Slavery

[Zane]

I see people reference slavery, when talking about the role of the public as relates to the role of the corporations in America, & I really feel such statements are an insult to the real slaves that remain in the world today. I posted a video in the Muslim thread about slavery in modern-day Niger, & I have another one from Mauritania.




This, to me, is an even worse problem than Islamic terrorism.

[MarkMiller]

You do have a point, but what about human trafficing and the sex trade in the US. You can find slaves in every city in the US. Did you know that. It's true. We even had a sex trade discovered here in our little city near Sacramento a few years back. It's a real problem people refuse to deal with.

[CosmicRocker]

happen in he US. "brides" are told to come over, and then end up as prostitutues. And the sex trade is worldwide.

[Cookie]

'Slavery' when used in the context of being tied to corporations whether by need of their products or by ones job is an insulting and ignorant usage of the word. It is a sad tactic employed by extreme leftists who hate capitalism and all that it represents.

We are blessed in the USA to have the freedom to leave jobs we dislike and find other work, hopefully more to our liking. People who are truly enslaved throughout the world have no such freedom.

[BlackAsCoal]

'Slavery' when used in the context of being tied to corporations whether by need of their products or by ones job is an insulting and ignorant usage of the word. It is a sad tactic employed by extreme leftists who hate capitalism and all that it represents.

We are blessed in the USA to have the freedom to leave jobs we dislike and find other work, hopefully more to our liking. People who are truly enslaved throughout the world have no such freedom.

While I agree with your point that work is not slavery, it is hardly just "leftists" who misuse the context. In fact, leftists have far more empathy and understanding of the horrors of slavery then any demographic with the exception of African-Americans .. the vast majority of whom are on the left.

As far as being "blessed" to leave a job, most are blessed to even have a job. Your applause of capitalism rings a bit hollow these days.

The right has no claim a better understanding of slavery nor "racist" .. which it tends to do a lot these days.

[BlackAsCoal]

You don't have to travel outside of the United States to find legalized, constitutionally and citizen approved slavery. It is legal and practiced in America every day .. and we've amassed a HUGE population of slaves .. in American prisons,

American prisoner/slaves toil away for about 25 cents and hour .. which in some cases goes to pay their "room and board" while they work for some of the largest corporations in America. No sick time, vacation, OSHA requirements, holidays, unions, or complaints. They make everything from furniture to computers to women's lingerie.

If anyone wonders where American manufacturing went .. it went to jail.

No need to hire free Americans .. who will want a living wage. Some factories have closed up shop in free America and opened up shop in the prison plantation.

5% of the world's population and 25% of all the prisoners on the planet.

America, the greatest prison nation in human history.

[Susie Chutzpah]

'Slavery' when used in the context of being tied to corporations whether by need of their products or by ones job is an insulting and ignorant usage of the word. It is a sad tactic employed by extreme leftists who hate capitalism and all that it represents.

We are blessed in the USA to have the freedom to leave jobs we dislike and find other work, hopefully more to our liking. People who are truly enslaved throughout the world have no such freedom.

Very well said, Cookie.

[Susie Chutzpah]

You don't have to travel outside of the United States to find legalized, constitutionally and citizen approved slavery. It is legal and practiced in America every day .. and we've amassed a HUGE population of slaves .. in American prisons,

American prisoner/slaves toil away for about 25 cents and hour .. which in some cases goes to pay their "room and board" while they work for some of the largest corporations in America. No sick time, vacation, OSHA requirements, holidays, unions, or complaints. They make everything from furniture to computers to women's lingerie.

If anyone wonders where American manufacturing went .. it went to jail.

No need to hire free Americans .. who will want a living wage. Some factories have closed up shop in free America and opened up shop in the prison plantation.

5% of the world's population and 25% of all the prisoners on the planet.

America, the greatest prison nation in human history.

Incarcerated criminals have free meals, medical care and lodging, paid by the US taxpayers. There is nothing wrong with making them work during their stay. I've seen some of them working on the roads, for the state. Nothing wrong with that.

If someone doesn't want to do time, then don't commit crimes. That said, it's ridiculous to compare murderers and thieves with slaves, who did nothing wrong. That's as bad as comparing Islamofascists with Jews in Nazy Germany. You drama queen.

[BlackAsCoal]

Incarcerated criminals have free meals, medical care and lodging, paid by the US taxpayers. There is nothing wrong with making them work during their stay. I've seen some of them working on the roads, for the state. Nothing wrong with that.

If someone doesn't want to do time, then don't commit crimes. That said, it's ridiculous to compare murderers and thieves with slaves, who did nothing wrong. That's as bad as comparing Islamofascists with Jews in Nazy Germany. You drama queen.

:0)

I'm a drama queen?

:0)

It would be ridiculous to compare murderers and thieves to slaves, but America's plantations aren't filled with murderers and thieves, they are filled with people who've committed non-violent crimes .. make that non-white people who have committed non-violent crimes because with great disparity the white people who do get off with much lighter sentences, probation, or no sentence at all. If you'd like to challenge the voracity of that .. be my guest. All manner of statistics and studies bear that out that I'd be happy to provide them for you sister.

