“Can we seriously say, that a poor peasant or artisan has a free choice to leave his country, when he knows no foreign language or manners, and lives, from day to day, by the small wages which he acquires? We may as well assert that a man, by remaining in a vessel, freely consents to the dominion of the master; though he was carried on board while asleep, and must leap into the ocean and perish, the moment he leaves her.” (“Of the Original Contract”)
Asked David Hume, and that old debate seems as fresh as ever – at least it’s a constant cause of disagreement among those interested in virtual worlds, e.g. this thread.
