Gettin' Free Part 2

The slaves of the antebellum world had little to look forward to while they were in the grasp of their masters. They would work for the course of their lives from sunrise to sunset until they were worn out and were then cast aside or embraced by Death. Their families were torn apart, scattered hither and yon across the country as they were traded from one master to the next. Female slaves often had to trade their bodies, (when they weren't just taken outright) in order to maintain their way of life or to create minor gains. Somehow it doesn't seem to be very different today when you get down to the particulars, does it?

Yeah, your new masters don't usually take a bullwhip to you or literally hamstring or brand you, but they do engage in the production of fear and use it to maintain a certain level of productivity. Fear of losing your job, demotion, pay cuts, benefits and pensions are the new whipping posts and they work just as well as the threat of the bullwhip. Some people might say that your corporate master cannot sell you....I say different. Workers are a company asset, (or liability in downtimes) and as such are part and parcel of any trade when a company is sold. If your company is sold by its owners then you can be sure that you are part of the deal, just like the desks, chairs, computers and products. All your new owners need to decide upon purchase is whether or not you are to be allowed to remain their property and continue to labour on their behalf. How is that intrinsically different than being placed on the auction block when the plantation goes under?

Government slavery is much more obvious to those of us who care to look. The powers that be demand a certain percentage of ones life in the form of monetary units - taxes. The so-called "Tax Freedom Day" in 2006 fell on April 26th and that means that the average American worked almost 4 months for their government masters. I contend that it is longer than that given the embedded and daily taxes one is burdened with as they go about their business. How's it feel to be a sharecropper, (a slave by any other name)? Then we have all the "do's and don'ts" these masters place upon us. Of course they do those for our own good and the good of the other slaves down in the quarters, right? Riiight. Add in the slavery of dependence for virtually everything and the we have a society in chains.

Now, I know this is a case of preaching to the choir where some people are concerned, but for those folks who may not stop by here regularly this is a new cuppa. Those of us who have been trying to regain our freedoms and yours just can't do it alone anymore. There is strength in numbers, that's an undeniable truth. Like Nat Turner's rebellion and the Haitian Revolution , numbers do count. Now, I'm not calling for an armed rebellion...(that's the last resort and one which most of us have been working very hard to avoid)...just an increase in the numbers of people who don't wish to be slaves any longer.

It's unlikely that there are any political solutions to remedy our enslavement. Those folks who try to work within the political realm are consistently shut out and ignored. In an attempt to change the paradigm they embrace "incrementalism" and compromise, ignoring the fact that there can be no compromise where freedom is concerned. You are either free or you are enslaved, there is no middle ground here. Freedom is a 100% proposition, not incremental. 90% free is still 10% enslaved and that should be unacceptable to everyone. In their rush to be accepted as an overseer these good folks eschew their principles for the sake of political expediency, they don't wish to be labelled "radicals" or scare the other slaves.

Well, I cannot help but wonder if the Founders of this nation would have been willing to accept freedom and liberty on the same grounds. Radicalism freed this country from its original masters, not incrementalism. Principle and the will to take freedom back from the overseers and masters is what it will take this go around, too.

Many freedom advocates have already taken their own underground railroads and bugged out, heading to the hills and even expatriating themselves to foreign lands in an attempt to regain their freedom. While escape is preferable to continued enslavement it does nothing to remedy the situation for the millions who remain. Removing ones self to the fringes is not an optimal solution either. The slave masters and their minions are still out there waiting for you. This is where numbers count and it's why we need as many people and plans as we can muster. If enough of those who are enslaved stand up together and just say, "No more!" then we stand a chance.

Next: What can we do?

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