I suspect that it worked historically because the amount of power you could wield over a servant was so immense that you could destroy the servant’s life based on any amount of suspicion you like, even if it wasn’t enough suspicion to get the servant arrested. Kicking the servant onto the street without a social net would be really damaging, since the servant depends you for food and shelter, not to mention that spreading the word that the servant is unreliable could lead to the servant becoming unemployable and starving.
Alternately, you probably could hurt the servant in other ways, such as by retaliating against the servant’s family. Or just have someone beat up the servant and count on the police to look the other way.
That sucks for the servants, but it makes having a servant relatively safe for the employer. I would also imagine it’s one reason why rich people like to use illegal aliens as servants. If the servant steals something it may be impossible to prove in court, but you could always get the servant deported.
Oh, such modern and un-British crudeness! The way to deal with an unsatisfactory servant in the old days was merely to discharge them without a reference. It would be almost impossible for them to find a situation again, and with no welfare state they faced destitution.
In modern times, you are right about the use of illegal aliens, who are in a weak position to resist exploitation.
discharge them without a reference… with no welfare state they faced destitution.
Isn’t that the same as kicking them out on the street without a social net?
In modern times, you are right about the use of illegal aliens, who are in a weak position to resist exploitation.
That’s true, but my point was more that being vulnerable to exploitation also leaves them vulnerable to retaliation for their actual misdeeds. You might be willing to pay your servant well, but the same factors that ensure you don’t have to pay your servant well also let you prevent your servant from stealing and breaking things.
If the servant is employed by a big house cleaning company, the situation might also be different. Businesses don’t want bad reputations either, and they will have internal mechanisms to deal with that. It’s also easier to track the reputation of a business than an individual, and hire a house cleaner from a reputable company than try to hire a reliable servant yourself.
I suspect that it worked historically because the amount of power you could wield over a servant was so immense that you could destroy the servant’s life based on any amount of suspicion you like, even if it wasn’t enough suspicion to get the servant arrested. Kicking the servant onto the street without a social net would be really damaging, since the servant depends you for food and shelter, not to mention that spreading the word that the servant is unreliable could lead to the servant becoming unemployable and starving.
Alternately, you probably could hurt the servant in other ways, such as by retaliating against the servant’s family. Or just have someone beat up the servant and count on the police to look the other way.
That sucks for the servants, but it makes having a servant relatively safe for the employer. I would also imagine it’s one reason why rich people like to use illegal aliens as servants. If the servant steals something it may be impossible to prove in court, but you could always get the servant deported.
Oh, such modern and un-British crudeness! The way to deal with an unsatisfactory servant in the old days was merely to discharge them without a reference. It would be almost impossible for them to find a situation again, and with no welfare state they faced destitution.
In modern times, you are right about the use of illegal aliens, who are in a weak position to resist exploitation.
Isn’t that the same as kicking them out on the street without a social net?
That’s true, but my point was more that being vulnerable to exploitation also leaves them vulnerable to retaliation for their actual misdeeds. You might be willing to pay your servant well, but the same factors that ensure you don’t have to pay your servant well also let you prevent your servant from stealing and breaking things.
If the servant is employed by a big house cleaning company, the situation might also be different. Businesses don’t want bad reputations either, and they will have internal mechanisms to deal with that. It’s also easier to track the reputation of a business than an individual, and hire a house cleaner from a reputable company than try to hire a reliable servant yourself.