Monday, February 13, 2006
The definition of slavery is the state of being under the control of another person against their will, enforced by violence or other forms of coercion. Slavery almost always occurs for the purpose of securing the labor of the person concerned.
If you remove the word “violence” from the above definition you have just described the labor conditions in much of the world including the United States. The majority of workers in the United States hate their jobs but cannot quit and are working poor. Working poor means they work full-time but still cannot support themselves or a family. While the physical abuse is outlawed the mental abuse is rampant. I will provide evidence below suggesting a new form of slavery exists in the US today. The masters are the fortune 500 corporations and richest 1% of the country. The slaves are the middle and lower classes.
The morale of today’s workforce is the lowest in thirty years. Management is becoming more ruthless and demanding, as principle-centered leadership styles are abandoned in favor of scare tactics. Working long hours or weekends is expected regardless of your family conditions. Women who use family leave to have a baby are viewed as a problem and often return to their jobs without the support of management.
In the IT field, training, which was a staple since 1990, is gone. In the mid to late 90’s training was a part of your professional development, so company time was devoted to learning the newest technology. Today, professional development plans have been eliminated as employers expect workers to learn the latest technology on their own time, taking even more time away from the family. You don't like these new rules.....tough! If you look in the local newspaper or on-line the good jobs are just not there anymore.
No one I know of is happy working in the corporate sector anymore. The spirit and comradery of the office is replaced with a deafening silence as people are scared to lose their jobs, so they tolerate horrible conditions, bad employer behavior and declining benefits and wages. In the IT field, everything is now a short term consulting gig with no benefits. If you take one of those you are not technically unemployed but those are not good jobs either. Thus the work force today is nothing but a pool of slaves. Very few people enjoy their job nor can they leave for something better because there is nothing better available.
While company profits along with the number of hours worked continue to climb, personal wages and working conditions continue to decline. Politicians like to point to the low unemployment rate as a signal for good news for the under classes. What they don’t tell you is that many of those jobs do not pay enough for someone to support a family, so our country continues to produce working poor families. Even worse, this same system makes it impossible for people to improve their conditions by not providing higher education and not allowing employees to organize to obtain a livable wage.
Ford Motor Company earned $2 billion dollars in profits last year is now somehow broke and firing 30,000 employees. I’m sure as their sales show growth in the coming months those jobs will be replaced with cheaper labor in over seas factories. Their new buyout program marks the beginning of the end for company provided retirement benefits for the working class.
BEGIN SARCASM
You are in the richest 1% tax bracket or you have just been promoted to the CEO of a company and you want to know how to rule the slaves. Below is required reading for all potential masters.
The goal of the master is to keep the slave working. Because of those annoying labor laws you must now pay slaves but remember never to give them enough money so they can stop working only give them just enough to come back tomorrow. You will now be given detailed instructions on how to keep your slaves working. NOTE: remember to repeal those labor laws.
Create a system of lending in which interest exceeds the original principle
This is probably the best way to enslave a population. Credit card debts and home loans that can never be repaid and plenty of payday loans keep the slaves without cash and working. Slaves get absolutely no value in credit because all of the laws are slanted in favor of the masters.
Let’s look at home loans. If a slave's mortgage is $150,000 at 5.81% interest for 30 years, by the time they pay off their house they will pay $317,192. This is the primary tool in keeping the slaves working and indebted to the system for an entire lifetime. Al Capone used to give a better interest rate to his gambling debtors than these loans.
As a master, you want these business practices in your favor since you have all the money anyway. Hopefully, the slaves will pay off their MasterCard with their Visa so they have to work overtime tomorrow. WHOOPS! You don't pay overtime! HA! HA! HA! HA!
Thankfully, the bankruptcy laws were finally changed to favor the masters. Now it is easier than ever to keep the slave in a lifetime of debt and even take their home. We must all praise the Republican Congress and President Bush for that masterpiece.
No healthcare
Never give the young slaves healthcare because they will retain their property longer. You always want to keep the fear of losing their home within reach. As an added bonus, the Filial Responsibility Laws enable the masters to take the inheritance of all middle and lower classes and still dig into the heirs savings and property. Don't worry about similar laws taking your stuff because the Death Tax was eliminated.
If you give the older slaves healthcare they will not work as many years. A national healthcare plan would only help people retire sooner. Masters hate for the slaves to retire.
No retirement
Retirement is an obstacle to work and an obstacle to profits. You want everybody working. This keeps the labor pool larger and the wages lower. Plus you don’t want a bunch of lazy-ass old people sucking down your profits so all retirement plans and healthcare must be eliminated.
