Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:59:07 GMT
From: "anonymous4371@juno.com" <anonymous4371@juno.com>
Subject: THE BAZAAR - Chapter 19/Final (Gay; Authoritarian)

THE BAZAAR

by Bill Smith

Chapter 19/Final

THE BAZAAR GROWS AND PROSPERS

Ten years later:

     The world was suffering the worst economic crisis in history, now
known as "The Bush Depression" to distinguish itself from a similar, but
milder situation in the 1930s known simply as "The Depression."

     But economic hard times meant prosperity on several counts: (1)
volunteer armies found it much easier to recruit and obtained better
trained, more physical astute soldiers due to the better selection now
possible; (2) universities and college enrollments swelled as people
thought it better to educate themselves than just do nothing when no jobs
were available; and (3) the slave industry grew rapidly as more and more
people, turning in economic desperation turned to crime, got caught, and
were consequently sentenced to slavery by the courts since the states had
no money to feed or house them; a few, facing starvation, begged the courts
to enslave them rather than die slowly of hunger; and the slave breeding
farms went into high production to provide cheaper and cheaper labor.

     Thus, armies were well staffed; universities were full; and the slave
pens offered the greatest variety at the cheapest prices ever known. Along
with this, the gap between the rich and the poor was the widest ever: the
rich were even richer due to the tax structure; the poor were destitute due
to that same tax structure and the collapse of any state welfare system;
and the middle class - well, they just sort of disappeared.  As a result,
ironically, there were more rich people than ever and this group had more
surplus than they had ever had.  Many of the poor drifted into slavery,
while the shrinking middle class just observed this social upheaval with
stoicism. Slaves prices fell each and every year.  The end result was
almost all manufactured goods were now slave-produced; the service industry
was practically 100% slave-powered, including the overseers; most
agricultural products were cultivated and processed by slaves; and the rich
found it easier and easier to staff their huge estates with slaves to do
everything imaginable. Goods, like slaves, were cheaper than ever before
thanks to the no-cost labor producing them.  Even entertainment, such as
film and TV production, athletes, etc., were almost entirely manned by
slaves due to their low cost and cheap maintenance.

     The Bazaar had benefitted from these social trends more than any other
institution in the world.  Its management had wisely foreseen what was
coming and had first doubled, then tripled the processing, holding, and
training facilities over the past decade. Compared to its beginnings, its
buildings now occupied thousands and thousands of square miles of arid
desert land, its training and handling staff had practically quadrupled (it
was now Egypt's largest employer many times over - bigger than the Egyptian
government), and its pens on any given day held close to one million rather
than the hundred thousand or so when it first opened.  It was, literally,
the largest corporation in the world no matter how you measured it: net
worth, percentage of the market, capital holdings, or yearly profits. Egypt
was no longer a poor, third world country, but now one of the world's
leading countries with its citizens enjoying one of the highest living
standards in the world, Bush Depression or not. The original financiers,
Dubai, was also propering from its unique association with The Bazaar from
the very beginning.  Only, now, the profits flowed into Dubai in terms of
living flesh instead of raw cash - and all that premium flesh at a very
nice discount! Dubai's citizens, long one of the richest body of people in
the world, were now many times richer.  They all enjoyed lives of leisure
with enough money tucked away to make sure their great grandchildren and
great-great-grandchildren would never have to dirty their hands with work.

     For those in the pens of the now unbelievably huge Bazaar, life was
predestined.  They would be slaves all their lives and, since their lives
were now valued cheaper and cheaper with each passing year, they tended to
be worked harder, longer, and with fewer and fewer considerations of the
fact they were still human beings, not just draft animals.  In many
situations, it was now cheaper to replace a slave than take proper care of
him and extend his or her life.  Hence, slaves were more and more underfed,
whipped to the point of sheer exhaustion, worked longer hours, and had
medical needs go unheeded.  Who cared if they dropped dead at the plow
under the overseer's never ceasing whip?  It was cheap enough to replace
them with a fresh one bought even cheaper.

     Eventually, the situation corrected itself, as economics rules supreme
in the long haul.  As slaves died off earlier, the overall supply of slaves
dropped.  Prices went up on slave stock, and since they were more valuable,
it became cheaper to take care of them properly than replace them sooner
than you had to with negligent care.

     Thus, the quality of life for slaves went up and down in relation to
the economic curves. In times of prosperity, their sales price was high and
they were better cared for; in times of depression, their sales price was
so cheap it was more economical to replace rather than maintain. Either
way, The Bazaar profited.

     The Bazaar's future was as promising as its past.  It just shows that
if the original premise is sound, good fortune is practically assured.

                           THE END

[Feedback is always appreciated.  There was only one reply to my inquiry as
to whether readers would like an added chapter featuring the Bazaar's
transportation slaves, so I didn't include it.  I would like to know what
you thought about the entire series "The Bazaar."  Was it a good story
concept?  Did it offer enough variety?  Was it too restricted?  Was it
presented well?  Etc. Your responses will determine in large part whether I
post in the future or not.  Writers only write if readers read the material
they write.  The only way to know this is by reader's responses.  Many
thanks.  Bill Smith (anonymous4371@juno.com)].