Slavery is legal in the States. They just need to put you in a prison first.
this post was submitted on 28 Sep 2024
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Antiwork
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For the abolition of work. Yes really, abolish work! Not "reform work" but the destruction of work as a separate field of human activity.
To save the world, we're going to have to stop working! — David Graeber
A strange delusion possesses the working classes of the nations where capitalist civilization holds its sway. ...the love of work... Instead of opposing this mental aberration, the priests, the economists, and the moralists have cast a sacred halo over work. — Paul Lafargue
In communist society, where nobody has one exclusive sphere of activity but each can become accomplished in any branch he wishes, society regulates the general production and thus makes it possible for me to do one thing today and another tomorrow, to hunt in the morning, fish in the afternoon, rear cattle in the evening, criticise after dinner, just as I have a mind, without ever becoming hunter, fisherman, herdsman or critic. — Karl Marx
In the glorification of 'work', in the unwearied talk of the 'blessing of work', I see the same covert idea as in the praise of useful impersonal actions: that of fear of everything individual. — Friedrich Nietzsche
If hard work were such a wonderful thing, surely the rich would have kept it all to themselves. — Lane Kirkland
The bottom line is simple: all of us deserve to make the most of our potential as we see fit, to be the masters of our own destinies. Being forced to sell these things away to survive is tragic and humiliating. We don’t have to live like this. ― CrimethInc
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Which is why mandatory minimums exist.
In the immortal words of Killer Mike, that's why they givin' offenders time in double digits.
All research and successful drug policy SHOWS that treatment should be increased! And law enforcement decreased while abolishing Mandatory Minimum Sentences!
They're tryin to build a prison...
A dictatorship's paradise
Love this song.
Pro NRA Killer Mike? Pro Cop City Killer Mike? That "Killer" Mike?
Edit: downvotes for bringing up Killer Mike's Hypocrisy
Oh gross for real?
Huh. My felon (don't get caught doing drugs) brother Michael used to use "Killer Mike" as his screenname. I wonder if there's a connection.
What happens if you refuse to work? Are they allowed to punish you in any way?
Yes. They cut you off from all human contact. Feed you the most bland food in a bar form literally called nutrabars. Lights are kept on 24 hours a day and you're left in that place for as long as you refuse to work. Solitary confinement is no longer legal in most places but luckily restricted housing, segregated housing, and special or intensive management are the exact same thing but are completely legal still.
Oh you want to see other people and get fresh air? Guess you're willing to work now?
A thing to note about those kinds of practices. They quite literally give you brain damage. Humans require socialization, they require a day night cycle, they require stimulation. To not have those things will fuck you up, and even if you do eventually get out it will mean that your ability to reintegrate into society is severely damaged. It means you have a higher chance of recidivism.
The cruelty is the point
Absolutely
In addition to what the other guy said, the parole board also looks upon it unfavorably. You don't want to be a slave? Well then, for your "bad attitude" and "lack of rehabilitation," get ready to serve your whole sentence instead of only half of it.
They're allowed to do whatever their shareholders let them get away with.
And sadly, it’s perfectly legal according to the 13th Amendment.
The last rational thing Kanye said before his handlers gassed him into full incoherence.
Imagine thinking that Nazi was the first person to think this, and to laude it as some prophetic thought. God damn, dude.
Maybe I misread the person you were replying to but where did they infer Kanye was the first person to think that? Beyond that, even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Okay, but, also?
Those migrant workers are so superexploited that they were considered cheaper before anti-imigration policies made them too scarce.
Slavery was here the whole time.
Maybe the issue isn't ultimately the immigration laws or the prison complex. Maybe they're just proximate causes, like symptoms of some deeper issue. Maybe it has something to do with greed and exploitation?
Idk just spitballing here
True. Many countries just opt for labour agreements with the origin countries that disadvantages the guest workers.
India’s Labour Agreements with the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries: An Assessment
Laws and regulations can only go far to stop private citizens from abusing the weak and helpless, but it is better if they exist, there's a chance they may be enforced.
Idk..... That sounds a lot like commie talk and we can't cotton to that in the states.
/s but also not :( I wish the states had stronger labor laws that benefitted the worker and protected against exploitation
Typical Americans. They don’t even know slavery is still legal. No wonder nothing changes.
It's been that way since the Civil War ended. It was always part of the plan.
Looks like Nathan just found out that, yes, US Prisons are indeed one of the former remnants of U.S. slavery...
They aren’t a remnant. The constitution explicitly states that slavery is ALLOWED AS A PUNISHMENT.
What country has the most prisoners again? 🤔
That's probably why we criminalize more and more symptoms of desperation, simultaneously creating more conditions of despair, tbh.
Everything is projection with the US. Accuses others of using slavery, uses it themselves.
So glad to live in a state that fully abolished slavery checks internet a whole almost 4 years ago!
I think California is the only state that is a current initiative to ban prison slavery. It's on the ballot this November and it's important that we vote for it.
Whatchu think wage labor is? Companies lease you for your labor, and can nullify the contract agreement (i.e. fire you) at will. If you work for a wage, you’re a wage slave.
On the one hand, yes, I can see your point.
On the other hand, let's not minimize American prison slavery by saying "we're all slaves". If you strain the definition you can argue all workers under capitalism are enslaved, but even then, some forms of slavery are far more brutal and dehumanizing (and racist. Let's not forget racist) than others.
Yeah, especially since the majority of imprisoned people tend to be non-white (this is an issue with our justice system, I'm absolutely not saying non-whites do more crime, only they're convicted far more often due to a racist system. A great many are innocent.) this will turn into 1 to 1 a facsimile of slavery from yesteryear. Bunch of white landowners leasing cheap labor (suspiciously predominantly non-white) from people who have no other legal options. Gross.
It was this argument with my mom that helped me realize she was the sort of racist that doesn't think she's racist. We were talking about how black men tend to get a longer sentence for the same crimes than white men. Her stance was pretty much "well, they shouldn't have done the crime" and I'm like.... Mom. Unfair is unfair. Thankfully we're no longer close for other reasons.
Sorry to hear that, but good for you for making that decision.
Ah, I never meant to imply that “all slaves are equally treated just as bad”, thereby minimizing the suffering of others.
Of course some forms are far worse than others. And of course we want to help those suffering the most first and foremost.
I meant my comment as a solidarity statement. Not the straw man you crafted, apologies for the misunderstanding.
Slaves can't end their own contract at will.
You people will never understand the difference.
I mean yeah I can leave whenever I want…I can “choose” my master so to speak, but unless I want to starve to death I’m forced to choose a master.
It’s literally just a nicer form of slavery. If you have a gun pointed to your head with the option “choose a master or I pull the trigger”, is that really a choice? I’d argue not.
People in cooperatives are slaves? To whom exactly?
That's like living as another slave of a dictatorship, versus living as a free person in a democracy. In context I think they're talking about typical (dictatorship) corporations.
He is most likely talking about the typical corporations, but it doesn't mean he's right about pointing the finger at wages. Wage labor isn't the cause of wage slavery and neither is the existence of a company. It's the authoritarian company structure, which is systemic to capitalism, that is causing an unfair power dynamic between the employer and employee. That power dynamic is what creates wage slaves.
As far as wages are concerned you can get a wage and not be a wage slave. It comes down to whether the company is with an authoritarian (capitalistic) or a democratic (socialist) structure.
Slavery never went away. It just became more profitable.