Chapter 27.   Masterson’s Proposition

The next morning my secretary advised me Greg Masterson was on the line.  When I picked up he greeted me warmly and said he had a business proposition for me and would I be free for lunch that day?  I was intrigued and readily agreed, quickly rescheduling another appointment.  With Masterson it was best to accommodate to his schedule.

I arrived at his favorite restaurant on the Upper East Side near Central Park.  It was the same restaurant where I had my original fateful meeting with him to plead Stephanie’s case.  This time I took a GPS guided robo-taxi.  It was not lost on me that such a vehicle probably would not have been possible without the sophisticated collision avoidance system pioneered by none other than the man I was meeting for lunch.   As I approached the front door of the restaurant I remembered that I had walked to this restaurant for the earlier meeting and had encountered quite a protest demonstration on the way.

This time the maitre d’ recognized me at once.

“Ah, Mr. Steelforth”, he began, “Mr. Masterson has just called to say he is on his way and has asked me to seat you at his favorite table where you might enjoy a glass of wine while you are waiting.”

“That would be fine, I am sure.”

“Before I seat you”, he continued, “I must ask your preference for the sex, race and age of your server.    Also you may specify his or her physical type.”

“Physical type?”  I queried.

“Yes, Mr. Steelforth.  Let me show you our menu of servers currently available and you can select one from the photos.”

He handed me a leather bound folder and inside there were photos and descriptions of the various servers.  Each photo with its accompanying description was inserted into a pocket inside the folder.  This enabled the maitre d’ to update the folder as different waiters and waitresses came on or off duty.  I looked through the folder and was struck by the variety of different physiques on offer – ranging from voluptuous to athletic to thin.  My eye was drawn to a very attractive and slender young black twenty something woman who was pictured in a black vest, a modest white blouse and a full-length form fitting black skirt that ended at mid calf.  I noted also that she wore black nylons and black high-heeled shoes.

“I would like to be served by that one!” I said, pointing to the photo of the one that struck my fancy.

“Excellent choice, sir!  Shawna has been with us for three years now and is one of the most often requested by regular customers.  She will be assigned exclusively to yourself and Mr. Masterson for the duration of your dining experience with us.  You do have one other choice to make, Mr. Steelforth.   It concerns her mode of dress while serving you.  We can offer you some limited options in this area consistent with our desire to maintain decorum.”

“What are my choices?”

“You can choose a blouse style that is long sleeved and modest with a high neckline, like the one you saw in her picture, or a sleeveless shoulder baring style, or a short sleeve one with a plunging neckline, or a short sleeve one that is midriff baring.  You may also choose the length of her skirt.”

I had always had a thing for seeing the well defined shoulders and collarbone area of a slender woman.   Also I was more of a leg man than a breast man.   I made my desires known accordingly.

“I would like her to wear the micro skirt together with the vest and the sleeveless shoulder baring blouse.”

“Excellent choice, sir!”

With that he led me back to Greg Masterson’s favorite table in a somewhat secluded rear alcove.    A drink waiter shortly appeared.  I saw that he was tall and slender and attired in a white ruffled shirt w bowtie, black vest, and full length black slacks that fit him like a second skin – leaving little to the imagination.   

“The waitress you selected”, he began,  “is now donning the clothing you selected for her sir.  In the meantime perhaps you would like to order a drink sir?”

I ordered a glass of Merlot, dismissed him and turned on the small TV monitor in the alcove near the table.  I had been enjoying my wine and idly watching the news of the day for perhaps ten minutes when Greg joined me.

“Bill, I apologize for the delay and I am so glad you could meet with me on such short notice.”

“Not a problem Greg.”

Just then our tall drink waiter returned and Greg, following my example, ordered a Merlot.

Our attention was then drawn to a news announcement from one of the local New York City stations.

“Word just in that Robert Dexter, well known to our listeners as the owner of Dexter Pharmaceuticals, has failed his annual citizenship examinations twice.  Sources at the Citizenship Bureau advise that he will now forfeit his standing as a citizen of Capitallia and as a citizen of New York State.  He is eligible to reapply in two years time, but in the meantime, as a non-citizen, he is no longer able to own the business he founded, nor can he maintain ownership of the 10 million dollar mansion he maintains in the Hamptons.  Mr. Dexter’s stock in the corporation and his home will go up for auction a week from next Monday.  Dexter Pharmaceuticals has been placed in temporary receivership until such time as a new owner can take over control of the business.”