The dilemma is how to keep the older folks working cheaply. After all, experience translates to decent wages; but masters hate decent wages. The plan here would be to figure out a way to fire them when they are about 10 years away from retirement. Blame it on a recession or something like that. Now you can hire them back at nothing. The next three sections will help you deal with this problem.
Remember to support President Bush's plan to "strengthen" Social Security. LOL!! Suckers!!
Keep wages low through mass layoffs and rehiring
The slaves should always have the illusion that wages are set by the market. This makes it easier to fire everybody and hire them all back at lower wages without a revolt. Better yet, don’t reopen in the United States. There are cheaper slaves in China, Mexico or any of the Central American countries. This is a great plan to break a union.
Keep wages low by implementing policies like NAFTA and CAFTA
If you want many cheap slaves you will have to pay many politicians to support laws that enhance your ability to be master. Let the politicians decide how to break the news to the slaves.
The politicians can spin anything negative to the slaves out to be a positive, and the dumb ass slaves believe it all every time. Remember the Clean Air Act actually allows more pollutants into the air. They use phrases like “good for the economy”. The slaves don’t understand that “good for the economy” translates into good for the master.
No employment laws for workers
Like I said earlier, as the master, you will have to pay politicians to pass laws in your favor. You cannot have employment laws standing in the way when you want to relocate a plant to China or fire half of your work force to collect a lucrative bonus. Unions used to protect people from predatory management practices like this. Again, we see how the political spin machine is so amazing because now the slaves actually believe that unions are evil!!! LOL!!
Create an atmosphere of fear
Nothing helps a slave forget about his rights faster than fear. As a master, this atmosphere of fear created by terrorism is just what you need to get laws like the Patriot Act acceptable to the slaves. It also helps you avoid the troublesome Bill of Rights and get the surveillance you need. Also, as a master you must understand many of the judges are not on your side so they must be completely ignored in the warrant process.
Create a false sense of urgency
A good salesman knows if you want to sell somebody something they do not need, insist they buy it now before it’s too late. Thus President Bush’s plan to “strengthen” Social Security is needed now before the plan is bankrupt. He won’t tell you that if he would eliminate all the tax breaks for the richest 1% of the country, Social Security would be healthy for decades. LOL!!! Suckers!!!!
Instilling a sense of entitlement for the masters
Even the slaves believe in this sense of entitlement for the masters. The proof is they voted in a political party that overwhelming supports the richest corporations and the richest 1% of the country. The tax burden has been shifted from the masters to the slaves but the slaves overwhelmingly accept this. The slaves support plans to eliminate social programs that cut their own throats because the masters use words like “strengthen” when they intend to “weaken”.
Slaves also believe their labor to be inferior to the masters. Why else would they allow the masters to earn so much more in comparison to their meager wages? A CEO earns 400 times more than the average slave but no one complains because the masters are entitled to this money.
If a slave wants to organize a union just to get healthcare and a decent living wage this slave is ostracized and the other slaves nod in support of the master. As a master, you can see how easily it is to manipulate the slaves and easily exploit their lack of intelligence.
Allowing the masters to control their own wages and benefits
As a master you can make a different set of rules for yourself. For example you give yourself healthcare or a decent wage but deny the slaves the same. The beauty of this is the slaves actually support and believe you have a right to a different set of rules. After all, you are the master.
Encourage a system that puts profit before people
As a master you can earn 400 times more than your slaves but complain about the high price of labor. Then, layoff half of the slaves forcing the remaining slaves to pick up the slack while taking away their healthcare and retirement and freezing wages. Now you can collect a record bonus and be hailed a hero. This is how the system works today in America and as a master you have to take advantage of this.
An even better plan would be to convince the slaves your company is not profitable, even though you earned $2 billion in profits and then fire everybody and open your plants in China. Now you can collect an even bigger bonus because you destroyed more good paying American jobs but the slaves will still hail you as a hero for "saving" the company.
Give the illusion of choice
Perhaps the funniest thing about being a master is Election Day because you get to watch the slaves flock to the polls with a gleam in their eyes. It doesn’t matter who gets elected, your lobbyists own all the politicians anyway, so you win. LOL!!!
Keep education a low priority
You don't want too many slaves to be educated. The people who can afford education should get the education and to hell with the rest. You don't want some loose lipped prick like the guy who writes this blog to enlighten people.
Every once in a while it helps when a slave breaks out and makes it big; this will continue the illusion that wealth is possible for the slave. LOL!!! They're so gullible!!!
END SARCASM
Now I'm back and the sarcasm is over. I hope I did not offend anybody but I wanted to use sarcasm to prove my point. Do you see any similarities to the policies of the master and the rules of business in today’s world?
