House elves and some spoilers for Swordspoint WAS: realistic solutions

[Carol]

No: HPFGUIDX 180973

Magpie wrote:
> <snip>
You seem to be arguing that since elves 
> don't want freedom and want to be owned, it's not slavery, yet canon 
> has given us plenty of examples of elves unhappy because they don't 
> have the freedom to follow their own desires. The whole idea 
> that "it's natural" glides over the numerous examples of elves 
> acting against their own desires and wills thanks to their position.
><snip>

Carol responds:

The only kind of "will" that House-Elves seem to have is to serve a
master that they think is deserving, which is why Dobby and Kreacher
rebel in their respective ways. Dobby wants to be a "Free Elf"--free
to serve Harry Potter (and/or work for dumbledore to earn just enough
money to buy socks. He doesn't want too much time off because he
"likes work better"). Kreacher, too, likes to work and does it
voluntarily once he and his new master come to a mutual understanding.
Winky hates her "freedom," and uses it to become a miserable drunkard
because she wants to return to her beloved master.

Where do we see a single House-Elf who wants what human beings call
freedom? Do they want to vote? Not that I know of. Do they want to
open a business and become entrepreneurs or write textbooks or train
security Trolls or start an eel farm or open a chocolate factory? Not
that I know of. *They want to work for Wizards in Wizard houses* (in
most cases, one that they or their ancestors have been magically
associated with for generations or centuries or perhaps millennia).
What they don't want is to be abused.

All a House-Elf wants (and that includes the so-called Free Elf,
Dobby) is a Wizard master or mistress that he can respect and who
treats him well. *Why not listen to the House-Elves* and believe what
they say (or what their actions show)?

If, like human slaves, they wanted to be like their masters (making
money, owning property, *not* working if they can help it), it would
be different. But their nature and their values are clearly not ours.

Carol, who would be very happy indeed to own a House-Elf, who, in
turn, would be happy to work for me because I would treat her as she
wants to be treated