M2

Do you behave like a slave? The master/slave mentality

behave
More than 150 years ago, there were very few machines. There was only one way to ทําตัวเป็ น
mentality จิตใจ
get work done: human labor. We have used human labor to build things and maintain labor แรงงาน
our lives since farming began over 10,000 years ago. Farming allowed humans to stay
in one area, keep food and start to build cities and societies. In farming societies, there
is one leader. The leader tells everyone else in the society what to do. The world’s
consist of
societies consisted mostly of slaves for most of history. ประกอบด้วย

actual แท้จริง
We might think that the time of slaves is gone. It is not, according to Professor Wes
Cecil, who gave an online lecture “You are not a slave”.1 He says we might not be inherit สืบทอด
structure โครงสร้าง
actual slaves, but we still have the mentality of slaves because
the societies we live in today have inherited the same structure
of society and traditions as when people were actual slaves.

The reason that we call it the master/slave mentality is that the

master mentality and the slave mentality are two sides of the movement การ
เคลือนไหวทางการเมือง
same coin. Cecil gives an example of this: there was a movement freed ทีปลดแอก
longer under control Owen
to help freed American slaves emigrate back to Africa in the
no
emigrate อพยพ
charity การกุศล
1800s. Freed slaves were taken to Africa, and charity groups
paid to help these freed slaves create a new nation - Liberia.
Unfortunately, after these freed slaves created the Liberian
make into slave
government, they enslaved the local African population. The enslave ทําให้เป็ นทาส

freed slaves did not want to give up the master/slave mentality. likewise เช่นเดียวกัน
The freed slaves only wanted to become the masters themselves. Likewise, Joseph activist นักเคลือนไหว
oppression การกดขี
Stalin, Mao Tse Tung, and Pol Pot were activists against oppression before dictator ผู้นําเผด็จการ
becoming dictators themselves. give up เลิก
philosopher
Is it possible to give up the master/slave mentality? Cecil says that the ancient Greek นักปรัชญา
oppress กดขี
philosopher Socrates did. Socrates said, “I do not want to oppress, hurt or control physically
anybody, just as I do not want to be oppressed, hurt or controlled by anybody.” (He ทางร่างกาย

was physically strong enough to stop anyone from hurting him, even when he was declare ประกาศ
announce
cycle วงจร
an old man.) Cecil explains that Socrates was the first man in history to declare his
freedom from the master/slave, oppressed/oppressor cycle.

How do we become more like Socrates? Cecil says that first, we must understand measure เครืองวัด
what another philosopher, Protagoras declared: “You are the measure of all things.”
This means that you should judge which things in the world are valuable and which
are not valuable. Your culture, your family, your gang of friends should not judge for
you.

Cecil says that we can see our own slave mentality in our attitude toward the value of negotiate ต่อราคา
brag อวด
things in daily life. We constantly talk about the price of things. We constantly talk
about how we negotiated to get a good deal on the clothes, accessories, or fruit. We
love to brag that we paid 20 baht less than the normal price for a kilo of mangos. determine กําหนด
However, when we talk about prices this way, we are letting other people determine
the value of things. The price we pay for these things doesn’t change this form of

Copyright © 2024 Matthew Miklas – Contact the author for permission to distribute this document.
mental slavery. If you let other people determine the value of things, then you’re still in the slave
mind, according to Cecil.

Cecil explains that the first step to not being a slave is saying, “I tell other people
what things are worth. Other people don’t tell me what things are worth,” so if you be worth มีคณ
ุ ค่า

need somebody else to say you’re valuable for you to feel valuable, then you have a
big problem. Social media companies make mountains of money from this problem.

Cecil says that you must be the one who determines the value of things – and that
this is the beginning of freedom, from which you can build a life that doesn’t require contentment
you to become a master or slave of anybody else to find contentment. ความพึงพอใจ

>>>>>>>> Choose one of these two activities to do with your friend(s) <<<<<<<<

PAIR or GROUP SPEAKING ACTIVITY – Talk the Box!

1 2
Who do you know who
A has a very strong slave
mentality?
If you had to emigrate,
B which country would you
go to live?
Is a BMW worth the price
C that people pay for it?
Why or why not?
Do you agree with Protagoras that
“you are the measure of all
things”? Why or why not?
You are a politician in Athens,
where Socrates lives. Tell us what
you think about Socrates.
What is something that you value
that most other people do not
value?
3
Who among your friends and
family has a strong desire to be
a master? Tell us about them.
You just bought a kilo of rice for
30 baht cheaper than the normal
price. Brag to your friends.
Your friend brags about how he
just saved 30 baht negotiating
for rice. Respond to him.

Interview role-play: Interviewer asks, expert answers!

1. Why have the world’s societies consisted of mostly slaves for most of history?

2. Is the time of slavery gone? Why or why not?

3. It appears that the slave mentality and master mentality are two sides of the same coin.
Why is this?
4. What did Socrates declare? Why did he declare this?

5. When Protagoras said, “you are the measure of all things,” what did he mean by this?

6. In what way can we see our own slave mentality in our daily life? Can you give an
example?
7. What is the first step to giving up being a slave?

8. In your opinion, does your culture have a stronger master/slave mentality than other
cultures? Why or why not?
9. In your opinion, is it possible for most people to give up the master/slave mentality?
Why or why not?

Copyright © 2024 Matthew Miklas – Contact the author for permission to distribute this document.