Any one know, or have an opinion on the how Ferengi feel toward the practice of slave trade. I know they are good for exploiting people to the limit, but would going to the extent of slavery be acceptable?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Quark quite directly implied that slavery (at least of their own people) was something that the Ferengi have never had. In "The Jem'Hadar" he threw the fact that Humans had slavery in their past in Sisko's face. I think interstellar wars was something else that prooved Hoo-mans are barbaric...at least in Quark's mind.
Posted by EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
slaves can't really earn money, so they would be anathema in Ferengi society, i would think.
Posted by Timo (Member # 245) on :
Indeed. And even if the Ferengi treatment of their females has elements of slavery to it, it should be noted that the female still gets paid (womb rental and so forth), which is NOT an element of slavery by the strict definition.
Then again, slavery need not be defined strictly. In effect, every worker in a capitalist system is still a slave, forced to work for the privilege of staying alive. It's just that there's this complex economy between the hand and the mouth.
I gather the Ferengi would be happy to sell "labor" (alien or Ferengi), in forms that some might consider slave trade. Yet I think it would require expanding the definition of slavery somewhat.
Timo Saloniemi
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
This has always been one of my favorite Quark scenes, and is one of the few times DS9 tried to make the Ferengi an actual civilization, rather than a bunch of cartoon characters.
Slavery is, of course, uneconomical in the long run, and the Ferengi are no doubt aware of this. But more than that, as cutthroat as it seems to be, Ferengi society appears to be pretty egalitarian. There doesn't appear to be anything resembling a nobility, even in their distant past. The issue of who gets to be Grand Nagus is a bit muddy, but then so are the powers of the office. Most of what we saw the Nagus doing was investing. The position seems more akin to, say, the chairman of the Federal Reserve in the U.S. than the President. And even the Nagus has to worry about the FCA (Is that the right acronym?), whose employees, it would seem, are there simply because of their qualifications.
In other words, there is no privileged class in Ferengi society, other than that of the wealthy, and that's one that, on Ferenginar, anyone can join if they're good enough. (And male!) So, while I'm sure there are labor contracts that would make your hair stand on end, they aren't institutionalized against entire groups of people.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Interstellar wars!?! Quark's a liar... the Ferengi fought only one interstellar war and won... against he Hyperions or who ever. Yes I know Legends of the Ferengi isn't ENTIRELY canon.
What about "Vulcan Love Slave" - the successful book series. I wonder if it was inspired by T'Pol?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
mmmmm.... T'pol.....
But that's an interesting thought. Perhaps the Ferengi obsession with clothed Vulcan females was passed down through the generations.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Genetic Memory!?! heheheh sorry - little Stargate joke.
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
The Ferengi in "Rascals" may not be a typical example, but weren't they going to sell the Enterprise crew as slaves?
For that matter, weren't the ones in "Acquisition" going to do the same thing to the ship's women?
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
Good points, both. I think it's not so much a matter of the Ferengi not taking advantage of slave labor when it's available from other races as it is a matter of never having dealt with it in their own society. There appear to be special rules when dealing with other Ferengi. "A contract is a contract is a contract... but only between Feregni" for example.
Posted by EdipisReks (Member # 510) on :
so a Feregni and a Ferengi can't make a contract together? Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Slavery doesn't exist in country X, but some citizens of country X are involved in slavery. I don't see how that is a contradiction.
Posted by Aban Rune (Member # 226) on :
I don't think it's a contradiction... I think we're just trying to nail down their view on it based on the examples and evidence we have.
Posted by Kalax (Member # 723) on :
What about selling Labor? Where as Slave Trader A sells a Ferengi X Ammount of Slaves and the Ferengi pays them, however small an ammount that is. Would aa Ferengi be tempted into such a deal?
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Was Maihar'du Zek's slave/servant?
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
While it's been a while since I read it, I have a vague recollection of Legends of the Ferengi strongly implying that the Hupyrians were bought out by the Ferengi, or something along those lines. I think. Though it's getting fuzzier the more I think about it. Heisenbergian memory?
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
All the book says is that enlistment in the Ferengi military went up after the apparently pleasant effects of Hupyrian beetle snuff was discovered.
"Oblat, who after all was a Nagus and thus nobody's fool, quickly announced that from here on out all Ferengi military personnel would be supplied with one free canister of beetle snuff per week. Enlistment soared. Hupyrian casualties mounted, and within a year the Nagus's (sic) duridium mines were as safe as if they were located in the shadow of the Tower of Commerce itself."
Posted by MinutiaeMan (Member # 444) on :
Perhaps Quark and "mainstream" Ferengi had a different definition of slavery... I'd bet that the Ferengi would almost certainly practice indentured servitude.
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)