“In other news today …”

I remembered a much younger Robert Dexter from one of the slavery conferences twenty years ago.  He had been a passionate advocate for full chattel slavery and helped to pass the legislation we now operated under.

“They will probably let him continue to manage the business as a salaried CEO”, Masterson remarked.  “He can still make a good living as a salaried manager.  Maybe one of his friends will buy his home and lease it back to him for the next couple of years.  While he can no longer own Dexter Pharmaceuticals, the court appointed receiver must sell his stock at a fair price and award him the proceeds.  So he won’t be bankrupted by this.   If he uses his time wisely he may be able to ace those exams when he comes up for citizenship review in two more years.” 

Our attention was then drawn to other news from the Chinese government.

“They have just announced”, the newscaster intoned, “that they will be the third country in the contemporary world to legalize chattel slavery.  The ‘Chinese Capitalist Party’ - what used to be called the ‘Chinese Communist Party’, made the decision.  While they have forsaken communism in favor of capitalism, they have not forsaken the autocratic rule that Communism brought in 1949.” 

“Does this mean you will be building a plant in China now?”  I asked.

“Hardly.  The Chinese version of slavery is likely to be very brutal indeed.  They will have few of the refinements or safeguards that have evolved in our society of limited franchise democracy.  I would not want to be involved, or have my managers operating, in an environment of enslavement of political dissidents and the brutal practices they will follow.   Perhaps in another twenty years their system will evolve into something that would be compatible with Western sensibilities.  But that is not for now.”

“What then?” I responded.  “Are there other parts of the world that might be more promising for expansion of your business interests?”

“Ah yes!  That is one of the things I wanted to talk about.  The second country in the world to legalize chattel slavery is Brazil.  That was just two weeks ago.  Perhaps you have heard something of that?”

“Yes indeed”, I replied.  

Just then the very leggy black waitress that I had earlier selected approached our table, presented Greg with his drink, and asked about our lunch orders.  She was sexier than I could have hoped for with her delicate and well defined shoulders bared and her attractive nylon clad legs on display almost up to her crotch.  Masterson indicated he would have the Salmon with the Mornay sauce, steamed asparagus au gratin, and a salad.  I indicated I would have the same and Masterson dismissed her.  .  I did not miss the opportunity to gaze with awe at her long slender legs as she turned away in her high heels.

“Now you might say why Brazil?”  he continued.  Many countries who have been traditional allies of the U.S. have been watching our Capitallian experiment and looking to see if their economies and their penal systems could be improved by following our example.  The problem is that most of these countries are now ‘social democracies’.  They have adopted the socialist model with cradle to grave security for all their citizens.  They are also very egalitarian.”

“How does this factor into their decisions about slavery?”  I asked.

“The overwhelming majority of people in these countries believe in a strong social safety net.  They also believe no one person should be allowed to have that much more than what can be guaranteed to all.  They have highly confiscatory taxation schemes.  So the idea of one person being allowed to actually own another person is not something most of these people can ever accept.”

“So how was it different in Brazil?”  I wanted to know.

“Brazil certainly has a stronger democratic tradition than China” he replied.  “But it is more of an elitist democracy where there have long been great extremes of wealth and poverty.  There is, in effect, a ruling class in Brazil that concentrates governing power more than in the European social democracies.  I think this is why the idea of one human being owning another is more acceptable there.” 

“Will this affect your business prospects in that country?”

“In time, yes.  And I may eventually have need of your services there.”

“Greg, there is another matter I would like to bring up.  You recall Stephanie asked you at our meeting if you would look into the possibility of improving the situation of the dancer, Jennifer Maisten.  I would like to be able to tell her something.”

“There is a problem with that, though perhaps not an insurmountable one.”

“What is the problem?”  I asked.

