Replies

Tau Food post 913 to miss marmelstein: "Thanks in part to people like Robert E Lee, slavery is gone now - gone for good- and no amount of arguing is going to bring it back.

DiogenesLamp misaddressing to BroJoeK: "I beg to differ.
While we are arguing, that is exactly what they have been doing."

Of course, you can re-define almost anything as "slavery".
Government "enslavement" of long-term welfare recipients is commonly intended, since they no longer do what used to be called "free labor" -- work for wages or salary.
Instead, their only essential work consists of voting for more Democrats.

Government "enslavement" of taxpayers, and of course, police-state surveillance of citizens, all sometimes referred to as "slavery".

But compared to the real thing before Civil War, it's just pure political hyperbole.

Yes, real enslavement does happen today -- immigrants, sex-trafficking, Muslim enslavement of "infidels", often children.
But, doubtless, none of that real enslavement is what DiogenesLamp means here.

Of course, anyone can call himself a slave. I'd like a dollar for every time i've heard husbands or wives call themselves slaves.

But, we're the luckiest people in the world to live in the USA. Do you see any of these "slaves" leaving?

That's just people feeling sorry for themselves. I picture them over their keyboards, "How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever?" (Psalm 13)

But compared to the real thing before Civil War, it's just pure political hyperbole.

That is slavery in it's purest form. That is 100% slavery.

But, doubtless, none of that real enslavement is what DiogenesLamp means here.

Do not minimize our lesser percentages of slavery. It is the same in principle, it merely differs as to degree.

Just because slaverty is no longer 100% of your work product, doesn't mean that 40% of your work product being taken from you is acceptable.

And it is increasing every year.