General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsIf the GOP had full control, would slavery be on the table?
The Republican Party has become so bugshit insane that I wouldnt put anything past them.
Their agenda includes Screw the economy; Screw jobs; Screw unions; Screw education; Screw women; Screw decent pay; Screw fair elections; Screw anyone who doesnt watch Fox; Screw anyone who hasnt downed the Kool Aid; well, you get the idea.
So why would anyone believe that if Republicans gained control of the House, the Senate and the Presidency that slavery wouldnt make a comeback? But this time it would not be blacks only. Brown people, Muslims, non-English speaking peoples and left-wing socialists would all be eligible for providing free labor to the privileged class.
This post may sound way out there. But I can remember a time when there were still some normal/sane people in the Republican Party. No more. So whats to stop todays Party of the Insane from doing any damn thing they wanted to do? The Supreme Court? Dont hold your breath.
libtodeath
(2,888 posts)B2G
(9,766 posts)ananda
(28,862 posts).. is already on the table for many Americans,
particularly prison inmates and those working
in outsourced jobs across the world.
Sirveri
(4,517 posts)But they don't count, because they can say no.
Perhaps the wage slaves count. If they say no they go out on the street and starve to death. Not really a choice there.
LiberalLoner
(9,762 posts)reality of the situation.
I'm afraid and depressed about it too.
magical thyme
(14,881 posts)It's just not called that.
Imprison people for victimless "crimes," force them to work at menial jobs for pennies/hour, charge them outrageous prices at the (company) commissary store.
Sucker people into huge loans, then pull the rug out from under them so they can't sell out, move away, or ever be free of them. Mortgages, student loans....take your pick.
Then again, the most nutty of the tea party nutcases at work launched a defense of old south slavery last winter. "It wasn't the way people make it out to be. Most owners were kind to their..." She swallowed the last word. I think she got stuck at "darkies" when she tried to turn it into something less overtly racist.
So they might re-institutionalize it, rationalizing that most owners are "kind" to their "property."
Cyrano
(15,041 posts)Who knows -- slaves might even be tatooed to keep track of them.
lunatica
(53,410 posts)So are wimmens. They needs someone male and big and strong and white to tell em what to do and stuff.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)wanted to force the inmates to work the fields after the immigration laws left the farmers with no cheap labor to exploit...
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)Rhode Island was the only state that kept live slaves. In every other state they were killing their slaves faster than they could reproduce. Apparently, most owners were *not* kind to their slaves.
And if she ever trots out the, "most southerners did not own slaves," remind her to add, "at any given time." My ancestors did not own slaves ... most of the time. But the south had a Norman/Celtic military culture. In a military culture the working class are deemed inferior and required to be subservient to the land owners and warrior class. Southerners largely eschewed working for other people. Therefore, when my ancestors needed to "hire" somebody, they had to buy a slave. When the job was done, they sold the slave.
So while most southerners did not own slaves at any give time, most southerners did own a slave for brief periods during their lifetime.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)than they could be replaced (except in Rhode Island)? I've read many of the histories of slavery Americay-style and have never seen that assertion that I can remember.
ieoeja
(9,748 posts)The author worked from contemporary accounts and completely ignores the memoirs written after the fact.
The introduction includes both northern and southern lyrics to the above song. It is really erie reading the southern lyrics. None of the dog whistling of today. It reminded me a lot of the translated lyrics I have seen of Nazi songs.
But I'm not entirely certain where I read it. Actually, I thought I had read that several places. Wasn't that one of the facts used by Turtledove and Gingrich to assert that slavery would have ended quite soon anyway? And I believe it is one of the reasons the south so badly wanted to conquer Cuba so as to replace their dwindling supply of slaves.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)Union soldiers to the melody of "John Brown's Body" or whether you are referring to the one-volume history by James McPherson by the same title (a magisterial work, btw).
It has been awhile since I read McPherson, so I'll double-check there over the weekend. The South didn't give a shit where it expanded slavery, as long as it could expand. See thh fight over Bleeding Kansas in the 1850s and the cockamamie schemes to export slavery into such inhospitable environs as New Mexico. Never have seen replacing dwindling supply of slaves mentioned as a motive for expansion. But again I will double-check over the weekend.
Bake
(21,977 posts)Kentucky slave owners sold their slaves "down the river" to states in the deep South (in fact, that's where the expression "sold down the river" comes from).
Bake
B2G
(9,766 posts)lunatica
(53,410 posts)Like 'Clean Skies Initiative' means belching as much contamination, toxins and pollution as you want into the air.
'Right to Work' means non-union jobs with minimum pay and no benefits whatsoever.
'Pro Life' means no civil right to choose what to do with your body.
You know what I mean.
Cyrano
(15,041 posts)things the exact opposite of what they really are.
