Slavery
There has been a lot of “water
over the dam” since man secured his food by eating berries from vines, fruit
from trees, and hunting animals with a spear or bow and arrow; since he made
his knives and tools from stone; and since he built his houses from the limbs
of trees or lived in caves. There has been a lot of “water over the dam”,
indeed, since he invented money, progressed from bartering, and begun buying
and trading his production with that of others. But, from that very “long ago”
beginning, it took relatively little time at all for man to learn to make a
living from the toil, (the blood, sweat, and tears) and productivity of others—slavery.
As men came together and
developed into tribes, they warred with each other, took captives, and enslaved
them. This is when man learned the art of stealing the productivity of others
to fill his own needs and desires, to build his own wealth—eventually, his
empires. In one way or another, he has been doing this or trying to do so ever
since with impunity.
Outlawed around the world, effectively,
in one way or another, slavery is all around us. When I think about this
subject, my mind is always drawn first to the building of the railroads across
our nation, the importation of Chinese labor, their slave labor wages, and the capitalistic
Robber Barons who grew rich from their blood, sweat, and tears. I look today at
globalization and the movement of our manufacturing jobs to countries around
the world where labor, relative to our wages and conditions, is paid with
pennies on our dollar. One can call that what they wish, but I call it slave
labor. Who can compete with that? I look today at the declining standard of
living of our nation’s middle class which has remained almost stagnant for the
past thirty-five years while the top one percent of us grow increasingly and
unashamedly wealthy.
Oppression of the weak by the
strong and the wealthy has always been with us; but, although it may change its
ugly face as generations come and go, it never ends. It’s called survival of
the fittest, and let the Devil take the hindmost. Those on the right call it
liberty. I call it inequality and oppression of those less fortunate. There are
many reasons why the weak and poor among us are such as they are, not the least
of which are that they were just born that way; they were just plain unlucky; or,
perhaps, they made poor decisions, or didn’t work hard enough, were lazy, etc. On
the other hand, there are reasons why the strong and wealthy are where they
are. They, too, may have been born “that way”, i.e. intellectually, socially, gifted,
etc. They, also, may have been just plain lucky, i.e. in the right place at the
right time, or worked hard. I choose to believe that they were blessed by God. I also believe, as is said in the “Good Book”, “To those whom
much is given, much is required”.
Right is right and wrong is
wrong. To believe in “Survival of the Fittest” and “Let the Devil take the
hindmost” is wrong—“Dead wrong”. In the end, we are all still God’s people.
In the meantime, this is Ronald
Miller, www.sageobserver.blogspot.com
signing off.
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