Phil: Are Businesses the new "slave owners"? - Page 9 - Science, Math and Philosophy Forum

What's interesting to me is that this very thread exemplifies the point I have been trying to explain to supermario.

The title of this thread is: "Are businesses the new slave owners?"

Even after the abolishment of slavery, and the removal of this injustice, we simply continue to redefine the same injustice: demonstrating that injustice, in whatever form, will never go away. It will continue to be redefined into infinity.....and beyond.

Will put Buzz Lightyear. Thank you.

Phil: Are Businesses the new "slave owners"?

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08-14-2015 , 10:00 AM

#202

BrianTheMick2

Long way to go and a short time to get there.

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 19,410

Quote:

Originally Posted by PairTheBoard

So I guess everyone here agrees that slavery is slavery. And not slavery is not slavery. But is it ever appropriate to use "slavery" as a metaphor for something that's not slavery?

PairTheBoard

As hyperbole, yes.

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08-14-2015 , 10:12 AM

#203

BrianTheMick2

Long way to go and a short time to get there.

Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 19,410

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackeleven

You made the claim but
he got globalisation down, where capitalists exhaust the profits and look for new pools or people to exploit relocating jobs. He envisioned growing technology and mechanisation of the workforce that would be a threat to the workforce, which is something that's going to get interesting as computers start to surpass us in cognitive abilities and replace us, and much more about the final stages of capitalism involving inherent contradictions..

Getting the history correct isn't the same as getting the future correct. The rise of empires is globalization and we were smack dab in the middle of the industrial revolution when he wrote.

I predict that Obama will win in 2008. Impressed?

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08-14-2015 , 10:22 AM

#204

spanktehbadwookie

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 19,374

Buzz Lightyear is an interesting character metaphor for a person who is not aware they have a free choice and instead follows authority absolutely as if they came with pre-programming to do so.

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08-16-2015 , 11:51 PM

#205

VeeDDzz`

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 4,384

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackeleven

We could have all agreed that slavery was abolished, and argued whether there are still existing class antagonisms/oppression in place or not, a while back.

We could have, but people instead decided to blindly jump on the slavery bandwagon and degrade the very meaning and impact of real slavery.

Quote:

Originally Posted by mackeleven

What we have is a huge upgrade from slavery obviously.

Through products, services and travel, the masses can be kept content enough for order to be maintained, and for technological/scientific progress to continue.

In the recently popularised vilification of capitalism and other pseudo-controversial positions, it is seldom acknowledged that where people would once die from a lack of food, they're now dying from too much food and the over-indulgence that comes with it.

Terms like 'slavery' being thrown around carelessly does little to produce any real change, since change demands a more realistic assessment of both negatives and positives. Something many new-age proponents of non-competitive systems are unwilling to engage in.

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08-17-2015 , 03:46 PM

#206

mackeleven

old hand

Join Date: Aug 2013 Posts: 1,593

well said ved

last video ill post is Harvey on HardtaLK

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08-20-2015 , 05:58 PM

#207

CORed

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Sep 2002 Posts: 6,044

Quote:

Originally Posted by CastlesMadeASand

Hope this is the right forum for this...

Wage Slave: a person wholly dependent on income from employment, typically employment of an arduous or menial nature.

This term was commonly used up until the end of the 19th century for someone who's survival was dependent wholly on income from employment. There was a belief held by a lot of workers that the people who worked in the factories should own the factories. As the industrial revolution progressed in the early 20th century the phrase was changed from wage slave to wage worker.

After reading bits and pieces of the TPP and hearing how Jeb Bush thinks that Americans need to work more than 40 hours a week (even though they're already among the longest workers in a 1st world country) and thinking about the general decline in quality of life in the US over the last 40 years or so (gradual but noticeable), I was beginning to wonder if we're entering an era of a new form of slavery. One where business owners are the "owners" and wage workers are the "slaves." Not to mention, the workers aren't even aware that they're slaves.

When I first had this thought I was a bit skeptical as it sounds like quite an over exaggeration and something explicitly illegal by the 13th amendment. Well, one of the definitions of slavery is: a condition compared to that of a slave in respect of exhausting labor or restricted freedom.

Workers today have it infinitely better than slaves that worked on plantations did in the 1800's. They don't get beaten, or killed for miniscule things, they have some rights and ways to "fight back" in situations where they've been wronged (though often money talks in those spots and business owners always win there).

Progress was undoubtedly made in the early 20th century with the formation of strong unions, which resulted in higher paying job, and more rights in general. Unfortunately after NAFTA and other trade agreements were passed that motivated businesses to outsource jobs, we've seen a decline in wages overall relative to inflation.

My concern basically comes from following the current trends in the job market. With wages being relatively stagnant for the majority of jobs, inflation increasing, technology doing away with the need for a human work force, and the top 1% of earners receiving nearly all of the countries profits, it seems like we could eventually run into a situation where workers are so trapped into the system by debt that they literally have no other choice but to go to work-which if we look back at the definition of slavery, could be seen as a form of restricted freedom.

I see resemblances to this in my own family at the moment. A few of my family members have jobs in the trades or work for businesses and have told me countless times how they despise their job but have to go because they need the money. As the disconnected poker player I am, I often say "well just quit and find something else that you really enjoy, LDO", not realizing that they don't have that financial cushion to support them while they transition to this other thing.

So my question to you is do you think this is a possible present reality or likely future outcome? If not, what could be considered wrong with my argument? Keep in mind that I'm aware of a lot of jobs that are very well paying and that there is a subset of people who are very well off working for a company. The issue is that this subset is getting smaller and smaller every year and over time the income gap could become even larger creating a polarization effect in society of "workers" and "owners".

You do realize that it's possible to find another job before quitting your current one, right?

Not to say that conditions haven't deteriorated for many workers, especially unskilled ones, but to say someone is a "slave" because they have to work for a living, even at a less than desirable job, is a bit extreme.

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