Slavery has been an integral part of human history sinceHomo-Sapiens started needing cheap labor to plow their fields, herd their animals and help with household chores. With their inferior social status,slaves, even the most likeable ones, were at the mercy and moods of their masters. They were property of the master to do with as he pleases, including killing them without the least repercussion.

Slaves had no rights whatsoever; the masters had full authority to castrate them, loan them out, offer them up as gifts, have them perform sexual favors for guests at dinner parties, use them for labor, sell them off, starve them out, whip them and even kill them. They were of so little consequence that, in ancient Rome for instance, recently excavated mosaics from the Mount-Vesuvius-claimed Pompeii showed the masters of the house engaging in coitus with their slaves present; a behavior they would have never have dreamed of engaging in if otherwise “free citizens” were looking on, but because a slave had the same status and value as an oil lamp or a vase, it was just as well.
In ancient Egyptian, Chinese and Nordic civilizations, it was common for upper society slave masters to have their slaves killed after the masters’ death, and buried with them in the same tomb. However, what comes as an extreme shock to us modern humans, is that some slaves have had the opportunity to become free, but chose instead to remain slaves on their own accord. Some of these extreme cases of Stockholm Syndrome can be justified through economic hardship: a cheap laborer’s work is seasonal, and so is his pay,whereas a slave will always have a place to stay and food to eat. Other cases however are far more complicated than what can be chocked up to economics or a twisted sense of loyalty. Some slaves have gone as far as committing suicide upon the death of their masters, because that's all they have been all their lives, they have come to accept that their lives are far less valuable than that of the master and that there cannot exist any form of life for them after his parting. As unfathomable as it is to us now in the 21st century, this was commonplace in ancient times; nobody gave it a second thought, or blinked twice at the physical and deep psychological abuse that slaves were subjected to, nor even come to view slavery as the awful and inhumane concept that it is. Of course, this was in a time when also Gladiators being ripped to pieces as thousands cheered on, was not just a popular sport, but a family affair as well. In another instance, according to Deuteronomy 15:12, a slave master was required to free his Hebrew (Slaves of other pedigree did not have the same privilege) slaves after they’ve worked for him for 7 years, many slaves did not want to be freed when the seven years were up, as by then, they have spent 2550+days being indoctrinated by that very same master about the benefits of slavery, that at the end of the 7 year period, they were devastated at the thought of having to set off on their own. As such, the slave would have had to declare and publicly state that he or she chooses to remain a slave, and submit for a hot rod to be driven through their earlobe to make room for a gigantic loop-earing,a mark of a slave for life … by choice.

Not unlike our Moroccan brethren, who have been tricked into accepting the modern-era dictatorship of the Alaouites as “the norm” and cannot see life in a world where they would get to actually chose their leaders and dictate the rules of engagement. The slave-for-life-by-choice’s declaration of their intention to continue to serve in bondage and the absence of any form of dignified or humane life is not unlike the “Bayaa” (Homage) that the current king Mohammed the 6th and his forefathers before him, require of every official he has appointed, every year, at the anniversary of his crowning. In a display of utter submission and the absence of free will, thousands are gathered up in a public square of his choosing, and have to bow down several times, publicly, in unison, all dressed in pure white, and praise the king. This humiliating ceremony is still in practice to the date of this note, and has not been abolished despite the harsh criticism it receives both internally and internationally. Some of my brethren, who have been conditioned to accept that there is a single family in all of Morocco whose blood is somehow more noble, and who are simply born better than the rest of us, which is why they are destined to rule, not because of merit, but because of their very existence. That's reverse darwinism at its best! As such, that same family is allowed a very generous yearly salary each while tens of millions of Morocco’s populace live under the poverty line, or for under $1.25/day.

Not only that, those people who have embraced and accepted this way of life for themselves, find it difficult to accept that others may want something different. Not unlike the legendary "Uncle Tom" character, the epithet for extreme subservitude and ultimate betrayal of his own, when legend has it that uncle tom, the domestic slave, was spying on and turning his own family in for plotting to escape, or slacking off work, we find that modern-day slaves to their Alaouite masters go out of their way to stop, punish, harass and even physically hurt other Moroccan citizens who call for liberty, justice and dignity for all. To their severely misguided eyes, our calls for freedom are misconstrued and mistaken for threats to their core stability, foolishly built on such decaying infrastructure of fear and servitude. While we want what's humane and dignified for everyone, they view it as many slaves have viewed freedom before them, a dangerous change that they cannot cope with. Calling for freedom becomes misconstrued for dogma ...

What boggles my mind is that millions in Morocco have come to accept this status quo as a matter of fact, it is all a part of what constitutes the “normal paradigm” they have been indoctrinated to embrace for themselves and their children after them. They have been taught to self loathe, so much so that they have no issues with living in the most dire of circumstances, while the few hundreds enjoy the fruits of their labor, and split Morocco’s riches and natural resources amongst themselves while the rest are watching from the sidelines, as if it were the most normal thing in the world. Voluntary slavery is alive and well and lives in Morocco, among other places.

However, when I tire my brain cells trying to find an answer, I remember ancient times when slavery, public hanging, burning alive, quartering and disembowelment of other fellow humans were carried out in city squares, and dead corpses were left out to rot at the gates for everyone to see … It seems unfathomable to us modern humans because we have evolved into more humane beings. Because we have begun to overcome the 4 necessities of food, shelter, sex and comfort and think beyond our immediate needs. Humanity is a hot topic, as well as living dignified and respecting one another. It is an evolving world, and someday, someone just like me, will sit down to write a few lines, scratching his or her head as to how did my fellow Moroccan brethren accept this undignified way of life while the world around them was shedding the last remnant garbs of inferiority.

To help wrap my tormented mind around this human tragedy, I would have to remember that birds that hatch in a cage, think flying is unnatural ...

As for me, I will let lyrics from a song echo my stance "ضرب الخناجر، و لا حكم النذل فييا"

By: Siham Jihad Byah