The only ones who haven't yet caught on are brain-dead Fox "News" addicts.
polichick
(37,152 posts)aint_no_life_nowhere
(21,925 posts)The Republicans would like to force people to work virtually for free for their corporate masters like slaves, but as far as the minimal expense to keep you alive as a slave, you're on your own. As the middle class weakens, people are becoming more and more expendable.
Cyrano
(15,041 posts)as we all know, the powers that be take care of their property.
Due to today's overpopulated world, many would no doubt be left to die. But slaves would be cared for, if for no other reason, than to not offend the sensibilities of their owners. After all, we can't have low life ruining the view for those sipping their mint juleps while rocking on the front porch.
WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)and other 'reforms' they feel would help the 1%
concerned1234
(1 post)The thirteenth amendment to the constitution expressly outlaws slavery -
Section 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
Section 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.[2]
To overturn that they would have to ammend the constition which would require a 2/3 majority vote in both the Senate and House of Representatives PLUS ratification by 3/4 of the state legislatures.
The U.S. Census states that almost 40% of the population is minority and by 2050 the minority will be majority. You can't make money off of slaves, especially if slaves account for that large of a percentage of the population. For those who owned slaves it was profitable because the machinery and technology to be more productive did not exist at that time. Today most manufacturing and agricultural businesses would GREATLY see a loss in production, not to mention profits, with a return to slavery.
Cyrano
(15,041 posts)Where have you been for the past couple of decades?
Further, machines haven't replaced most service industries.
And let's not forget the "I have much more than you" factor. The super wealthy love their mansions, yachts, private jets (all of which would be run and cared for by slaves).
Hell, I can imagine State Fairs where owners could show off their prize slaves who they would put in competition for blue ribbons.
Fumesucker
(45,851 posts)Because slavery is unprofitable..
ThoughtCriminal
(14,047 posts)combined with criminalization of of just about anything. But who needs slavery when you can have neo-feudalism?
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Cyrano
(15,041 posts)edhopper
(33,580 posts)of course they wouldn't bring back slavery, that's absurd.
Indentured servitude and debtors prison on the other hand would be on the table.
Arkansas Granny
(31,517 posts)even people who are clearly and openly racist, express any desire that slavery be reinstated. Some believe that segregation had it's merits, but no one wants to go back to owning slaves. If we're going to argue something, let's at least be realistic.
Cyrano
(15,041 posts)"Freedom Workers," "Entitled Associates," "Honored Persons," or "Indispensable Americans" would work just as well.
coalition_unwilling
(14,180 posts)of separate water fountains, schools and such-like. Makes me want to reach for my mint juleps just thinking about it.
Fucking southerners. We should have let them secede in 1861 and been done with them once and for all. Except we owed a debt to the African Americans there that had to be repaid in blood for the next 100-odd years after that.
IndyPragmatist123
(42 posts)I'm sure this topic will be linked to and viewed by many people as "proof" of how "out of touch" and "delusional" Democrats are today. If you really think that the Republicans want to bring back slavery, then you truly are delusional.
I hate that people now respond more to negative stimuli than positive.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)The text of the 13th Amendment clearly allows prisoners to be enslaved, and indeed contemplates it.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Slavery or its functional equivalent would certainly be on the table.
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)kimbutgar
(21,155 posts)This was on IFC recently and was a mock documentary about if the south had won the civil war. That is a secret wet dream of today's repubteakkk party.
Back to your questions I have wondered the same thing if they regain all three branches. I could see them rounding up bloggers on sites like these and imprisoning us in camps for treason and sedition by their own definition. I hate to say it but things are like the 1930's Germany here and a small minority took over. The only thing we got going is the rmoney is not charismatic.
Cyrano
(15,041 posts)the votes "properly" counted.
Bush Jr. had the charisma of a circus clown, but he inhabited the White House twice due to "proper" vote counts -- Florida the first time -- Ohio the second time.
clang1
(884 posts)Wage slavery
19th century female workers in Lowell, Massachusetts arguably were the first inspiration for the wider labor movement to use the term "wage slave"
Wage slavery refers to a situation of quasi-voluntary slavery where a person's livelihood depends on wages, especially when the dependence is total and immediate.[1][2][3] It is a negatively connoted term used to draw an analogy between slavery and wage labor, and to highlight similarities between owning and employing a person. The term wage slavery has been used to criticize economic exploitation and social stratification, with the former seen primarily as unequal bargaining power between labor and capital (particularly when workers are paid comparatively low wages, e.g. in sweatshops),[4] and the latter as a lack of workers' self-management, fulfilling job choices and leisure in an economy.[5][6][7] The criticism of social stratification covers a wider range of employment choices bound by the pressures of a hierarchical society to perform otherwise unfulfilling work that deprives humans of their "species character"[8] not only under threat of starvation or poverty, but also of social stigma and status diminution.[9][10][11]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery
B2G
(9,766 posts)Last I checked, we didn't have slavery instituted as a result.
And martial law wasn't declared, aliens didn't attack and the interwebs weren't taken over.
clang1
(884 posts)No martial law (heh heh well may depend on who you are and what you look like), and no aliens, etc..
