Slavery never left it just got rebranded.
The Thirteenth Amendment needs to be amended.
Per Wikipedia: The Thirteenth Amendment (Amendment XIII) to the United States Constitution abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. The amendment was passed by the Senate on April 8, 1864, by the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865, and ratified by the required 27 of the then 36 states on December 6, 1865, and proclaimed on December 18, 1865. It was the first of the three Reconstruction Amendments adopted following the American Civil War.
You may remember this by its legacy name: slavery!
“Slavery is now American Work Freedom Plus ™”
Bootstraps! Slavery gives you your first bootstraps! At very reasonabletm interest rates!
Between “freeing” the slaves, only to aggressively rebrand them as criminals (eg, guilty of (verb) while black), and the wage slavery many of these companies are happy to engage in, everything has been pretty well cooked for a while.
If they brand you as a criminal and force you into a position of working as a slave, then your food, accommodations, and everything is provided for you. This is “classic” slavery where the slave owns nothing and the slaver provides everything, controlling what is, or isn’t allowed, provided, acceptable, etc.
If they don’t (or can’t) brand you as a criminal, unless you’re from a rich family, you end up as a wage slave, where you make just enough to scrape by, often sharing accommodations with others to afford the landlord’s rent, never owning property of your own or building any level of wealth through property ownership… You don’t make enough to have a vehicle worth anything, nor anything else of any significant value. You’re “free” to choose your slaver, and they let you pick which landlord you pay homage to… The main difference here is that you get to “pick” your oppressors, and now instead of the slaver providing everything for you (food, clothing, accommodation), you have to figure that out for yourself.
The difference is honestly quite small IMO. And when you look at it objectively, you find that a large majority of people are still in slavery in some form or another.
Look around you and realize that “middle class” is pretty much no longer a thing. You’re either poor and a wage slave, very poor and/or criminal and a literal slave, or you have enough money to be “independently wealthy” being a landlord or one of the slavers.
They’ve built a system that can only sustain most people at a level of poverty that affords then no ability to escape from that poverty, while the owners and shareholders, landlords, and bosses of the world, sit on their asses and collect the fruits of our labor.
https://www.prisonpolicy.org/blog/2023/09/27/updated_race_data/
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Race_and_ethnicity_in_the_United_States
this is the data that racists (like Kirk) use to justify white supremacy. But the wrongful conviction rate is proven to be nearly the same.
https://eji.org/news/study-shows-race-is-substantial-factor-in-wrongful-convictions/
The report, Race and Wrongful Convictions in the United States 2022, reviewed the cases of 3,200 innocent defendants exonerated in the U.S. since 1989 and found that Black Americans are seven times more likely than white Americans to be falsely convicted of serious crimes. This is true across all major crime categories except for white collar crime, the report said.
We didn’t end slavery, just made it palatable to the masses by labeling it “punishment for a crime”. They just need people to feel superior to those being exploited. Claiming it’s because whites were superior stopped being effective for the majority, so they made it so it seems they do more crime instead.
Additionally, there is more crime in predominantly black areas, but it’s not because “black people are more violent” or whatever the hell, it’s because racism has made it crazy difficult for black individuals that aren’t born rich to progress. They were only sold houses or given apartments in certain areas, forced into poverty by lack of given opportunity, and while (I hope) that’s less today, there has been a lasting effect on the general population. When you have to do crime to keep you and your family safe and fed, you do crime.
Any time somebody tries to tell me that racism isn’t really a thing anymore (yes, they do), I always ask:
“Black people have six times the incarceration rate of white people. That can mean one of two things: there’s systemic racism, OR they are committing more crimes because it’s in their nature as a race. So, which is it?”
They never want to answer. They have to keep the mask on. No matter how hard I press for an answer, they never give one and get pissed off. It’s very telling.
That can mean one of two things: there’s systemic racism, OR they are committing more crimes because it’s in their nature as a race. So, which is it?”
The racists will answer “it’s the crimes”.
Fucking Kirk died with this lie on his lips.
Racists never wish to discuss the nuance. When discussing culture, behavior, and intelligence of the black population, they never wish to discuss the myriad of variables that would cause any negative outcomes. It’s so complicated and does not come down to one race being superior. I will never understand racism.
