Replies

I never said that life was perfect, for slave, or anyone, ever.

And it does sound socialist when you put it this way:

Slaves had full time employment, were provided housing and (at minimum) necessary medical care. They were provided enough of the fruits of their labors to keep them fit enough to be productive workers, not starved generally, like people in slave labor camps of the Iron Curtain or Axis powers, whose purpose was the elimination of the slaves. Do not confuse this with the death camps. When a slave showed promise, they were frequently were educated--enough to increase the efficiency of the business, whether it be farming or another venture. On balance, slaveholders in the south were some of the most humane in history, despite the ardent villification of the abolititonist movement.

Slaves were considered more valuable than employees, after all, there was an investment there.

But freedom is largely illusory.

Do you work for a company which decides how you dress, anything you do (or don't) in your off time, whether or not you can smoke, etc?

Are you free? Or are you in thrall to banks and houses of credit?

Does the homeowner's association decide whether you can fly the flag you wave here? Or what colors you can choose from to paint your house?

If you do not have a homeowners association, can you add on to your structure without interference, fees, or legal permit?

Do you make payments to retain your property, even if you have clear title and live at the end of a dirt road you maintain and use no public services?

Are you told (under penalty of law) what you can and cannot own? How to raise your children? What equipment to use in your vehicle which you must pay a fee to use and in which you are required by law to bet sums of money against your ability to avoid an accident?

Do you work until mid May to provide for nameless others without choice in the matter, or, for all practical purposes, how the money you earned will be spent?

If so you are not free, you just feel like you are getting a bigger cut.