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5.13.2003
Serf's Up! - Paul Krugman Meanwhile, the New World opened in the west. Sure enough, the colonizing powers tried various forms of indentured servitude - making serfs of the Indians in Spanish territories, bringing over indentured servants in Virginia. But eventually they hit on a better solution, from their point of view: importing slaves from Africa. In other words, slavery was just a cheaper substitute for serfdom. Slavery blended racism with indentured servitude. Of course the white people thought it a grand solution to their labor problem, but I doubt the Africans felt likewise. Indeed slavery has been the big gapping sore on American history. But those of you that think it was an anamoly should think about the indentured serveants of Europe in the thirteen hundreds. This issue transcends race and at its core these crimes stem from people with power using people without power to do their labor for them. Right now the modern equivalent is our reliance on Third World labor, especially Asian. China suffers from the SARS epidemic because of insufficient health care and rampant poverty for people in the rural areas. Despite the economic growth in China millions remain poor and barely able to survive. We take advantage of that desperate state to gain cheap labor. So that people here in America, who are hardly better than serfs will not revolt against their Lords. I beleive we are in denial about our blatent exploitation of the people in Asia as our cheap source of labor. It has undermined the gains made by labor in the U.S. and it has brought back the stain of human exploitation. Working people here in America will suffer as well. An injury to one is an injury to all. | |
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