Capitalism and slavery

America is still ruled by the ideology of the consummately evil Milton Friedman. Let us not be afraid to use the word "evil" to describe that man -- indeed, we must insist on its usage.

Friedmanism is the ruling ideology within both the mainstream and the populist underground. Thus, even in revolutionary circumstances (and we may soon be living in such circumstances), Friedmanism will triumph -- because the citizenry cannot imagine an alternative.

We need to create an alternative by addressing the dangers of unbridled capitalism. I would like to start that process, in my own humble way, with a series of articles. The subject is too large for one post.

Today's lesson: Slavery is the ultimate result of capitalism.

Without strict legal regulation, capitalism inevitably leads to slave labor. For many a capitalist, maximizing profit overpowers conscience. Most recent case in point: Mexico.

Mexican authorities have freed 107 indigenous people who officials say were being held as slave laborers in a Mexico City factory disguised as a drug rehabilitation center.

They made handbags and clothespins and were not paid. Their only daily meal consisted of chicken legs and rotten vegetables, Mancera said.

The men and women worked 8 a.m. to midnight and were given only a half-hour food break. They were not allowed to go to the bathroom, and many soiled themselves, officials said.

Of course, it never occurs to the slave-owners that, if all of society were so constituted, there would be no-one to sell those handbags to.

As neo-liberal ideology (i.e., Friedmanism) has taken hold throughout the world, slavery has increased. Millions of women in Eastern Europe fell into sex slavery after the formerly communist countries underwent a Friedmanite "shock treatment." Modern slavery is a profoundly feminist issue, although many debased and self-absorbed American feminists have neglected it.

(Sex slavery is the subject of the Frontline documentary embedded below.)

There are no slaves in advanced capitalist/socialist mixed economies, such as Sweden and Denmark. The imposition of strict Friedmanism always results in slavery, or in near-slavery conditions.

We have already talked about Dubai, where many extraordinary construction projects were built by what amounts to slave labor.

In their home country – Bangladesh or the Philippines or India – these workers are told they can earn a fortune in Dubai if they pay a large upfront fee. When they arrive, their passports are taken from them, and they are told their wages are a tenth of the rate they were promised.

They end up working in extremely dangerous conditions for years, just to pay back their initial debt.

Never underestimate the human capacity for rationalization. When ABC released an expose on slavery in Dubai (relying, in large measure, on information from Human Rights Watch), a UAE expatriate asked: "Does HRW know the meaning of capitalism?"

The U.A.E. may not offer laboures mansions to live in or the pay of a C.E.O. but thats capitalism for you. If the labourers did not see a benifit in working there, they would never leave their lives and families just to build our towers, who are we? Or maybe youd rather we adopt communism?

And there you have it. Friedmanites will always trot out that false dichotomy to justify peonage and slavery. They will always pretend that bolshevism is the only conceivable alternative to Friedmanism.

Can slavery happen again in America?

Well, there are people in America who want it to happen. As is often the case in this country, religion provides the justification for atrocity.

Dominionist theology (otherwise known as Christian Reconstruction) remains quite popular in this nation, especially within the "tea party" movement. An American revolution is far more likely to be Dominionist than socialist, which is why I find the very thought of revolution frightening and abhorrent. Dominionism both raises capitalism to the level of a theological imperative and demands a return to slavery. As in Dubai and elsewhere, slavery will adopt its usual disguise as the repayment of debt.

Punishments for non-capital crimes generally involve whipping, restitution in the form of indentured servitude, or slavery. Prisons would likely be only temporary holding tanks, prior to imposition of the actual sentence.

Many Dominionist leaders are not afraid to use the S word:

Slavery is openly defended by Dominionist writers such as David Chilton: "Heathen slaves ... were actually favored by [slavery], since it placed them in contact with believers. They received the relatively lenient treatment of the biblical slavery regulations, and they were also able to hear the liberating message of the gospel."

On the 700 Club, a black Dominionist preacher named Wellington Boone offered a view which I can only describe as bizarre:

Boone is a member of the Coalition on Revival, a Christian Reconstructionist organization that advocates replacing the US Constitution with biblical law. Throughout his career, he has distinguished himself from his black clerical colleagues with such remarks as "I believe that slavery, and the understanding of it when you see it God's way, was redemptive"...

Dominionism is primarily an ideology of the mentally diseased American south. Non-white Americans must never forget that virtually all white southern conservatives long for a return to antebellum society. The modern neo-seccessionist movement is, when all pretenses and self-deceptions are dropped, based on a desire to institute Dominionism -- that is to say, to create a society based on unregulated capitalism and slavery.