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Anonymous
Wage labor = worse than slavery? 2016-10-09 22:11:32 Post No. 1803068
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Wage labor = worse than slavery? 2016-10-09 22:11:32 Post No. 1803068
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>The Richmond publisher A. Morris printed Cannibals All! Or, Slaves without Masters in 1857. Endeavoring in the preface "to treat the subjects of Liberty and Slavery in a more rigidly analytical manner," George Fitzhugh charts productive classical and historical accounts of slavery and cites the Bible as evidence. Referencing the French proletariat, various Gypsy peoples, and the Irish peasantry as groups oppressed under capitalism, Fitzhugh likewise presents the poor working and factory class conditions in England as evidence that the southern institution of slavery, modeled after a pre-capitalist, feudal society, is economically justifiable. Furthermore, he argues capitalism, as practiced in Europe and the North, produces a form of moral cannibalism, replicating the master/slave dichotomy by turning capitalists (or the professional class) into masters and free laborers into exploited slaves. Within a capitalist society, the very labor and skill extracted in pursuit of profit enslaves these workers, leaving them far more disenfranchised than their slave counterparts. Specifying capitalism's many "evils," Fitzhugh notes that it encourages falsehood and hypocrisy, impedes scientific modifications of supply to meet demand, demeans labor's value and nobility, and results in the greater impoverishment of already poor peoples while augmenting the wealth of the affluent.
>According to Fitzhugh, under the humane code of southern paternalism in which masters labor on behalf of their enslaved workers, African American slaves—unlike those miserable participants in free labor's "White Slave Trade"—are happy and free. They enjoy those comforts and necessities granted them under a mutually beneficial, supportive system and community. To address the charge that slavery results in immorality, namely through illicit sexual liaisons, Fitzhugh suggests that contact between the ignorant and the more enlightened acts as a natural form of education.
Was he right, /his/?
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>>1803068
Yes. Some of the literature I've read on this topic was pretty eye opening.
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>>1803068
The only good thing I can imagine about slavery is that you might get to meet George Washington.
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>>1803093
What literature aside from Fitzhugh?
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>>1803068
To be honest, as much as I'm a leftie and supportive of social programs and etc., I still don't buy the argument that wage labor is wage slavery. I understand and respect a lot of Chomsky's work, however I feel like this anger towards wage labor is slightly misdirected.
The main fact is that some degree of labor must be performed by all in order to keep society functioning. If we humans didn't consume food and other resources day and night for our entire lives, I feel like he'd have a point, but that's not how it is. Ever since citizens graduated from being entirely farmers, the improvement of standards of life are based solely on the trade of goods. Then these goods will be sold by the individuals who are most willing to organize them.
The point of the people owning the means of production is to improve the conditions of everyone involved the process, but I feel like if we instituted more wage controls, this issue would go away. i.e. CEOs can only make up to $X, sweatshop laborer must make at least $X.
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>>1803109
Clever.
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>>1803068
Sometimes, yes, because there is the idea that if you are in misery it's because you didn't work as hard as you should; it's all on you.
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Being owned by a single individual
Selling yourself to various corporations
NOT SEEING THE DIFFERENCE
Based Fitzhugh.
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