8 Reader Responses

1. Steve Mills Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 5:50 am

   I would have to agree with that. Slavery never ended, they just gave it a sexier name and let the slaves free on the weekend (if they were lucky)

2. alistair Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 9:58 am

   willing to go back to jail with the promise of bright shiny things as reward.

   i`ll take freedom for a thousand alex.

3. whatacharacter Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 1:44 pm

   Thankfully no one has ever forced me to work, nor have I been forced to starve, rest, have fun or relax.
   However there is a force at work and it does a lot of good, sharing and giving back.
   Trying to do what you love? Is that work? We are made to work …
   “I’m off to fun now!”
   “Hi dear, how was fun today?”
   “I need some fun or I’ll lose my roof!”
   “I need to have fun overtime so my kid can get his teeth fixed!”
   “WILL FUN FOR FOOD”

   geez … do you guys have a family?

4. King of Some (but not All )Snorks Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

   Chattel Slavery Wage “Slavery”

   Can’t choose master Can choose master
   Can’t keep family together Can keep family together
   No property rights Property rights
   No civil[ian] rights Civil[ian] rights, subject to interpretation
   Definitely Owned by Someone Maybe Exploited by Someone
   No upward mobility Upward mobility
   No incentive for hard/smart work Incentives for hard/smart work
   Can’t choose work Can choose work

   The gulf between the two is immense.

   I would speculate that the term “workforce” would be similar to “police force;” an entity intended to produce a particular effect by way of intangible and tangible actions. The police force is intended to police, or keep individuals and groups conforming to predictable standard of behavior by investigation, prosecution, and sanction; the work force is intended to produce work, or accomplish tangible or intangible tasks that produce wealth.

   It would be interesting to see what one could dig up about the etymology of the word. It does have a sort of Newspeak ring to it.

5. |\/| Says:
   April 13th, 2008 at 4:22 pm

   ‘Work’ as commonly engaged in is a holding pen for sheep to slaughter or folks just waiting to die. During my tenure in the bowels of the corporate crap factory I recall guys who would put in OT just to avoid going home. Sad. Leaving that behind opened up a whole new world to me…

6. Jacob Says:
   April 14th, 2008 at 12:15 am

   -Fun isn’t trivial; it’s necessary to make survival a meaningful thing to do.

   -Tim’s not necessarily calling people who work slaves; he’s decoding the term, and some of the underlying psychology implicit in it.

7. Ted Heistman Says:
   April 14th, 2008 at 10:10 am

   I think its all about mindset. What is your mental attitude? If you think you are a slave and forced to work, that will become your reality.

   But another person can walk into the same workplace as the above and say “someday I will own this place” and make that a reality. Or get their own place.

   Or, actually you can be a bum and panhandle and live in a homless shelter or a tent in the woods and that will be your reality.

   Also its very possible that we all chose to incarnate here to learn things and some of us want to learn how to submit. So maybe that is not so bad. Some people just want to be a worker and work for others.

   If they have a good attitude they will be valued.

   But thinking you work because you are forced to be a slave is a bad attitude that will attract bad things into your life.

   I think the word combo is about the combined force of a bunch of workers. Sorry for getting preachy but I once had the “wage slave” mindset and it didn’t work for me.

8. King of Some (but not All )Snorks Says:
   April 14th, 2008 at 12:50 pm

   Oh, I forgot to mention that chattel slaves received vicious punishments, such as beatings, lashings, whippings, being chained up, and in Haiti, having gun-powder shoved in their rectums, and then ignited.