The invaders command that the locals, the Tulat/"We," must carry gifts to them continually during the spring. This means that the Tulat have less time to hunt and gather for themselves.
This demonstrates a point about the origins of slavery. When the productivity of human labour was so low that the work of a single individual was sufficient to maintain only that single individual, then no one was able to enslave anyone else. If A ate what B produced, then B would starve so that A would be unable to enslave B. Oppressed though they are by their new masters, the Tulat must already be able to produce more than they need for themselves. Otherwise, this new exploitative system would not work.
But was there an earlier time when productivity was so low that exploitation was impossible? I have thought so but I realize that my understanding has been based on particular books that I have read. The Time Patrol is able to go and find out.
2 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Of course there has been oppression from the earliest times, since humans became human. It's what human beings are like, since the Fall.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
There could only have been exploitation - the appropriation of the products of someone else's labour - if productivity was high enough for that to happen which is the question that I'm asking.
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