If you remove the word “violence” from the above definition you have just described the labor conditions in much of the world including the United States. The majority of workers in the United States hate their jobs but cannot quit and are working poor. Working poor means they work full-time but still cannot support themselves or a family. While the physical abuse is outlawed the mental abuse is rampant. I will provide evidence below suggesting a new form of slavery exists in the US today. The masters are the fortune 500 corporations and richest 1% of the country. The slaves are the middle and lower classes.
The morale of today’s workforce is the lowest in thirty years. Management is becoming more ruthless and demanding, as principle-centered leadership styles are abandoned in favor of scare tactics. Working long hours or weekends is expected regardless of your family conditions. Women who use family leave to have a baby are viewed as a problem and often return to their jobs without the support of management.
In the IT field, training, which was a staple since 1990, is gone. In the mid to late 90’s training was a part of your professional development, so company time was devoted to learning the newest technology. Today, professional development plans have been eliminated as employers expect workers to learn the latest technology on their own time, taking even more time away from the family. You don't like these new rules.....tough! If you look in the local newspaper or on-line the good jobs are just not there anymore.
No one I know of is happy working in the corporate sector anymore. The spirit and comradery of the office is replaced with a deafening silence as people are scared to lose their jobs, so they tolerate horrible conditions, bad employer behavior and declining benefits and wages. In the IT field, everything is now a short term consulting gig with no benefits. If you take one of those you are not technically unemployed but those are not good jobs either. Thus the work force today is nothing but a pool of slaves. Very few people enjoy their job nor can they leave for something better because there is nothing better available.
While company profits along with the number of hours worked continue to climb, personal wages and working conditions continue to decline. Politicians like to point to the low unemployment rate as a signal for good news for the under classes. What they don’t tell you is that many of those jobs do not pay enough for someone to support a family, so our country continues to produce working poor families. Even worse, this same system makes it impossible for people to improve their conditions by not providing higher education and not allowing employees to organize to obtain a livable wage.
Ford Motor Company earned $2 billion dollars in profits last year is now somehow broke and firing 30,000 employees. I’m sure as their sales show growth in the coming months those jobs will be replaced with cheaper labor in over seas factories. Their new buyout program marks the beginning of the end for company provided retirement benefits for the working class.
BEGIN SARCASM
You are in the richest 1% tax bracket or you have just been promoted to the CEO of a company and you want to know how to rule the slaves. Below is required reading for all potential masters.
The goal of the master is to keep the slave working. Because of those annoying labor laws you must now pay slaves but remember never to give them enough money so they can stop working only give them just enough to come back tomorrow. You will now be given detailed instructions on how to keep your slaves working. NOTE: remember to repeal those labor laws.
Create a system of lending in which interest exceeds the original principle
This is probably the best way to enslave a population. Credit card debts and home loans that can never be repaid and plenty of payday loans keep the slaves without cash and working. Slaves get absolutely no value in credit because all of the laws are slanted in favor of the masters.
Let’s look at home loans. If a slave's mortgage is $150,000 at 5.81% interest for 30 years, by the time they pay off their house they will pay $317,192. This is the primary tool in keeping the slaves working and indebted to the system for an entire lifetime. Al Capone used to give a better interest rate to his gambling debtors than these loans.
As a master, you want these business practices in your favor since you have all the money anyway. Hopefully, the slaves will pay off their MasterCard with their Visa so they have to work overtime tomorrow. WHOOPS! You don't pay overtime! HA! HA! HA! HA!
Thankfully, the bankruptcy laws were finally changed to favor the masters. Now it is easier than ever to keep the slave in a lifetime of debt and even take their home. We must all praise the Republican Congress and President Bush for that masterpiece.
No healthcare
Never give the young slaves healthcare because they will retain their property longer. You always want to keep the fear of losing their home within reach. As an added bonus, the Filial Responsibility Laws enable the masters to take the inheritance of all middle and lower classes and still dig into the heirs savings and property. Don't worry about similar laws taking your stuff because the Death Tax was eliminated.
If you give the older slaves healthcare they will not work as many years. A national healthcare plan would only help people retire sooner. Masters hate for the slaves to retire.
No retirement
Retirement is an obstacle to work and an obstacle to profits. You want everybody working. This keeps the labor pool larger and the wages lower. Plus you don’t want a bunch of lazy-ass old people sucking down your profits so all retirement plans and healthcare must be eliminated.
The dilemma is how to keep the older folks working cheaply. After all, experience translates to decent wages; but masters hate decent wages. The plan here would be to figure out a way to fire them when they are about 10 years away from retirement. Blame it on a recession or something like that. Now you can hire them back at nothing. The next three sections will help you deal with this problem.
Remember to support President Bush's plan to "strengthen" Social Security. LOL!! Suckers!!
