It is like your working enviroment today. Your job satisfaction today depends a lot on whether your boss is a good boss or not. If your Boss isn't a good boss well then you're not going to be a good employee are you. Not all slaves were good slaves either, just as there are bad employees working at what others would concider as a good boss and a good job.
And while there will be some who will jump up and say, "Well you can quit your job today, and the Slave couldn't", I will point out that in todays finicial circumstances and our presonnal obligations of providing for our families, you cannot always quit your bad job either.