Thus, America's Just-Us system targets and singles out non-whites .. which makes them very mush like slaves. In fact, it is ironic how much America's current slaves look a lot like the slaves of our past.

The slaves of our past had meals, board, and medical care as well. Not sure what your point was supposed to be but it didn't work.

But here is the point that should concern you ..

AAFA - American Apparel and Footwear Association

The Issue:

Federal Prison Industries (FPI) is a government corporation employing federal prison inmates to produce goods and services in prison factories for sale to the Federal government. FPI operates under the trade name UNICOR. Created in 1934, FPI enjoys a mandatory source preference in the federal market. This means that federal agencies are required to purchase from FPI any product that FPI offers for sale or wishes to produce. FPI does not face the same competitive requirements that private firms face, nor does it have to comply with basic minimum standards, like OSHA, that private firms face either. Left unchecked, FPI gobbles up government contracts, which destroys jobs in the private sector, at higher costs, which wastes valuable taxpayer dollars.

Over the past few years, Congress has approved some reforms to the way FPI works to give industry, their workers, and U.S. taxpayers some relief from FPI. About five years ago, the military was allowed to void FPI’s mandatory source, and award contracts through competitive bidding, if FPI met price, quality, and delivery parameters. This relief was subsequently extended to the rest of the government several years later. But reforms are still needed because FPI still maintains its mandatory source and because current law still allows it to avoid competitive bidding in many circumstances.

AAFA on the Issue:

AAFA supports permanent and comprehensive FPI reform to make the agency more accountable and subject to greater and more effective oversight in order to level the playing field for U.S. contractors by requiring the same price, quality and delivery time requirements met by the private sector. Competition from prison labor continues to take the jobs of law-abiding U.S. citizens—despite statutory mandates to the contrary. In the textile, footwear and apparel industries, this phenomenon has hit particularly hard. A few years ago, more than 22,000 workers supplied the U.S. military’s apparel needs. Today, that number is less than 13,000 and declining.
http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/le...BCATEGORY_ID=6

American manufacturing has gone to jail.

[Susie Chutzpah]

:0)

I'm a drama queen?

:0)

It would be ridiculous to compare murderers and thieves to slaves, but America's plantations aren't filled with murderers and thieves, they are filled with people who've committed non-violent crimes .. make that non-white people who have committed non-violent crimes because with great disparity the white people who do get off with much lighter sentences, probation, or no sentence at all. If you'd like to challenge the voracity of that .. be my guest. All manner of statistics and studies bear that out that I'd be happy to provide them for you sister.

Thus, America's Just-Us system targets and singles out non-whites .. which makes them very mush like slaves. In fact, it is ironic how much America's current slaves look a lot like the slaves of our past.

The slaves of our past had meals, board, and medical care as well. Not sure what your point was supposed to be but it didn't work.

But here is the point that should concern you ..

AAFA - American Apparel and Footwear Association

The Issue:

Federal Prison Industries (FPI) is a government corporation employing federal prison inmates to produce goods and services in prison factories for sale to the Federal government. FPI operates under the trade name UNICOR. Created in 1934, FPI enjoys a mandatory source preference in the federal market. This means that federal agencies are required to purchase from FPI any product that FPI offers for sale or wishes to produce. FPI does not face the same competitive requirements that private firms face, nor does it have to comply with basic minimum standards, like OSHA, that private firms face either. Left unchecked, FPI gobbles up government contracts, which destroys jobs in the private sector, at higher costs, which wastes valuable taxpayer dollars.

Over the past few years, Congress has approved some reforms to the way FPI works to give industry, their workers, and U.S. taxpayers some relief from FPI. About five years ago, the military was allowed to void FPI’s mandatory source, and award contracts through competitive bidding, if FPI met price, quality, and delivery parameters. This relief was subsequently extended to the rest of the government several years later. But reforms are still needed because FPI still maintains its mandatory source and because current law still allows it to avoid competitive bidding in many circumstances.

AAFA on the Issue:

AAFA supports permanent and comprehensive FPI reform to make the agency more accountable and subject to greater and more effective oversight in order to level the playing field for U.S. contractors by requiring the same price, quality and delivery time requirements met by the private sector. Competition from prison labor continues to take the jobs of law-abiding U.S. citizens—despite statutory mandates to the contrary. In the textile, footwear and apparel industries, this phenomenon has hit particularly hard. A few years ago, more than 22,000 workers supplied the U.S. military’s apparel needs. Today, that number is less than 13,000 and declining.
http://www.apparelandfootwear.org/le...BCATEGORY_ID=6

American manufacturing has gone to jail.

What do you propose be done with criminals? Should non-violent criminals like Bernie Madoff be given a country-club environment and an R&R schedule instead, and if so, why? The laws are clear. When you break them, you go to jail. I don't see why one crime should warrant working productively during your stay, and another crime allows you to relax and rest all day on the taxpayer dime.