Slavery is Making a Comeback

[one_raven]

Thanks to samcdkey for posting this article in another thread...

http://www.gatt.org/wharton.html

The World Trade Organization announced its plan for "full private stewardry of labor".
They say that currently people who do business in Africa don't care about the workers' well-being and health and we can change all that by allowing the corporations to OWN the workers.
If they own the workers, they will care more about the welfare of their investment and take better care of them.

Yes, you heard correctly. They are condoning - no, encouraging and planning on - slavery.

"Full, untrammelled stewardry is the best available solution to African poverty, and the inevitable result of free-market theory," Schmidt told more than 150 attendees. Schmidt acknowledged that the stewardry program was similar in many ways to slavery, but explained that just as "compassionate conservatism" has polished the rough edges on labor relations in industrialized countries, full stewardry, or "compassionate slavery," could be a similar boon to developing ones.

A system in which corporations own workers is the only free-market solution to African poverty, Schmidt said. "Today, in African factories, the only concern a company has for the worker is for his or her productive hours, and within his or her productive years," he said. "As soon as AIDS or pregnancy hits—out the door. Get sick, get fired. If you extend the employer's obligation to a 24/7, lifelong concern, you have an entirely different situation: get sick, get care. With each life valuable from start to finish, the AIDS scourge will be quickly contained via accords with drug manufacturers as a profitable investment in human stewardees. And educating a child for later might make more sense than working it to the bone right now."

In Capitalism the only thing that's free is the market.

What do you think about this?

 

[S.A.M.]

Corporations that "own" drinking water and export food out of countries that suffer from starvation should "own" the workers so they will look after them?

What a laugh.

But hey, if it keeps the prices down in the First World, it's a jolly good idea what?

"This is what free trade's all about," said Schmidt. "It's about the freedom to buy and sell anything—even people."

Welcome to the 21st century!

edit: oops just saw my name there! It was Athelwulf who linked to the article, not me.

 

[one_raven]

edit: oops just saw my name there! It was Athelwulf who linked to the article, not me.

Oops, sorry about that, Athelwulf.
Thanks to you for the link.

 

[one_raven]

Apparently it was a Yes Men Hoax.



I like the Yes Men.

 

[one_raven]

Oh well, no need for it to end the discussion...

Let's say someone presented the idea of building a community for workers to live in, supply them with food, medical care and everything else to make sure all the basic needs of them and their families were met, free of charge.
In exchange, they have to agree to lifelong servitude.

Essentially, a system with serfs, provided the treatment was "fair" (reletive term, I know).
Let's say their living conditions were as good as the general conditions of lower-middle class families are right now.

What do you think?

 

[Baron Max]

In exchange, they have to agree to lifelong servitude.

That's pretty damned open-ended, ain't it? What the hell would "servitude" actually entail? And what if it changed?

The benefits seem to be quite adequately explained, but ....servitude???

Baron Max

 

[Athelwulf]

GAH! Fell for the hoax!

Oh well. I'll live.

Thanks for the credit. I was gonna say "Wait, I posted it first!", but Sam beat me to it.

 

[one_raven]

That's pretty damned open-ended, ain't it? What the hell would "servitude" actually entail? And what if it changed?

The benefits seem to be quite adequately explained, but ....servitude???

Baron Max

Good point.

Well, let's just pick a job...
The "Owner" runs a factory that builds cars.
The "employees" of his factory would work 40 hours per week in a typical factory worker's capacity, and be his serfs.
In exchange for their employment, the owner gives him the benefits described above for him and his entire family (until the children turn 18, of course).

The hitch is that he has a contract, and he is not allowed to quit his job or move away ever.

The employer gets a lifelong employee, and the employee gets lifelong security.

 

[Baron Max]

The "employees" of his factory would work 40 hours per week in a typical factory worker's capacity, and be his serfs.
In exchange for their employment, the owner gives him the benefits described above for him and his entire family (until the children turn 18, of course).

The hitch is that he has a contract, and he is not allowed to quit his job or move away ever.

The employer gets a lifelong employee, and the employee gets lifelong security.

It's actually a pretty good deal for a great many employees ...because many employees hire on with a company and stay there for their entire lives. A problem, of course, is someone making that decision too early in life, then discover later that he could have gone to college and become a world-class physicist, etc.

Lifetime commitments are a difficult thing to force onto someone ...without some legal means to "escape".

A better deal, for all concerned, might be for the man to work at the company for, say, 5 years. If he likes it and the company offers it, THEN he could make the commitment. But like I said above, all-in-all, it's not such a bad deal for both parties ...for many workers.

Baron Max

 

[Tiassa]

GAH! Fell for the hoax!

Yeah. It got me, too. Sent me straight to numbville. I think I even prayed to Roger Waters at some point.

Hats off to The Yes Men. Much applause, too. Strangely, I needed that shock.