Keep wages low through mass layoffs and rehiring
The slaves should always have the illusion that wages are set by the market. This makes it easier to fire everybody and hire them all back at lower wages without a revolt. Better yet, don’t reopen in the United States. There are cheaper slaves in China, Mexico or any of the Central American countries. This is a great plan to break a union.
Keep wages low by implementing policies like NAFTA and CAFTA
If you want many cheap slaves you will have to pay many politicians to support laws that enhance your ability to be master. Let the politicians decide how to break the news to the slaves.
The politicians can spin anything negative to the slaves out to be a positive, and the dumb ass slaves believe it all every time. Remember the Clean Air Act actually allows more pollutants into the air. They use phrases like “good for the economy”. The slaves don’t understand that “good for the economy” translates into good for the master.
No employment laws for workers
Like I said earlier, as the master, you will have to pay politicians to pass laws in your favor. You cannot have employment laws standing in the way when you want to relocate a plant to China or fire half of your work force to collect a lucrative bonus. Unions used to protect people from predatory management practices like this. Again, we see how the political spin machine is so amazing because now the slaves actually believe that unions are evil!!! LOL!!
Create an atmosphere of fear
Nothing helps a slave forget about his rights faster than fear. As a master, this atmosphere of fear created by terrorism is just what you need to get laws like the Patriot Act acceptable to the slaves. It also helps you avoid the troublesome Bill of Rights and get the surveillance you need. Also, as a master you must understand many of the judges are not on your side so they must be completely ignored in the warrant process.
Create a false sense of urgency
A good salesman knows if you want to sell somebody something they do not need, insist they buy it now before it’s too late. Thus President Bush’s plan to “strengthen” Social Security is needed now before the plan is bankrupt. He won’t tell you that if he would eliminate all the tax breaks for the richest 1% of the country, Social Security would be healthy for decades. LOL!!! Suckers!!!!
Instilling a sense of entitlement for the masters
Even the slaves believe in this sense of entitlement for the masters. The proof is they voted in a political party that overwhelming supports the richest corporations and the richest 1% of the country. The tax burden has been shifted from the masters to the slaves but the slaves overwhelmingly accept this. The slaves support plans to eliminate social programs that cut their own throats because the masters use words like “strengthen” when they intend to “weaken”.
Slaves also believe their labor to be inferior to the masters. Why else would they allow the masters to earn so much more in comparison to their meager wages? A CEO earns 400 times more than the average slave but no one complains because the masters are entitled to this money.
If a slave wants to organize a union just to get healthcare and a decent living wage this slave is ostracized and the other slaves nod in support of the master. As a master, you can see how easily it is to manipulate the slaves and easily exploit their lack of intelligence.
Allowing the masters to control their own wages and benefits
As a master you can make a different set of rules for yourself. For example you give yourself healthcare or a decent wage but deny the slaves the same. The beauty of this is the slaves actually support and believe you have a right to a different set of rules. After all, you are the master.
Encourage a system that puts profit before people
As a master you can earn 400 times more than your slaves but complain about the high price of labor. Then, layoff half of the slaves forcing the remaining slaves to pick up the slack while taking away their healthcare and retirement and freezing wages. Now you can collect a record bonus and be hailed a hero. This is how the system works today in America and as a master you have to take advantage of this.
An even better plan would be to convince the slaves your company is not profitable, even though you earned $2 billion in profits and then fire everybody and open your plants in China. Now you can collect an even bigger bonus because you destroyed more good paying American jobs but the slaves will still hail you as a hero for "saving" the company.
Give the illusion of choice
Perhaps the funniest thing about being a master is Election Day because you get to watch the slaves flock to the polls with a gleam in their eyes. It doesn’t matter who gets elected, your lobbyists own all the politicians anyway, so you win. LOL!!!
Keep education a low priority
You don't want too many slaves to be educated. The people who can afford education should get the education and to hell with the rest. You don't want some loose lipped prick like the guy who writes this blog to enlighten people.
Every once in a while it helps when a slave breaks out and makes it big; this will continue the illusion that wealth is possible for the slave. LOL!!! They're so gullible!!!
END SARCASM
Now I'm back and the sarcasm is over. I hope I did not offend anybody but I wanted to use sarcasm to prove my point. Do you see any similarities to the policies of the master and the rules of business in today’s world?
posted by DarthImmortal at 1:55 PM
1 Comments:
I absolutely love this...you think like I do. My latest theory is that all older/more tenured workers must be eliminated so that younger/less expensive workers can be brought in - the Federal Government forces this in government funding by slashing budgets so severely in federally funded non-government (quasi-government) programs that there really is NO choice.
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