Historically, selling yourself into slavery has been quite common. Under a contractual scenario, the individual hands himself over as property to the master, and thus surrenders his free will, in exchange for some value from the master, such as food/shelter/stipend.
However I bring this up in the context of self-improvement no-hopers. People who have such poor virtue, self-restraint, discipline and commitment, that they have no hope of ever denting their natural tendencies and their sloppy and contemptible "default form" so to speak.
This refers to the obese who drink diet coke, the lazy who buy into get rich quick schemes, the druggies who go in and out of 'rehab' or take methodone etc.
The idea I'm thinking of is a "limited slavery". The contractee would sign an agreement laying out the freedoms he gives up to the master and the length of the contract. The contract would the contain the associated goals of the master in respect to the contractee. The contract would also mention the safeguards against abuse. E.g. the rights of the contractee to maintain records of all interactions, and to appeal to an arbiter under certain conditions if he felt the master has gone beyond the terms of the contract.
As a crude example: the contractee is a smoker who can't quit. He just keeps excusing himself out of ceasing smoking. His desire to quit and his character is weaker than his addiction. One day when his friend dies due to a smoking disease, he takes the nuclear option and signs this contract with a master who specializes in stopping smoking and has a good results record.
The master then locks the smoker in a room. No matter how hateful or agressive the smoker gets in his demand for a cigarette, including saying he wants to cancel the contract, or whatever he does, the master tells him to STFU and doesn't give him any tobacco. Eventually, the smokers addiction clears as his brain receptors return to normal, and he stops demanding tobacco. The master then releases him. The contractee has no legal recourse beyond the contract himself -- i.e. he cannot claim false imprisonment to the police because he has agreed to it.
The same would apply to fatties. "I simply can't lose weight" is easily disproven by a simple "getting lost in the woods with no food". The master would replicate this by only allowing the contractee to eat salad, and would have hired "male nurses" in case the fattie contractee got violent.
Thoughts?
However I bring this up in the context of self-improvement no-hopers. People who have such poor virtue, self-restraint, discipline and commitment, that they have no hope of ever denting their natural tendencies and their sloppy and contemptible "default form" so to speak.
This refers to the obese who drink diet coke, the lazy who buy into get rich quick schemes, the druggies who go in and out of 'rehab' or take methodone etc.
The idea I'm thinking of is a "limited slavery". The contractee would sign an agreement laying out the freedoms he gives up to the master and the length of the contract. The contract would the contain the associated goals of the master in respect to the contractee. The contract would also mention the safeguards against abuse. E.g. the rights of the contractee to maintain records of all interactions, and to appeal to an arbiter under certain conditions if he felt the master has gone beyond the terms of the contract.
As a crude example: the contractee is a smoker who can't quit. He just keeps excusing himself out of ceasing smoking. His desire to quit and his character is weaker than his addiction. One day when his friend dies due to a smoking disease, he takes the nuclear option and signs this contract with a master who specializes in stopping smoking and has a good results record.
The master then locks the smoker in a room. No matter how hateful or agressive the smoker gets in his demand for a cigarette, including saying he wants to cancel the contract, or whatever he does, the master tells him to STFU and doesn't give him any tobacco. Eventually, the smokers addiction clears as his brain receptors return to normal, and he stops demanding tobacco. The master then releases him. The contractee has no legal recourse beyond the contract himself -- i.e. he cannot claim false imprisonment to the police because he has agreed to it.
The same would apply to fatties. "I simply can't lose weight" is easily disproven by a simple "getting lost in the woods with no food". The master would replicate this by only allowing the contractee to eat salad, and would have hired "male nurses" in case the fattie contractee got violent.
Thoughts?