The American Heritage Dictionary defines slavery like this,
slav·er·y (slv-r, slvr) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. slav·er·ies
1.The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or
household.
I remember as a middle school student learning about the brutalities of slavery and about the liberation of slaves, and I remember thinking in theoretical terms, "What's the difference between a slave on a field and a wage worker on a field?"
The only real difference I could think of, in theoretical terms, was a wage. I didn't get it. I thought that a wage doesn't make that much difference to a worker, especially when it's that low. Eventually, as I became more and more interested in socialism, I learned about places like India, Pakistan, Taiwan, and many other countries around the world where there is a real slavery exsisting in corporate run sweatshops.
Workers have no option but to work for the few cents their corporations pay them and obey every wish their manager asks, or face dire consequences. For example, there have been numerous instances where workers are locked into their factories and told that if they don't work, they'll be fired or won't be payed. In other countries, companies have hired intimidators and right-wing paramilitaries to scare workers into submission and stop worker organization. This brand of slavery is called wage-slavery and exsists in every country, but more in some than in others. Whenever I talk about this subject with capitalists, they always say it's bullshit. I would to if I didn't know better about the conditions in many countries and how we are dependant on the exploitation of the labor of those countries. It's really a sad reflection thinking that nations like America were built on slavery and still run on it today...
slav·er·y (slv-r, slvr) Pronunciation Key
n. pl. slav·er·ies
1.The state of one bound in servitude as the property of a slaveholder or
household.
I remember as a middle school student learning about the brutalities of slavery and about the liberation of slaves, and I remember thinking in theoretical terms, "What's the difference between a slave on a field and a wage worker on a field?"
The only real difference I could think of, in theoretical terms, was a wage. I didn't get it. I thought that a wage doesn't make that much difference to a worker, especially when it's that low. Eventually, as I became more and more interested in socialism, I learned about places like India, Pakistan, Taiwan, and many other countries around the world where there is a real slavery exsisting in corporate run sweatshops.
Workers have no option but to work for the few cents their corporations pay them and obey every wish their manager asks, or face dire consequences. For example, there have been numerous instances where workers are locked into their factories and told that if they don't work, they'll be fired or won't be payed. In other countries, companies have hired intimidators and right-wing paramilitaries to scare workers into submission and stop worker organization. This brand of slavery is called wage-slavery and exsists in every country, but more in some than in others. Whenever I talk about this subject with capitalists, they always say it's bullshit. I would to if I didn't know better about the conditions in many countries and how we are dependant on the exploitation of the labor of those countries. It's really a sad reflection thinking that nations like America were built on slavery and still run on it today...
Chattel slavery can be more humane. The master provides food and shelter.