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America is creating the conditions for the return of slavery (ricochet.media)

submitted 6 days ago by Sunshine@lemmy.ca to c/boycottus@lemmy.ca

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[-] tree_frog@lemm.ee 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

I did 3 years in prison.

It was fucking rough but it's nothing compared to what has been and what is coming.

And I'm not defending the prison system, the commodification of human lives in any form is fucking exploitive and horrible and prison is definitely one of the worst forms of it. But slavery is much much worse and that is what is coming.

Like if you want to accuse someone of being obtuse, you are comparing people getting beat if they don't pick cotton, with folks who are watching TV laying around in their bunk all day. It's depressing, and it's lonely and dehumanizing. But I would take it any day of the week over what folks have lived through under slavery.

Slavery is a huge fucking escalation of violence on the working class. And I absolutely believe it is on the way. So I'm not minimizing.

Okay?

[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 2 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

First off, I apologize for my brusk tone. I'm sorry you had to experience that first-hand, and we have that in common. It's not something I often talk about (I can count on one hand, in the last 20+ years since), but I want you to know that I hear you.

If anyone was obtuse, it was me for failing to clarify that the prison system==slavery I was referring to is the forced labor of our incarcerated that was literally written into the 13th Amendment and infallible proof that slavery as we're taught never ended.

[-] tree_frog@lemm.ee 1 points 5 days ago

I hear you about the 13th, it's definitely slavery light and a continuation of white supremacy.

Most of the commodification and extraction from inmates comes through the commissary and phone monopoly system. So they extract from families mostly. And of course through taxes on the working class . Prison labor is a thing and the wages are absolutely shit. But I did not see any forced labor in my time that I was incarcerated.

Of course this will vary by state. And county jails are a whole other fucking issue because the stay is shorter, so the protections are often worse .

[-] monarch@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago

I can't speak for where you were at specifically but in some places if you don't "volunteer" to work it's looked at extremely unfavorably by parole boards.

I wouldn't necessarily call it slavery light though just a different type of slavery. American chattel slavery was uniquely horrible even amongst most of the other forms of slavery that have existed in the past.

[-] tree_frog@lemm.ee 3 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

That makes sense.

Parole was removed in my State. My sentence was 2.5 in and 4 out. Meaning, I did two and a half years in and then 4 years on parole.

And there's no such thing as good behavior.

But, if I wanted basic necessities, like soap and deodorant that wasn't shit so I wasn't getting harassed for poor hygiene, I either needed to work or get outside help from my family.

Anyway, I definitely see how they incentivize labor heavily. And the wages are essentially slave wages.

So it's on the spectrum, I'm not disagreeing there.

I'm just a trans woman that is very scared right now of the rhetoric around labor camps. And if I had to choose prison or labor camps, I would take prison.

But since they'll take my meds anyway, which will lead to my suicide likely, instead I just plan to fight.

Nothing to lose at this point sadly.

[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

You are not alone, and I mean that genuinely. (vs. a tropey excuse for compassion) ✊🏽

[-] otter@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 4 days ago

/ Ancient Asia has entered the chat

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this post was submitted on 28 Mar 2025

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