This really is an amazing discussion.  I actually do understand why "master" 
and "slave" might make people uncomfortable, although the meaning is quite 
clear.  Perhaps we need a currently used alternative:
1) Captain and Private
2) Manager and employee
3) CEO and Peon
4) Controller and Controlled
5) Commander and executer

You might not like any of these. That's OK, my goal was just to show that the 
relationship can be expressed without using outdated terms that some find 
objectionable.
These all have pretty much the same relationship (first one says what to do, 
second one does it) but I think any one of them feels more "comfortable" 
now-a-days than Master and Slave.

--- Joe S.

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Moore <p.f.mo...@gmail.com> 
Sent: Wednesday, September 26, 2018 11:41 AM
To: Ian Kelly <ian.g.ke...@gmail.com>
Cc: Python <python-list@python.org>
Subject: Re: [OT] master/slave debate in Python

On Wed, 26 Sep 2018 at 16:30, Ian Kelly <ian.g.ke...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Also: a human slave is not "a person being treated like a computer"
> and I find it highly disrespectful that you would move to trivialize 
> slavery like that.

I have no idea what it must feel like to be a slave (other than the trite and 
obvious idea that "it must be awful"). Unfortunately, debates like this do 
nothing to help me understand or empathise with the people suffering in that 
way, or people dealing with the aftermath of historical cases.

I'm more than happy to ensure that we are not causing pain or being 
disrespectful of the suffering of others, but rather than simply making the 
whole issue feel like a censorship debate, I'd rather we were helping people to 
understand and empathise, so that they would *of their own accord* act in an 
appropriate way. Self-censorship based on understanding and empathy is far more 
reasonable than any sort of externally-imposed rules.

But discussing what it means to be a slave, or the implications of slavery on 
our culture(s) is way off-topic for this list, so I'd prefer not to debate it 
further here. I'm sure anyone interested in understanding more can easily find 
more appropriate forums to participate in.

Paul

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