[HPforGrownups] Re: Freedom for House-Elves (Was: Kreacher the Plot Device Elf)

[Bart Lidofsky]

No: HPFGUIDX 162030

From: a_svirn <a_svirn at yahoo.com>
>> Carol:
>> If he can't set Kreacher free, how is Kreacher, whom Harry now owns,
>> *not* Harry's responsibility? How else ought Harry to think of him?
>> Doesn't an employer have a responsibility to his employees, both to
>> make sure they have good working conditions and to make sure they do
>> their work?
>
>a_svirn:
>Well, Harry is not exactly an employer, isn't he? Neither an 
>employer, concerned for his employee's well-being, nor a caring 
>guardian thinking of his ward's happiness. He is a slave-holder. When 
>one starts to obscure reality by applying more palatable names for 
>it, one is being hypocritical. And Harry definitely shows tendency 
>for hypocrisy here. 

Bart:
As you implied, one has to look at the entirety of one's choices. Virtually every choice one makes leads to a combination of good and evil. At best, you can make choices which, in the balance, lead towards good. Harry's choices: Take responsibility for Kreacher, and have as a slave someone who destroyed your best bet at having a family, or let Kreacher go free, and significantly increase the chance of the entire world becoming enslaved. One must accept the consequences of one's actions as well as the actions themselves. 

>> Carol:
> Why, exactly, should Harry not give Kreacher
>> something to do, as long as Kreacher belongs to him? 
>
>a_svirn:
>Because slavery is an abomination? 

Bart:
And there are things that are worse.

Bart