When discussing culture
Also racists have a shit taste in music, can you imagine the 20th century US music scene without black musicians? What the hell would americana have to point to proudly if it weren’t for the countless black artists that built entire new worlds here?
Like… do they think we get Elvis without black culture??? hahahahaha white people in the US would still be playing fiddles on top of hay bales if weren’t for black people, not that there is anything wrong with that activity but like… just look at how little country music ever changes vomits in mouth a little.
This is a good picture of “polite” racism in the North, too. We won’t call them the N word, we’ll just have them taken away.
Yeah, makes me wonder who’s in the meat packing plants in WI; I’m sure the answer is more depressing than I thought.
Literally written into the constitution
Once a nation built on slavery, always a nation built on slavery.
Not always. I’m sure it won’t be a nation someday.
Let’s hope that day comes soon.
Built into the constitution, in fact. 13th amendment.
Once it’s in an amendment, it can’t be changed again. Them’s the rules.
According to the article, some of the companies who sell products that are made with slave labor include:
Guess I won’t be eating food any more
I’m gonna need something a bit more specific than Costco, Sam’s Club, Kroger, Walmart, and Target. Are you saying ALL products in those stores are from slave labor? Most? Some? A few obscure items?
I don’t really have any other options for groceries where I live.
That’s a good question for OP
Nearly everything you eat or own is made by slaves. How many logic hurdles must one perform?
Now is a very good time to become a subsistence farmer.
Because that’s totally something most people have access to and can do.
Gonna start substinence farming inside my apartment deep in the concrete jungle of the inner city, yup.
The world has changed deeply since the era where that was a way out of this. The majority of US citizens literally do not have access to arable land.
Should have added /s.
let’s not coddle the media illiterate
Sarcasm and irony on the Internet are dead though. We live in post-sane times, i cannot ever assume the other person is not completely serious about the utterly deranged and/or idiotic shit they write or say.
I must always assume that yes, that person is in fact as stupid as they seem until proven otherwise/indicated by an /s.
that really sounds like a you problem, bud. good luck out there lol
Sometimes it isn’t even media literacy. I’ve known several nuero divergent people over the years who can have a hard time understanding sarcasm in person unless the person being sarcastic is really over doing it. They have no chance differentiating sarcastic and serious if it’s written.
Honestly, as an old tyme closet grower, with about $300-400 in led lighting and a closet or small area that you could put a blackout grow enclosure, you could work 2-4 hydroponic buckets and get a shit load of tomatoes, and probably a few other fruit/vegetable strains.
$300-400 buys me enough groceries for a half year. A few tomatoes don’t give me enough calories to survive even close to a half year. And don’t even get me started on the electricity cost of attempting this in Germany.
It’s not an option for everyone
Fuck sake, $300 buys me enough groceries for around two months if I’m lucky
sounds of audible American despair
Lol idk what he’s doing to survive on $300-400 for half a year, I doubt Germany is that cheap. If I cook a decent meal once per day and get some sandwich material for breakfast, that’s still gonna add up to like $200 a month for me.
Now if you cook potatoes and/or pasta and/or rice without any sauce, condiments, protein, etc… You could probably go half a year on $300-400. But you WILL hate yourself at the end of week 1 and also be severely lacking protein lol
Indoor vertical farming is quite efficient.
Get a tent and a light, there’s no need for attitude because you can’t think up already available solutions.
The power requirements are astronomical, let alone the initial investment and upkeep.
My yard is 80’ x 200’. I might be able to feed my wife and I off that, no more. We’d be near starving, and likely would in the years it would take to work it out anything more than corn or potatoes. I have 2.5 acres of swamp in NW Florida. Can’t grow shit there.
There’s a swamp down the road. I’d struggle to bring home a meaningful amount of fish. The creek that pours of it runs behind our house. About zero fish. I’d burn more calories trying to catch one than I’d gain.
Sometimes I could shoot a deer! But, as with the fish, when everyone’s hungry, nothing with fur would be left after a month.
SOURCE: Been growing plants for 35 years.
I’ve read a few accounts of people who’ve attempted to become completely self-sufficient. Even those with lots of land who spend all their time farming/fishing/hunting find that it’s pretty much impossible these days. If you did achieve self-sufficiency at some point, you’d likely only be one failed crop from starving most of the time.
you’d likely only be one failed crop from starving most of the time.
