Chapter 33 features an extended digression in which The Boss attempts to impress his peasants by explaining economic theory–that wages should only be valued according to what they can buy–to impress them, yet his attempt fails miserably. Their apparent rescuer, Lord Grip, then sells them off at the slave market–an act which angers King Louis IX, who threatens to slit The Boss’ throat if The Boss fails again.
The Boss and King Arthur
Sir Boss, an adept computer programmer, is transported back to King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table age. There, he sets about modernizing Camelot by setting up a TV station with Morgan le Fay as its newscaster and Merlin as its weatherman. Knights form a basketball team dubbed Camelot Pacers, and everyone gets access to email.
However, all is not well in Merlina’s kingdom; Excalibur has corrupted King Arthur into an all-powerful, demon-summoning dictator. She feels responsible for allowing it to fall into King Arthur’s hands and turning Britain into an uncertain place.
King Arthur invites The Boss on an incognito tour of England’s lower classes so he can gain a whole perspective of its culture. King Arthur brings along The Boss’ sword so they can demonstrate that The Boss still possesses and uses it.
While touring together, The Boss and King Arthur come across Marco, a village blacksmith forced into slavery by his fellow villagers. Hank fails to buy Marco and Sandy out of this situation. Later, a villager named Dowley tries as well but without success; eventually, though, one villager grants Hank the rank that other nobles do not possess by calling him The Boss instead! Ultimately, someone gives Hank what he desires most by conferring upon him the status he craves most: calling him The Boss, which offers Hank the power he craves most.
The Peasants
While The Boss attempts to impress and make a first impression on his peasants, they don’t understand his attempts at teaching economic theory; his attempt at explaining that wages only matter about what they can buy fails miserably. Frustrated at his failure at educating them, The Boss becomes angry and begins playing his cards to take revenge on his workers.
Peasants believe The Boss to be insane and, at every possible opportunity, use this fear against him to turn against him. After starting the rumors about an army plan to sell off the land from their provinces, The King and peasants unite against The Boss at the slave market; these victims end up being sold off to Lord Grip as promised as part of his force of slaves.
Peasant participation in regional politics reached its zenith during this period when Jose Rojas and Miguel Veizaga vied with each other to control local peasant militias. General Rene Barrientos of the military tried to leverage his relationships with these leaders as part of a clientelist political strategy to neutralize their independent actions and promote himself as an anti-communist, modernizing general.
This book presents an episode that exposes a complex, interwoven set of contradictions among peasant economy, social relations, popular religion, and local politics – featuring eight years of fieldwork in towns and villages – showing stark contradictions in these aspects of peasant society. Based on eight years of field research in both places, this book will appeal to scholars and students of Sociology, Anthropology, and East Asian Studies alike.
The Slave Market
Postbellum Florida was home to many historic sites that promoted nostalgia about southern history; one such attraction was the “slave market.” Like its antebellum heritage sites, postcards that depicted it promoted an idealized view of master/slave relationships; in Harris’s image, an old slave appears ghostlike against its tidy marketplace and rows of shopfronts surrounding him.
Images of the “slave market” appealed to northern audiences that saw the South as an idyllic land of leisure and romance, more civilized than the industrializing North. Slavery became part of life; historian Maurie McInnis writes this concept perfectly.
St. Augustine, where the slave market was located, became an epicenter for nonviolent civil rights marches that attracted thousands of protestors, led by civil rights activists Martin Luther King Jr. and Andrew Young, who led nightly demonstrations around it while facing physical aggression from segregationists in St. Augustine.
The Slave Block
In the days immediately following Charlottesville’s deadly white supremacist rally, Fredericksburg residents quickly demanded that the City Council remove an auction block from the sidewalk, calling it a symbol of racism and oppression. Local NAACP chapters, African American Council members, and other city leaders vehemently opposed its removal and any attempts by City Council members at dismantling it altogether.
NB Kinsley, the city historian, defended this block with his research. According to him, research indicates it was used for mounting horses and displaying slaves for sale, with newspaper advertisements and post-Civil War statements by former slaves attesting that at least 12 individuals were sold here at Main and Charles streets.
These arguments have led some people to see Fredericksburg’s auction block as a symbolic representation of its history of slavery; others take a different perspective; they see it as an unpleasant reminder of an ugly chapter in American history that many would prefer to forget.
Critics of the auction block argue that its stone symbolizes hate and oppression, further demonstrating how insensitive and racist our town can be. They compare it with flags and statues honoring Confederate generals as heroes; according to them, these should be removed. Meanwhile, others have advocated keeping it but seek ways to interpret it differently within city hall.
Fredericksburg Area Museum’s auction block is currently on temporary display but will become a permanent exhibit with a more in-depth interpretation of its history in 2021. According to city officials, this will ensure it can reach more people who can learn about Fredericksburg’s tragic and influential past; its move follows months of community discussions and focus groups.
