"Slave Wages" is an Oxymoron

[Seymour Flops]

Slavery is not about how much one is paid for one's labor. It is about being required by force to work for another.

It is theoretically possible for a slave to be better off economically than a wage earner. For example, a King's slave concubine who is kept in relative luxury of a "gilded cage," or perhaps a slave who is motivated to work hard on the farm by the owner granting him a percentage of the crops. I doubt that happened often, but it is possible. But the slave is still a slave, politically and economically, while the wage-earner is free.

In the past, and maybe in the present, there have been farm workers entrapped into debt bondage, but that is truly slavery. Their supposed "wages" are not paid and they are required by force to stay and work.

Lament the conditions of low-wage workers, if you like. But calling them slaves or calling their wages "slave wages" does a disservice to the cause of anti-slavery and the cause of improving the lot of workers.

 

[dblack]

Slavery is not about how much one is paid for one's labor. It is about being required by force to work for another.

It is theoretically possible for a slave to be better off economically than a wage earner. For example, a King's slave concubine who is kept in relative luxury of a "gilded cage," or perhaps a slave who is motivated to work hard on the farm by the owner granting him a percentage of the crops. I doubt that happened often, but it is possible. But the slave is still a slave, politically and economically, while the wage-earner is free.

In the past, and maybe in the present, there have been farm workers entrapped into debt bondage, but that is truly slavery. Their supposed "wages" are not paid and they are required by force to stay and work.

Lament the conditions of low-wage workers, if you like. But calling them slaves or calling their wages "slave wages" does a disservice to the cause of anti-slavery and the cause of improving the lot of workers.

I couldn't agree more. Every time someone uses the phrase "wage slave", or otherwise suggests that employees are treated as slaves, they're insulting the memory and suffering of millions of real slaves who had no choice in the matter. As long as you can quit your job, without being whipped or chained, you're no slave.

 

[JoeB131]

Slavery is not about how much one is paid for one's labor. It is about being required by force to work for another.

It is theoretically possible for a slave to be better off economically than a wage earner. For example, a King's slave concubine who is kept in relative luxury of a "gilded cage," or perhaps a slave who is motivated to work hard on the farm by the owner granting him a percentage of the crops. I doubt that happened often, but it is possible. But the slave is still a slave, politically and economically, while the wage-earner is free.

In the past, and maybe in the present, there have been farm workers entrapped into debt bondage, but that is truly slavery. Their supposed "wages" are not paid and they are required by force to stay and work.

Lament the conditions of low-wage workers, if you like. But calling them slaves or calling their wages "slave wages" does a disservice to the cause of anti-slavery and the cause of improving the lot of workers.

Quit being a drama queen.

If a person is caught in a never-ending cycle of debt with no mobility, then they are debt slave and you know it.

 

[Polishprince]

Quit being a drama queen.

If a person is caught in a never-ending cycle of debt with no mobility, then they are debt slave and you know it.

Proverbs 22:7 verifies that the debtor is a slave to the lender.

But this is about the bullshit line "Wage Slave" , which is ripped right out of marxism rhetoric.

Slaves don't get any wages.

 

[dblack]

Quit being a drama queen.

If a person is caught in a never-ending cycle of debt with no mobility, then they are debt slave and you know it.

I suspect a real slave might have issues with your comparison.

 

[task0778]

The Left is all about feelings, trying to stoke the fires of envy and resentment among the masses for their own purposes. The Left does not care about truth, they have their agenda and have no scruples about achieving their goals.

 

[Woodznutz]

Most are a 'slave' to something.

 

[Seymour Flops]

I suspect a real slave might have issues with your comparison.

No problem. JoeB131 would whip the uppity-ness out of them.

 

[Soupnazi630]

Quit being a drama queen.

If a person is caught in a never-ending cycle of debt with no mobility, then they are debt slave and you know it.

Wrong.

They are a fool who takes on too much debt.

They are no slave they made the decision

YOU KNOW that.

No one believes the garbage you post, even you

 

[occupied]

Some jobs are absolutely designed to trap you in a paycheck to paycheck cycle where the best you can ever hope for is mere survival. It may not be actual slavery but it sure feels like a trap. Getting out of this low wage treadmill trap requires tremendous sacrifice and no small degree of risk. This is especially true if you have children. Life is short on viable options at the bottom of the ladder where one missed paycheck could land you out on the street.

 

[Polishprince]

Some jobs are absolutely designed to trap you in a paycheck to paycheck cycle where the best you can ever hope for is mere survival. It may not be actual slavery but it sure feels like a trap. Getting out of this low wage treadmill trap requires tremendous sacrifice and no small degree of risk. This is especially true if you have children. Life is short on viable options at the bottom of the ladder where one missed paycheck could land you out on the street.

That's just bullshit.

Jobs are designed to get tasks done that the employer needs to have completed. Not to "trap" anyone. Plenty of immigrants and other poor people have worked their way up in life. The fact that some people have failed- or not succeeded as much as they could- doesn't make them a "slave" in any sense.

 

[occupied]

That's just bullshit.

Jobs are designed to get tasks done that the employer needs to have completed. Not to "trap" anyone. Plenty of immigrants and other poor people have worked their way up in life. The fact that some people have failed- or not succeeded as much as they could- doesn't make them a "slave" in any sense.

Pulling yourself up by your boot straps used to be a euphemism for attempting the impossible. Now it's the right's advice for the working class. In spite of all your complaints about American families having a hard time you default back to abandoning the working class remarkably quick.

 

[1srelluc]

My ancestor's slave (Buck) worked on the side for regular wages as a stone mason and slate roof shingle hanger.

From what I understand his owner was the one they paid and he then gave it to Buck.....Buck had been taught to read, write, and do sums due to his job.

After he was freed he did the same thing (helped run the general store and grist mill) except for wages and still did side work.

He used part of the money to build/furnish him a little two story stone home (still standing) when he went and got him a wife after the war.

Though small it was better than what a lot of whites in the area lived in construction-wise.. My ancestor gave him the lot since it was close to his store/mill.