3 ms·
No slavery? Much of the prison population is explicitly engaged in unpaid labor. Others are engaged in "modern slavery" where employers don't let employees esca
by djrobstep 7y ago
No slavery? Much of the prison population is explicitly engaged in unpaid labor. Others are engaged in "modern slavery" where employers don't let employees escape. And regular working/middle class people are coerced into "voluntarily" choosing which employer they'll be exploited by, at the threat of eviction/homelessness/poverty if they refuse, and further exploited through land rents, health insurance companies, and all sorts of other predatory entities. So I'd say there's plenty of slavery and exploitation still going on in "free" market societies.
- WalterBright 7y agoPrison labor is not a significant part of the economy. > I'd say there's plenty of slavery and exploitation still going on in "free" market societies. Nobody is going to chase after you, whip you, and chop your foot off if you leave your job. It is nothing like slavery.
- djrobstep 7y agoIt absolutely is a significant part of the economy. Prisoners make military equipment, home appliances, office furniture, work in call centres, and fight fires, among many other things. As for "nothing like slavery": People are literally chased out of their houses if they stop doing their job and miss rent payments. If I stop working and can't afford groceries, but still try to retrieve them from the supermarket, I'll literally be thrown in a cage.
- WalterBright 7y agoBeing prevented from taking things that aren't yours is not slavery. I don't know of any economic system that tolerates taking whatever you want. I doubt you'd be forgiving if I wandered into your residence and helped myself to whatever was in your refrigerator and anything else I wanted. Prison labor is simply not a significant part of the economy. Your examples lack the dollar magnitude of them that would justify otherwise.
- djrobstep 7y agoThe people who have decided they own all the stuff tell you that the things you need to survive "aren't yours" so that you are forced to labor on their behalf. Sounds a lot like forced labor to me. You've shifted from denying that jobs are coercive and exploitative, to justifying the necessity of such coercion. Pretty revealing.
- WalterBright 7y agoYou appear to feel that you have a right to take whatever you want from anybody, and any objections they may have is coercive and exploitative. You're on your own with that.
- djrobstep 7y agoOn the contrary, I simply wish to not be violently attacked or coerced for trying to eat or seek shelter.
- voldacar 7y ago>their houses >rent payments
- djrobstep 7y agoDo have a point to make, beyond asserting that landlords ought to be able to to coerce others into labor with state violence?