When the topic of slavery comes up in everyday conversation, it immediately conjures images of Africans, American Indians or, convicts from Europe shipped over to the colonies and the Caribbean islands. Even President Obama fell into deep thought when he visited South Africa's holding pens for slaves that were exported to the colonies and the Caribbean islands. To be historically correct, the slavers in Africa were also Africans or Arabs. The Europeans were merely buyers and users. No, "merely" doesn't sound right. Had there been no market for slaves, there wouldn't have been any merchandise for sale. It doesn't take much to imagine American Indians being captured to work for free in the farms and forts of the colonists. But the North American Indian has a different spirit compared to their counterparts in the southern continent: they rebelled! As a result, we now get "regaled" with tales of victories over the savage "injun." Since the White Man is the victor, he gets the right to portrait the "injun" as worthless vermin. Sometmes, to inject romance to his tales, he calls them "noble savages." Still savages, no less. Unfortunately, the Indian nations were many and remained fractured hence their resistance was, to borrow a phrase from Star Trek, "futile." Even the descendants of the Incas, Toltecs, Mayas, etc. fared no better.
Had there been unity among the native inhabitants of the western hemisphere, it is doubtful if the European land grabbers would have succeeded in their adventure. The third category, convicts from European jails, fared a little better. Many were jailed for failure to pay debts and, to be sure, the rest was composed of prostitutes, killers, rapists, thieves, etc. The American colonies got some of the latter category but Australia got most of this type. The American variety eventually got absorbed into the society since they looked the same as their masters. The Australian variety evolved into one of today's jingoistic countries, rivaling radical Sunni and Shi'ite nations.
Abraham Lincoln will be spinning in his grave today at the sight of modern slavery: people of all color, race and ethnic origin forced to work for a pittance. Many are forced by the circumstances to work at two jobs. What elements make their existence synonymous to slavery? It's the new phenomenon of the 20th century: part time work!
Initially made popular by temp agencies to satisfy the labor needs of established businesses wishing to avoid long term commitments, the temps labored for a fixed sum (usually a little over the minimum wage but without pension, retirement, vacation and sick day benefits unless they accumulate lots of hours fixed by the "temp agency." Oh, yes, the "temps" still qualified for Social Security benefits but if they're undocumented, kiss that goodbye. 30 year ago, a displaced friend of mine who was a licensed chiropractic, was able to eat by temping for a Boeing parts supplier. In California, PhD's found no shame in doing landscaping work. But those were temporary (no pun intended) setbacks, though.
Today, business establishments have almost wiped out the temp agencies from existence by doing their own part time hiring. As a part time worker, the only benefit assured is Social Security. Vacations? Sometimes! Sick leave? Forget about it! Holiday pay? Are you dreaming? Raises? If you get 12 cents and hour you're an exemplary slave!
And it's all legal! The labor pool is huge, composed of students, new graduates, displaced aging professionals, undocumented aliens, children of radicalized Latter Day Saints cults and over-aged seniors. Employers no longer have to pay severance pay if they wish to terminate the employment of their "employees." The new escape hatch for them is "termination at will" which requires no reason for being let go. If the boss' wife thinks you're too sexy for the safety of the boss, out you go. Of course, there's unemployment insurance to fall on but that doesn't last long and if the Department of Labor tries to extend it (Democratic administrations tend to do this) the other party (GOP) is adamantly against such an undeserved "gift" to the 47% who refuse to take responsibility for their lives - a new labor philosophy coined by Mitt Romney.
Since the primary objective of business is profit, the labor force (e.g. part timers) is just a resource that can be used "at will." Just like steel, when it becomes too expensive a component of the finished product, it's replaced by anodized plastic to make it look like steel (as in bumpers, bathroom fixture handles, etc.). Considering that the American resource (part timer) is expensive at $7.95 an hour, the new resource will have to be a Bangladeshi ($1.00/hour) or a Chinese ($1.25/hour)! A telephone tech help in the US used to get $36,000 to $48,000 a year including benefits, remember? Now, US companies go to Manila where many speak a brand of English easier to understand than the Chinese, Japanese and New Delhi varieties. The pay ranges from $10K to $12K. If you happen to be a Fil-American living in New York and you call Verizon for help, you will, occasionally, hear people in the background saying expletives such as "putang-ina-mo" and "hindot."
The latest statistics indicate over 40% of Americans (excluding the Mexicans and others who sneak under the barbed wire) are either below or near the poverty line. This fact bodes ill for the American economy. America will soon cease to be a producer of products and become a financial hub exclusively dedicated to making money. Other countries will produce and the US will just shovel in the profits! If today's present crop of American managers (who get salaries and bonuses big enough to feed a boatload of tourists) they will ultimately be replaced by Pakistanis, Japanese, Indian, Chinese, Filipino and Japanese managers who will be very happy with lower remuneration. As they say, what goes around, comes around. Or, is it the other way?
When that day becomes reality, how will the US government feed a population of 500 million jobless American slaves?
(To be continued...)
No comments:
Post a Comment