“Jennifer is a criminal slave” he responded.  “She was convicted in a private prosecution by the ballet company for embezzling funds.  The ballet company, as the successful private prosecutor, and as the victim of her crime, was given the usual prerogative by the Court of defining her sentence within the statutory guidelines.  So even though they subsequently sold her to me, I am still bound by the terms of her original sentence.”

“What does her sentence require?”  I pressed.

“Her sentence requires that she be treated under all the usual conditions of penal slavery which specifically includes, in her case, constant nudity, a 60 hour work week, and that she be forced to have non consensual sexual encounters at least twenty times per month on average, that she be subject to humiliating working conditions and so on.  The sentence also requires that we send her over to a public whipping service once every six months where she is lightly whipped on her bare buttocks in front of interested spectators.  My HR department is tasked with making sure she suffers all these punitive conditions in fulfillment of the sentence.  HR also arranges for her to have cutting edge medical treatments after each whipping so she recovers fast and can do her work at the ballet company.”

“Greg, is there nothing that can be done?”

“I do not have it within my personal power to set her free or to modify the harsh terms of her sentence.  The only thing I do have the power to do would be to sell her to a new owner and that new owner would also have to fulfill the degrading terms of her sentence.”

“But you gave Stephanie your word you would try to help Jennifer’s situation!” I blurted out.

“And I am a man of my word.  There is hope for Jennifer but it will take time and require a process of persuasion.  It is the Board of Directors of the National Ballet of Capitallia that has the power to set her free, modify the terms of her sentence, or possibly release her on parole.”

“How are they to be persuaded?”  I responded.

“My suggestion is that you, Bill, are in the best position to bring all this about.  Use your influence with the ballet company to see what can be done.  From what I hear you have been a generous financial contributor to the ballet over the years and I think they may listen to our plea if you are the one to present it.  If they agree I will, of course, need to be compensated for the loss of my slave.  I did buy her in good faith after all.  See what you can do!”

“I will certainly give it my best efforts”, I replied.

“I would like to move on”, he remarked, “to why I called for our meeting today. I have a rather pressing problem.  You may recall from our earlier meeting that there was quite a bit of protest in the park over the creation of a Federal Labor Board with authority to limit the total number of jobs available to free persons in this nation.  Those protesters organized a boycott of all fresh produce in New York City.  Some subsisted on canned goods alone.  Others started growing their own fruits and vegetables through cooperatives.”

Just then our waitress brought our lunch orders.  The food looked very appetizing indeed.

“When I first heard about that on the news”, I replied, “I thought how much purchasing power could a bunch of unemployed people have?  I was in for quite a surprise when I learned it wasn’t just the unemployed.  They got as much as a third of the whole number of non-citizens to participate in the boycott.  Even those who had jobs realized that their situation was precarious.  Tons of produce spoiled causing losses in New York City alone that, for one six month period, approached a billion dollars!”

“That did get the attention of the legislators!”  he rejoined.  “Not only that but Capitallians for the Constitution mounted a legal challenge to the Federal Labor Board.  They said Congress had overstepped its bounds in passing such a law since regulating wages and employment in Capitallia was not one of the enumerated powers granted the Federal Government, hence such a law would be unconstitutional under the Tenth Amendment.  The legal challenge had gotten as far as the Federal Appeals Court when Congress decided to reconsider the law that created the Federal Labor Board.  

“I remember reading about that about six months ago. “

“By the time Congress decided to reconsider the law establishing the Federal Labor Board it was discovered that law had been spearheaded by a bunch of legislators who may actually have had a hidden agenda to sabotage Capitallia’s economy.  These legislators knew that many shortsighted businessmen would think their proposal great because it would hold down labor costs – at least in the short run.  So they were able to get many members of the EFP, which generally represents the business community, to go along with this scheme and enact the law.  Unfortunately these representatives failed to take into account that the talent pool would eventually dry up because students could not get financing to train for such unrewarding jobs.”

“But why would any group of legislators engage in a conspiracy to sabotage Capitallia?” I asked incredulously.

