Should the goverment prohibitwage slavery?

[Kiljan Arslan]

I would like to know if peolpe here feel the goverment should prohibit contract slavery?

For those that do not know what contract slavery is it is basicly where a company will own a town, and then offer new workers the chance to stay there however they will pay the worker less than the cost of living when the worker finmds this out they are told that they now owe the company money and they have to work off their debt, of course they can not do that because the company never lets them make enough money to do that.

[Kanaric]

I never heard of this before.

I thought contracts like this were already considered slavery. The old baseball contracts were ruled as being so.

[ajm317]

I would like to know if peolpe here feel the goverment should prohibit contract slavery?

For those that do not know what contract slavery is it is basicly where a company will own a town, and then offer new workers the chance to stay there however they will pay the worker less than the cost of living when the worker finmds this out they are told that they now owe the company money and they have to work off their debt, of course they can not do that because the company never lets them make enough money to do that.

I remember hearing of such things in my history class, back in the day, but with the exception of illegal immigrants (so obviously, already we're talking about breaking the law in that situation) I was unaware this actually happened anymore. I assumed there were labor laws preventing such situations. If nothing else the victim could file for bankruptcy.

Can you provide a link that describes the situation as an ongoing problem?

[Gelgoog]

i hear they do this alot in third world countries, especially mining areas. i remembered how pissed i was having to pay for my company made uniform. would really suck how these people do it.

i would imagine any traveling job has this happen alot like merchant shipping, oil rig workers, ect. however they usually make quite a bit in the first place.

[Bovril]

Yeah this is a largely third world phenomenon, restricted to countries which don't have adaquate labour laws. I find the practice disgusting, as I'm sure alll but the most hardened libertarians and Neo-cons do.

[Oldgamer]

I would like to know if peolpe here feel the goverment should prohibit contract slavery?

For those that do not know what contract slavery is it is basicly where a company will own a town, and then offer new workers the chance to stay there however they will pay the worker less than the cost of living when the worker finmds this out they are told that they now owe the company money and they have to work off their debt, of course they can not do that because the company never lets them make enough money to do that.

Kiljan, I know what you're trying to say, in this thread, and I basically agree with your position.

However, in the United States, if people really want to prohibit wage slavery, the best thing they could do is enforce immigration laws already on the books.

[Kiljan Arslan]

That too actually this is more aimned at libertarians who seem to think that the Gilded age was some sort of Paradise.

[Big War Bird]

I am all in favor of people being able to enter contracts freely.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Even if the contract basicly has some hidden features that turns them into slaves?

[Gaidin]

Even if the contract basicly has some hidden features that turns them into slaves?

Reading the contract before you sign it helps out a lot with these things.

[haney591]

Is this an allegory of the Federal Reserve system?

[Bovril]

I think the libertarian attitude towards contracts is somewhat naive, as it doesn't take into account the respective bargaining power of the parties involved. The ultra poor and the ultra rich can't make fair contracts with each other without intervention from unions, the state or some other equalising apparatus.

[Farnan]

I was born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
Picked up a shovel and I walked to the mine
I hauled Sixteen Tons of number 9 coal
And the straw-boss said, "Well, bless my soul"


(Chorus

You haul Sixteen Tons, whadaya get?
Another older and deeper in debt
Saint Peter don't you call me cause I can't go
I owe my soul to the company store


Repeat Chorus

Born one morning it was drizzle and rain
Fightin' and Trouble are my middle name
I was raised in a canebrake by an old mama lion
And no high-toned woman make me walk the line


Repeat Chorus

See me comin' better step aside
A lot of men didn't and a lot of men died
I got one fist of iron and the other of steel
And if the right one don't get ya, the left one will


Repeat Chorus

Born one mornin' when the sun didn't shine
Picked up a shovel and I walked to the mine
I hauled Sixteen Tons of number 9 coal
And the straw-boss said, "Well, bless my soul"


Repeat Chorus

This song is sorta an explanation of wage slavery in a way. Wage slavery was an evil thing, people became so far in debt due to them charging more for living and clothing than they paid them and when they paid them it was in company money that was only good at the company store.

[Thanatos]

Grapes of Wrath, anyone?

[Kiljan Arslan]

No this is an allegory to the Gilded age which some libertarians eem to think as some sort of paradise.

[haney591]

I think it works pretty well as an allegory of the Federal Reserve though.

[Kiljan Arslan]

I think it works pretty well as an allegory of the Federal Reserve though.

How?


Kanaric my point is though is should the goverment prohibit them or not?

[Kanaric]

The thing is, with contracts constituting slavery, I thought this was already solved when the court ruled against the slavish Baseball contracts of years past?

[larry_lalonde]

What libertarians think the gilded age was a paradise?

There were some good things, as well as bad things, and the bad things were most caused by the government and not by businesses or private individuals.

I wish people would get over this idea of unequal contracts and such. I fail to see how a worker, voluntarily entering into a contract, with no coercion, is a bad thing. Not only is state intervention unconstitutional, it's immoral.

[Kiljan Arslan]

Really? So ROckefeller worked for the GOverment? The Robber barons worked for the goverment? Did Pullman work for the Goverment?