Which is basically synonymous with subsistence farming, absent community or govt support. Lots of commenters who have obviously never needed to grow food to survive. Trust me, it is deeply unglamorous and insecure and always has been.
Good thing I don’t already need to spend all my time working
I like CSAs. All I really need to buy from stores is stuff like protein and grains. There are local CSAs in my area that even offer meat, eggs, and milk.
There’s one just down the street from me! A day’s worth of food is about $100 there. So, uh.
Hmm. Yeah, my local farmer’s markets are expensive, but the CSA subscriptions are reasonable (i.e. the ones where you pay upfront for the season’s produce, reducing the farmer’s risk, then get a box of produce every week). Some, you can volunteer on the farm to get “free” food.
All the subscriptions I’ve looked at are significantly costlier than grocery stores, on the same order as the ship I mentioned. I get the impression that they’re trying to just tybdercut restaurant prices, as if their target market is people who would otherwise eat out every meal. Maybe I’m just not finding the right ones, but what I can budget for is restaurant supply and warehouse prices.
Most of my local ones are registered on https://www.localharvest.org/ (their map seems to be messed up right now, but seems to work if you type in a zipcode, select CSA from the dropdown, and press “GO”). They are more expensive than groceries stores, but don’t use heavily exploited labor, and you often get a lot of weird/cool stuff normal grocery stores don’t sell.
It’s just part of living in a corporate hellscape.
Thanks, I hate it
Your parents literally dont care what you think about the life they gave you. They got their dopamine, and they don’t give a shit.
Sorry about your childhood
I mean this is a very odd place for this comment, though I agree with the general sentiment and is why I won’t be having kids
For a lot of people the most radical thing they can do is tear up their lawn and grow a garden.
And I’d honestly love to have the necessary time and energy in order to do that.
Most of these things shouldn’t be considered food anyway.
Groceries?
I think it would be better to state the specific products rather than call out grocery stores at large. With this info I cant write a letter to Costco telling them I think they should drop a product and why
Some of the specific products and manufacturers are listed in the article.
Eggland’s Best and Land O’ Lakes
yeah naming a grocery store for selling these products is dumb as fuck. may as well list every single place in the entire world that sells coca cola
Well, technically not the entire world, but North America most likely and USA for sure.
If I go out and buy Coca Cola, it’s not made in a country with legalized slavery. Of course I still try to avoid it and prefer local products over stuff made by American megacorporations.
Yeah. The fact that one of the products it Coke means it’s easier to name stores not on the list.
I love how there’s actual companies like Coke, Pepsi, McD’s, BK, Aldi, and then there’s Kellog’s Rice Krispies - Guess anything else Kellog’s is fine then.
Except if it’s from Aldi.
I have previously read that basically every Fortune 500 company has divisions that profit off of prison labor.
Fiduciary responsibility is the just following orders of capitalism.
Indeed it would be a dereliction of Duty for them not to Chisel everybody else down as much as possible to take a larger share. Seeing as the government is to corrupt to stop them as it is bound to do by law.
Removed by mod
Who “sell” products? Which ones makes them?
Willie Ingram picked everything from cotton to okra during his 51 years in the state penitentiary, better known as Angola.
During his time in the fields, he was overseen by armed guards on horseback and recalled seeing men, working with little or no water, passing out in triple-digit heat. Some days, he said, workers would throw their tools in the air to protest, despite knowing the potential consequences.
“They’d come, maybe four in the truck, shields over their face, billy clubs, and they’d beat you right there in the field. They beat you, handcuff you and beat you again,” said Ingram, who received a life sentence after pleading guilty to a crime he said he didn’t commit. He was told he would serve 10 ½ years and avoid a possible death penalty, but it wasn’t until 2021 that a sympathetic judge finally released him. He was 73.
This is horrifying in all regards
It’s basically slavery. I’m willing to bet that most of these people working were black too.
13th amendment
The Thirteenth Amendment only restricts private ownership of people. It also has a carveout specifically related to the punishment for a crime.
Exactly, we never outlawed slavery, we made it explicitly legal. Cops have always been slave catchers in this country.
