Firstly I would like to say that I have a great deal of respect for the Torval CMDRs. They have displayed a level of class, wit and determination that I find admirable.
Bonded servitude is a type of slavery. I would characterise all forms of slavery as immoral, being not as bad as chattel slavery doesn't in any way make it acceptable.
But lets also consider what slavery actually looks like in the Empire. Those that don't want to look too deep think that Imperial slaves are a few Imperials that have been silly and run up a debt they can't pay off.
While that might be true of some, it is not true of all.
Two obvious examples are:
- The population of a whole planet can be enslaved to pay off the debt of one man from that planet.
- Regular slaves are "converted" in to imperial slaves as when the Emperor requested them as gifts. Regular slaves don't have a debt to pay off.
It is clear from these examples that there is a vast number of Imperial slaves that either don't have a debt to pay off, have been "given" a debt they will proabably never be able to pay off or they are paying off someone elses debt again that they have little chance of completing.
Imperial society is built on the use of slaves, they shun the use of machines for mundane tasks and instead use slaves. So there is an economic imperative to have a vast number of people in bondage all the time. The Empire needs slaves so it will get slaves by whatever means it can and when it has them it is in its interest not to free them.
Do understand the difference between enslavement and bonded servitude? Regardless of what you believe they are not the same thing.