Yes?
OneTenthofOnePercent
(6,268 posts)get out of your mom's basement and get some fresh air.
Does she know you've been up all night reading about conspiracy partisan politics again?
Riley18
(1,127 posts)Also, we really can't be "free" making minimum wage. Americans without health care get the same care as slaves did in the past - none.
bigmonkey
(1,798 posts)I think that's as far as they can go, without a complete (I mean complete) collapse of the political culture in the U.S. The horrifying part is that they'd tout it as an increase in individual freedom. "You should be free to sell yourself into servitude, don't let anyone take that away from you!" could be the talking point, I'd venture to guess.
clang1
(884 posts)raouldukelives
(5,178 posts)Luntz and his ilk would come up with a few talking points and snappy phrases and lickity-split the Freedom to Labor initiative would quickly be passed into law.
clang1
(884 posts)Octafish
(55,745 posts)Banksterism: It's the new Feudalism.
Nuclear Unicorn
(19,497 posts)JustAnotherGen
(31,828 posts)C.S.A. - Confederate States of America. For my husband and me - it was brilliant satire of the 'mind set' that thinks it would be okay. It was also a bit of a horror movie.
But for people like You Lie, Ron Paul, etc. etc. It's a Porno Movie they enjoy.
And now that I've mentioned pornography -
Nye Bevan
(25,406 posts)Cyrano
(15,041 posts)the bubble inhabited by the Republican Party.
And what's sad is that far too many people view them as merely extremists rather than the lethal danger they've become to human life on this planet.
Then again, perhaps I'm lost in my own bubble of "Creative Speculation" and if so, I hope to awaken soon.
clang1
(884 posts)We live in very dangerous times.
prisonslavery1
(6 posts)Committee to Abolish Prison Slavery (CAPS) Face book page...
GeorgeGist
(25,321 posts)spanone
(135,838 posts)dembotoz
(16,806 posts)we have been there and are doing that
loyalsister
(13,390 posts)The people who are accused of taking American jobs are very often slaves.
http://haltht.spcollege.edu/SlaveryIn21stCentury.htm
It is scary to think about but this stuff can happen. They are masters of propaganda and the christian fascists will use religion to back them up. Mean while we are all watching American Idol we don't even notice the shackles going around our ankles until it is too late.
It is always the people that speak up that seem to "go away" first.
Initech
(100,079 posts)prisonslavery1
(6 posts)Prison Slavery in the North (1787) ran concurrently with Chattel slavery in the South. When Chattel slavery was prohibited throughout the country, Prison Slavery simply replaced it. So, the question about slavery returning is mute. It has, for all intense purposes, been here, and here it remains. It is ironic, however, that Confederate styled Republicans can be so much further advanced in this arena of consciousness than are so-called freedom loving Democrats.
Abolition of this EXCEPTION for slavery, of this disgrace to a nation of savages, must become a vanguard struggle among freedom loving people because it is more viral than perceived.
The discussion here has been strong, and inspiring, with multiple loose end speculations and observations about what would happen if - the Repug Confederates gain more power, if prisoner workers replaced outside workers, and how frightening it might be.
You can put all those hypotheticals away. Its not a theory, not a hypothesis, not a what if it is a reality, and Democrats are currently out-flanked, and out maneuvered via multiple Republican Slavocracy Network territory expansions.
Its in front of all reading this, and some will understand academically, while others will have a life changing epiphany Oh, wow! It all makes sense now! Theres an ESXCEPTION FOR SLAVERY in the very amendment we were taught in Junior High School ABOLISHED ALL SLAVERY. DAMN, we were lied to! The reality is that its not merely speculation!
Its a real deal, Lucile! Look at the Slave Territory Expansions:
1. Prisons and prison populations have grown by 800 to 1200% since 1980.
2. Massive financial gains have been made by Repug Confederates.
3. Massive new Crimes passed on fed and state levels.
4. States have sold their prisons to, and/or given contracts to right wing for profit prison corporations.
5. Children in Pennsylvania were literally bought and sold into prisons; and this is now happening in viral fashion across the country.
6. Is it any wonder that outside union and state jobs are now going to private for profit corporations with contracts going inside to prison slave workers.
7. There are massive examples of how liberal democrats have been hood-winked, and how slave territory has been expanded
Now, what is to be done?
http://books.google.com/books?id=zbTU7QxA7qoC&pg=PP6&lpg=PP6&dq=prison+slavery+book&source=bl&ots=uICyD1W1JU&sig=WP7My6kIZxtS3DOk8D35fhAZjs0&hl=en&ei=rsXJTuPQKtGrsAK12exi&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEYQ6AEwBA#v=snippet&q=Barbara%20Esposito&f=false
goclark
(30,404 posts)They can say anything, lie, cheat, put GW in office and have Cheney "run" the country, steal/suppress the votes /nominate an idiot for their party and they don't even care that he is a sociopath.