It was horrible to do to people that you claim to be ‘rehabilitating’. Now it’s going to be done to whatever marginalized group is next in the list, and provided no actual challenge or resistance, that list will grow to include people in trade unions, educated professionals, entertainers, free thinkers, any type of dissenter, oh and they’ve already dog whistled their plan to ‘punish’ people who donated to the Harris campaign.
Meanwhile the Trump administration is dismantling agencies that track and fight child/human trafficking. It’s not by coincidence. The goal is that we all are essentially assets of the federal government that can be bought, sold, and/or stripped of citizenship if it becomes useful to the regime.
He was told he would serve 10 ½ years and avoid a possible death penalty, but it wasn’t until 2021 that a sympathetic judge finally released him. He was 73.
note: he was released because he wasn’t usable as a prison laborer anymore. he was released because the prison couldn’t make money off him anymore. he was released so he has to look for his own shelter.
Willie Ingram picked everything from cotton to okra during his 51 years in the state penitentiary, better known as Angola.
Fake news, this country only got fucked after Trump got elected or bush or reagan. It was all sunshine and peaches otherwise.
gReAtEsT cOuNtRtY iN tHe wOrLd
-most yankistanis
The US constitution expressly and explicitly allows slavery if it’s punishment for a crime. Read the 13th amendment if you don’t believe me.
I think all of the Fortune 500 companies have divisions that exploit prison labor.
They also get tax breaks for hiring felons they can pay less and even get reoffended on a whim.
The states get next to nothing either for this prison labor oftentimes, but if we looked at the deciders we would find kickbacks. Sweetheart property deals through proxies, sneaky kickbacks but nothing that could not be recognized as such.
Prison contracts are a big graft source too. A truly captive market.
Economics of Everyday Things : Prison Labor
Barnes is one of around 800,000 incarcerated people with jobs in America’s prison system. They grow crops, repair roads, fight wildfires, and manufacture a surprising number of the products we encounter in daily life, from office furniture to reading glasses. It’s estimated that more than $11 billion worth of goods and services every year can be traced back to workers who are mostly paid pennies per hour for their labor, or even nothing at all.
The question to me is how could we fix it. I believe prison should be about herabilitation, but overall I’d say most of the population does not. Someone gets a DUI, robs a store, commits fraud, gets in a fight, beats their spouse, stabs someone, murders someone… whatever it is. People say they should be imprisoned, many say they should never be let out especially on multiple offenses. Most of the prisoners take the jobs because it is used as a “privilege.”. You have to have good behavior to be eligible, then you choose one if you want with benefits that slowly “work off” hours of their sentences. (If it’s available). Certain jobs pay more time off their sentences than others, and some will try to get into those jobs. Yet we will have people who scream that they shouldn’t be let out after 5 years because they “insert crime here”.
IF leaving their imprisonment and performing tasks in the world around people with good behavior isn’t a step to proving they are re-integratable into society, what is? I would say they need a hell of a lot more therapy, access to actual healthcare, psychologists, and resources that allow for easy integration back into society so they can find gainful employment, cut ties with their past and land on two feet to be able to move forward without extreme struggles that bring them back in.
Our country doesn’t vote for that, because those same things aren’t available for citizens on the street who didn’t commit crimes yet. And they think they are better and don’t deserve less opportunities than those who did something illegal.
So I guess what I’m saying is the first step to reforming our prisons is reforming our healthcare system… And wage inequality… And fuck… It’s not going anywhere
Yeah. 13th ammendment. Slavery never ended.
“Except as punishment for a crime”
Slavery is even explicitly allowed as punishment.
Had to find a way to keep the racists happy with the exception to the 13th amendment.
Well, it’s not explicitly there for racists. Punishing crime with labor has a long history, both in and outside the US.
The most common kind in the US is community service as used for a minor punishment in place of incarceration.
It’s by no means good, but the worst examples tend to disproportionately color the perceived level of injustice to it.Kinda makes a lot of sense as to why black and brown people are way more likely to get arrested
that’s because of racism. Racial inequality in policing isn’t caused by that clause though.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penal_exception_clause
There are states that never allowed slavery that have the exception.
“Made in USA” = prison labour.
There is a reason the US has 20% of the world’s prison population but only 5% of the actual world population. It is one of the many injustices thrust upon our society by the ruling class for their benefit.
Slavery was never made fully illegal in the US. And if you vaguely define some crimes like “loitering” you can easily arrest people you disagree with.
