Noam Chomsky: Wage Slavery = Chattle Slavery

Activist, Linguist and renowned interlectual Professor Noam Chomsky about wage slavery, illegitimacy of power, legitimate use of force and violance; and libertarian anarchism.

It's only a small collection of excerpts from the one hour long discussion with UC Berkeley's Harry Kreisler for the UCTV series "Conversations with History".

That particular episode was titled "Activism, Anarchism, and Power". The full discussion is also available here at YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ghoXQxdk6s&hl=en).

He makes important points IMHO that are hard, if not impossible to refute and worth thinking about.


Take away in short:

1. wage slavery = chattle slavery
2. power = illegitimate by assumption
3. use of force = only legitimate in rare instances
4. perfect society = liberal anarchy

You can download the video in .AVI format and better quality at Mediafire.com, here is the URL http://www.mediafire.com/?nmynmednwt2

Enjoy
Carsten

Category:

Education

Tags:

• noam
• chomsky
• liberal
• anarchist
• society
• wage
• slavery
• chattle
• power

[soran27]

We are surrounded by wage slaves everywhere, go to Wal Mart, Subway, McDonald's any large retail or service chain. America's economy is built on the wage slaves.

[oldoldoldoldold]

Chattel, not chattle

[a0eoj]

Wage Labor = Human Rental = Hired Slaves

Advocates of modern wage labor often try to distinguish it as voluntary. For several thousand years now, slaves have often voluntarily (and even contractually) obligated to serve their master in exchange for food and shelter. Besides, how voluntary is it to say someone voluntarily rents himself in order to ward off starvation and afford a meager existence? Just because wage labor appears voluntary doesn't justify it!

Support worker co-ops, end slavery!

[acedshort]

@comanchio1976 There is plenty of happiness to be had in the world even after you shed, your illusions, I think maybe more. You just have to learn to make your life work in accord with your beliefs and new found knowledge, that is just my advice and my 2cents...

[arivas713]

Hey, we all begin in the bottom. How can starting out on the bottom [ Walmart or McDonalds whatever] start paying the same as someone who went to college or worked his way up the rung? This is not forced on a Man, over half of the stuff I own are frivolous [iPod, Cable TV, Gym membership..] instead of the vitals [food, water, shelter] this is the fault of living in a modern world.

[HermioneNo1]

@PaulDonaldRoy 'wealth' (meaning money I strongly assume), 'investment', 'negotiate favourable employment terms' - you are arguing from within the system, I am visualizing one beyond that...'Imagine...' And I am not most people, I stand by my view that most rich people got rich by some form of embezzlement :-) Yes, yes, the slave is free to feel enslaved or free - that is coping or giving in. I was talking about outward realities, man-made injustice, exploitation of people in need.

[PaulDonaldRoy]

@HermioneNo1 most people are against embezzlement, which is why there are laws against it. on the other hand, most people don't assume that most people with wealth got it by embezzlement, but rather by some combination of hard work, investment of their talents and resources, and being able to negotiate favorable employment terms. most people don't expect employers or employees to do more than what was mutually agreed. my comment on greed is valid, and i would add envy to that.

[PrimeConsciousness]

Smash the global finance banking state!!!

[HermioneNo1]

@PaulDonaldRoy It's about the rich workaholic sleeping in a big house on a soft mattress with soft blankets cleaned by the maid, paid for by money embezzled out of the tramp's rightful wages, you are esoteric-ising and nullifying a fundamental issue of sociology.

[PaulDonaldRoy]

a rich workaholic obsessed with getting more wealthy is more a slave to his desires than a tramp who does just enough to get by and can enjoy a life of freedom and modest means. it is materialism and greed that can make slaves out of anyone.

[glueturkey]

@CrocodilusPontifex Although cave men didn't have the luxuries we have now, they at least had the freedom to hunt and gather their food when they saw fit. This isn't a viable option in most parts of a civilized society like ours where land is owned and our agricultural sectors are consolidated by large corporations who are in general hostile to independent farmers.

[KrugmanTheKing]

The legitimate use of power is that expressed by Plato and argue by Rawls which I may resume as: the higher end of a vertical relation should always be used for the benefits of those who are ruled. If you don't use power this way, it's called exploitation.

What's hard to do, it's not to point out many things can be achieved by a common ground of decisions: a five years old understands this. What's hard is to show that this nice idea can work for real.