One of the most compelling chapters of American history, was the fight against slavery that divided the north and south, creating a gaping wound, whose scars are still there. Slavery has been a part of human history and probably prehistory, with weaker people being subjugated by their stronger neighbours. Empires were built on the backs of unwilling labour, Egypt, Rome and of course the British empire all embraced the culture of servitude and ownership of other human beings. Organised religions were established to reinforce the notion of bowing and grovelling before a higher power and thus maintaining the status quo. There have always been slaves and masters.
There are even people who derive sexual pleasure from domination and submission, some actually live their lives in such fantasy, though for many the reality of their slavery is far from an erotic experience.
here in the UK, slavery has been illegal for more than a hundred years and yet it still exists. We all know of gangs of immigrants working on the land or in sweat shops for very little money, scared of being deported, they give their lives to unscrupulous employers.
Then there is the minimum wage, set at a dismally low level to encourage employers to take on workers who care little that the minimum wage does not constitute a living wage. Hundreds of thousands of people in Britain are living in squalid conditions and children are going without the basics so that the wealthy can get wealthier. Their lives, meaningless to their masters.
Our government is driven by those that have; their mentality rather akin to the slave owners of the past. They have managed to alienate a sector of society that is unable to fight back, and by vilification of those people they have successfully divided the population once again.
Work is fine, and it benefits both the worker and society at large, but it is not all that life is about. There are not enough jobs for everyone, there never have been even in the best of times. The scarcity of jobs should not be used as a stick to beat people, or to drive down incomes to the point where people dare not or cannot walk away.
There are even people who derive sexual pleasure from domination and submission, some actually live their lives in such fantasy, though for many the reality of their slavery is far from an erotic experience.
here in the UK, slavery has been illegal for more than a hundred years and yet it still exists. We all know of gangs of immigrants working on the land or in sweat shops for very little money, scared of being deported, they give their lives to unscrupulous employers.
Then there is the minimum wage, set at a dismally low level to encourage employers to take on workers who care little that the minimum wage does not constitute a living wage. Hundreds of thousands of people in Britain are living in squalid conditions and children are going without the basics so that the wealthy can get wealthier. Their lives, meaningless to their masters.
Our government is driven by those that have; their mentality rather akin to the slave owners of the past. They have managed to alienate a sector of society that is unable to fight back, and by vilification of those people they have successfully divided the population once again.
Work is fine, and it benefits both the worker and society at large, but it is not all that life is about. There are not enough jobs for everyone, there never have been even in the best of times. The scarcity of jobs should not be used as a stick to beat people, or to drive down incomes to the point where people dare not or cannot walk away.
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