“Because some of them had a vision for a different kind of society they hoped would take hold once Capitallia fell.  Their dream was to create a socialist utopia – the same foolish dream that has caused so much human misery in the twentieth century.  Their stated vision was for a society in which all would be equal – not only in opportunities but in actual results as well.  From each according to his abilities, to each according to his needs.  But in such utopias, as George Orwell once pointed out so eloquently, “some are always more equal.”

“How were these legislators with their hidden agenda found out?”  I was eager to learn.

“I’m afraid that is where the trail must end for now.  There is much about all this that is still highly classified information.  We may not know the whole story for another ten or twenty years.  I have heard rumors that an ex military man named Hank Dalton played a key role in all this and that the now classified project was code-named “Conspiracy of Dreams”.

“Fascinating” I said.  “But how is all of this going to affect your business, Greg?”

“My company, like so many other firms, in compliance with the now repealed law, had gradually reduced the numbers of free employees we had and replaced them with slaves and indentured servants.  Now we are faced with a new mandate.  Regulation of employment numbers has now passed from the feds to the states.”  

“So how is that a new mandate?” I asked.  “The state agencies will just continue the old federal policy of limiting jobs won’t they?”

“Quite the opposite, Bill.  Most states are interested in expanding job opportunities for citizens and free legal residents, even if it means companies like mine must greatly reduce the number of slaves and indentured people we use.”

“You see Bill, we do most of our business in New York, Massachusetts and California.  All three of these states are in the process of setting up what they are pleased to call “Full Employment Agencies”.  We will now be under pressure, in all the states where we do business, to increase the proportion of our work force that is called “Class A Labor”. That would be citizens and free legal residents.  They have another category called “Class B Labor” that consists of immigrant labor, indentured servants and slaves.  We have to reduce the proportion of that kind of labor we use in order to make more Class A jobs.  They are expected to give us a transitional period of at least five years to get our labor ratios into line with the new standards.”  

“In other words, Bill, we will be pushed in the opposite direction from what we were experiencing under the now extinct Federal Labor Board.  If this program succeeds it will reduce unemployment to something close to zero.  In theory everyone who wants a job will be able to get one – within the limits of his or her training and abilities.”

“But that will mean higher wage demands won’t it?” I said.  “And more bargaining power for employees to negotiate terms and conditions of employment.  Doesn’t that concern you?”

“Yes and no.  In the short run higher wages are costs I will have to absorb.  But if my competitors also have to pay these higher wages then I will not be placed at a disadvantage.  And there will be a real long term benefit!”

“What’s that?” I asked, somewhat surprised.

“The higher wages and better working conditions will create an ever expanding pool of high quality labor over the longer run.  More students will be willing to undertake the long training required for many of our occupations.  And more banks will be willing to lend them tuition money, confident their earnings will be sufficient to repay such loans.”

We had just finished our lunches and our leggy waitress inquired if we wished to order desserts.  We decided to just have coffees.

“I see your point”, I said.  “But this can’t be good for the slaving business” I sighed.  I was more worried than I wanted to let him see.

“Not necessarily” he replied.  “There is more than one way to look at these things.  There will now be many companies that need to divest their slaves and they will need help marketing those slaves to other firms.  In fact, I need such help.  That is the purpose of my inviting you here today!”

“Who will buy all the indentured servants you and others will be letting go?” I wondered aloud.

“In many industries the possibilities for using slave or indentured labor has never been fully explored because the price of slaves and servants was too high.  Now there will be a general fall in the price of slaves at the same time average wage levels for free employees will be rising.  That means many firms that never used slave labor before will now be able to afford to do so. “

“I see your point,” I said, feeling less discouraged than I had a moment before.

“Why don’t you think through what slave marketing services you might be able to provide and shoot over a proposal to me?  Then, if we are in accord, we will have a follow-up meeting to finalize an arrangement.”

“Sounds good to me”, I remarked.

With that we finished our coffees, left the restaurant and went our separate ways.

That evening I dropped by Stephanie’s place to update her on all the research I had done concerning the Henderson Trauma Clinic.  Because of all the symptoms of post traumatic stress she had experienced, she was ready to consider it.  I gave her Dr. Henderson’s phone number and she promised to call him in the morning and arrange for a preliminary interview.

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