Believe it or not, this was a topic covered very well by 12 Years A Slave. Yes, of course there were some masters who treated their slaves well – but the problem is that A. there are some rather strict limits to how “well” the slaves can be treated (freeing them is out of the question, as is treating them like a free person), and B. treating your slaves too “well” makes other masters view the non-conformist as a threat to the smooth functioning of the system.
As with other systems of human oppression, slavery didn’t require participants to be actively malicious to function; it worked just as well if they were financially dependent, morally ambivalent, and socially surveiled.
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