It's debatable that slavery was ever actually abolished - it was just formalised, given a new brand, and life went on. If you are the subject of a state, you do

It's debatable that slavery was ever actually abolished - it was just formalised, given a new brand, and life went on. If you are the subject of a state, you do not have any rights beyond those which they choose to grant you - and their ultimate backstop and means of control is the threat of violence against the person. It is illegal to be stateless - you must be the possession of a state. Now consider how slavery is defined. The slave-owners just got bigger.