quick Google search turned up this information about classical Roman prices:

http://www.staloysius.org/myrtle/Classics/higher_classical_studies/mod3/Slavery_Rome.htm

Page down to section II.3.

The short form for everyone is about the price of a car, not a house in current money dependent on the skills of the slave. A cheap used car for a war captive or a high end luxury car for one with trade or scholarly skills that could make significant money for the owner.

It also doesn't take much work to look at current slave prices around the world. The real, but illegal ones in Africa and Asia are probably much less than a consensual slave here in the US should you actually find someone who is really selling such a person. I have seen a slave transferred for a few dollars as part of the theater surrounding a willing transfer so 'technically' it was a sale. I would not consider that to be a real price tho and it was much closer to the price in the picture than buying a running used car. I have also heard of other prices more in the price of a car range. If you are talking about slavery for prostitution or white slavery then the numbers I have read seem to be all over the place...but once again, mostly in the low end new or high end used car range. That information does get published in news stories every now and then and there are web sites about that problem. They are not hard to find. They are also dealing with things I have no wish to be involved in except for shutting down such traffickers.

Be well....

Malkinius

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/25/2010 5:16:34 PM

sweetsub1957

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quote:

ORIGINAL: DomImus

quote:

ORIGINAL: pompeii
but can't seem to get it up.

Life is a bitch, sometimes.

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/26/2010 10:45:17 AM

DesFIP

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A field slave in about 1800 cost just under $400 which is equivalent to almost $5,000 today. Not enough for a new car.

And why did I just waste twenty minutes trying to find an inflation calculator?

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/26/2010 6:28:12 PM

Ph0enixF1re

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You can buy the contract of a "buy my drinkee" girl for about $400 in Korea.

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/26/2010 8:30:04 PM

PrinceBlackHeart

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Afford? With my level of pussy magnetism all I'd have to do is leave the door to my slave stables unlocked at night so the most nubile slaves from local estates could sneak off and join my own estate. The only awkward part would be when the quarters got overcrowded and I had to start turning some of the slaves I was tired of back to their original owners.

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/26/2010 10:34:59 PM

popeye1250

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Ph0enixF1re

You can buy the contract of a "buy my drinkee" girl for about $400 in Korea.

Ha! I remember the "drink girls" in Greece and Spain, "I love you Joe no shit, you buy me drink?"

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 4/27/2010 12:25:53 PM

thompsonx

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quote:

ORIGINAL: PrinceBlackHeart

Afford? With my level of pussy magnetism all I'd have to do is leave the door to my slave stables unlocked at night so the most nubile slaves from local estates could sneak off and join my own estate. The only awkward part would be when the quarters got overcrowded and I had to start turning some of the slaves I was tired of back to their original owners.

ROFLMAO

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Post #: 16

RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 5/1/2010 8:49:58 AM

pompeii

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quote:

ORIGINAL: Lucienne
Are you trying to compare the purchasing power of fantasy you (wealthy slave-owner of Roman times) to the real you?

Yes. In a way. I can afford a few of any car I want that is in any parking lot in any US dealership (mainstream cars, that is, those less than six figures).

If I liken the car dealership to the slave auction, then that means I can at this very moment procure one or two low-mileage slave girls for my use.

That fantasy is the thought I'm working on here ...

(in reply to Lucienne)

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 5/1/2010 9:04:39 AM

MC4Misfit

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quote:

ORIGINAL: thompsonx

quote:

ORIGINAL: PrinceBlackHeart

Afford? With my level of pussy magnetism all I'd have to do is leave the door to my slave stables unlocked at night so the most nubile slaves from local estates could sneak off and join my own estate. The only awkward part would be when the quarters got overcrowded and I had to start turning some of the slaves I was tired of back to their original owners.

ROFLMAO

Especially when you throw in that avatar pic. It just screams "dominance" and "pussy magnet" now doesn't it?

(in reply to thompsonx)

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 5/1/2010 6:36:01 PM

pegbundy

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quote:

ORIGINAL: MC4Misfit

quote:

ORIGINAL: thompsonx

quote:

ORIGINAL: PrinceBlackHeart

Afford? With my level of pussy magnetism all I'd have to do is leave the door to my slave stables unlocked at night so the most nubile slaves from local estates could sneak off and join my own estate. The only awkward part would be when the quarters got overcrowded and I had to start turning some of the slaves I was tired of back to their original owners.

ROFLMAO

Especially when you throw in that avatar pic. It just screams "dominance" and "pussy magnet" now doesn't it?

To me, the pic screams "well and thoroughly twisted", which is strangely magnetic from my point of view.

The topic of the thread, though, has me thinking I am very glad I'm not a slave up for sale. Somehow conjures memories of being the last one picked for dodgeball.

(in reply to MC4Misfit)

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RE: How much slave can you afford (given true historica... - 5/1/2010 6:41:46 PM

auditguy

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Pegbundy, I'd always pick you first.

The real tough question is, how much slave could you get for a Winnebago?

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