Wage labor is a form of slavery that helps to maintain and perpetuate classism

I am glad that my opponent found time to respond...and at length... I will eat this elephant one bite at a time... I would first direct my opponent to the 4th definition of slavery aforementioned: 4. A condition of hard work and subjection: wage slavery. Though Con has attempted to limit the definition of slavery to work done against one's will, this definition clearly illustrates that slavery is not limited to that which she describes. This definition also nullifies my opponents assertion that the presence of a contract eliminates the ability to consider the labor contracted upon slavery. Also, my opponent has overlooked the part of the resolution which states that wage labor is a 'Form' of slavery. "...the earliest wage labour contracts we know about were in fact contracts for the rental of chattel slaves (usually the owner would receive a share of the money, and the slave, another, with which to maintain his or her living expenses.) Such arrangements, according to Graeber, were quite common in New World slavery as well, whether in the United States or Brazil.[13] C. L. R. James argued in The Black Jacobins that most of the techniques of human organisation employed on factory workers during the industrial revolution were first developed on slave plantations." [4] form:noun [3] 6. a particular condition, character, or mode in which something appears: water in the form of ice. In case you were disoriented, the form of slavery that we are considering is wage slavery. While my opponent has noted that acceptance of the terms of an application can be considered a contract, she errs in assuming that this contract provides benefits, paid holidays, paid vacation, etc. Many who work part-time do not receive such advantages. Con admits that "if someone had no control over when and how long they will be laboring, that they are in fact a slave". Part-time employees are scheduled by the employer or 'boss'. This schedule is not written or mentioned in the contract. As I'm sure that my opponent remembers when she "worked for minimum wage when...in high school", the schedule is decided upon for and not by the employee. If my opponent was allowed to create her own schedule, I can assure her this is not the case for most. As there is no meeting of the minds in regard to the schedule, we both agree this is a 'form' of wage slavery. This goes against the concept of self determination. Especially if the work involved places the worker in a position of subjection, subjugation, or servitude. Consider the practices of Walmart: You don"t get a job at Walmart unless you are willing to forego that second job. Why? Because the company obligates you, as a condition of employment, to be available to work on just a few hours notice. Even the Walmart defense forces would have to acknowledge that it is awfully hard to take a second job when your primary employment requires you to be on-call 24/7 or risk losing your job. This leads us to my next point...Coercion While it is true that workers can refuse to work and opt to starve, this is a form of coercion if the economy of a society is situated so that one has to acquire money to meet basic needs. This is especially true in a discriminatory classist society that hinders or limits individuals from attaining money or accessing resources for reasons such as gender, 'race', age, etc.. In such a society, those discriminated against are less likely to be able to live off the land or choose to be homeless due to policies such as 'racial' profiling, housing discrimination, police brutality, illegality of homelessness, etc.. These policies unlawfully attempt to negate the guarantee to all of the unalienable rights expressed in the Declaration of Independence of the Constitution regarding life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Women are at greater risk of being attacked or raped if they chose to live off the land or be homeless. Thus, these individuals are being forced to work in order to provide shelter from the elements and from the biases of the society. In general, as food, clothing, and shelter are considered to be necessities, all who have no access to land, wealth or resources ('the underclass') are being coerced into employment in a biased, classist, capitalist system that values property over human life. One where corporations are classified as 'people'. Those discriminated against have greater disadvantage. Not to mention the hypocrisy of the so-called land of the free being created by slaveholders. This is perhaps why wage slavery seems justifiable in the minds of many. Livable Wages: In such an economic climate, where individuals are essentially being coerced into employment for survival, the unlivable wage serves as a slap in the face. These unlivable wages also illustrate and exaggerate the existence of wage slavery. Firstly, there is little chance for one to 'live cheap' on an unlivable wage. The $7.25 minimum wage provides a part-time worker with ~$1131 a month before taxes. (39hrs max for part timer * 7.25). The average one bedroom apartment costs $773.83 monthly and the cost of utilities adds another ~$160. That leaves an individual working part-time ~200 a month of disposable income. Another $80 a month for transportation and that leaves ~$118 a month for food. [2] There is no way to get healthy food with that amount of money. Let's hope the individual is not a single mother because she and her child would starve. Either way, the individual, if they break even (and that's a big if) would have worked for nothing. As stated, the landowners/corporatocracy set the minimum wage at a price that barely, if at all, covers expenses. Consider that these jobs are now being filled by college grads who were cajoled into taking out huge loans and told they would get a 'good job' and the wage is insufferable. Considering that these are often jobs of drudgery, I would consider this to be wage slavery as well. The workers are subject to the wage itself by way of economic coercion. Employment Contract salary:noun [3] 1. a fixed compensation periodically paid to a person for regular work or services. wage:noun [3] 1. Often, wages. money that is paid or received for work or services, as by the hour, day, or week. Compare living wage, minimum wage. 2. Usually, wages. Economics. the share of the products of industry received by labor for its work (as distinct from the share going to capital). 3. Usually, wages. (used with a singular or plural verb) recompense or return: As stated, a contract can still constitute wage slavery. However, the opponent fails to differentiate between a salary and a wage. A salary is fixed, where a wage is dependent upon the scheduling designed by the 'boss'. This scheduling can fluctuate at the discretion of the 'boss' and can provide no work at all at times. Salaries typically provide benefits, vacation, etc. and wages do not. Salaries generally provide more security than wages. Wages are also a share of the products of industry produced by the employer, yet, the worker is not receiving an equitable share. The worker is basically a silent partner receiving a form of hush money, as they are not typically told that they are acting as partners but being paid small wages. They are also not told how much production was accomplished. The difference between the wages paid to workers and total production is called surplus value. Surplus value is equal to the new value created by workers in excess of their own labour-cost, which is appropriated by the capitalist as profit when products are sold. [4] "Unions operate..." - Part-time workers have no unions Corporatocracy's forecast of 'survival' needs and the maintenance and perpetuation of classism "Nobody is inherently entitled to food...etc." - Socialists see wage labour as a major, if not defining, aspect of hierarchical industrial systems. Most opponents of the institution support worker self-management and economic democracy as alternatives to both wage labour and to capitalism. While most opponents of wage labour blame the capitalist owners of the means of production for its existence, most anarchists and other libertarian socialists also hold the state as equally responsible as it exists as a tool utilised by capitalists to subsidise themselves...the claim that wage labour is "voluntary" on the part of the labourer is considered a red herring as the relationship is only entered into due to systemic coercion brought about by the inequality of bargaining power between labour and capital as classes...The attempt to extract more and more surplus-value from labor on the one side, and on the other side the resistance to this exploitation, are according to Marx at the core of the conflict between social classes, which is sometimes muted or hidden, but at other times erupts in open class warfare and class struggle....In reality, of course, a substantial portion of tax money is also redistributed to private enterprise in the form of government contracts and subsidies. Private capitalism is 'wage-slavery;' that is, as an instrument of the capitalist's for reducing the worker's condition to that of a slave, if not below it. [4] Being worked to death: Many Americans are not working 60 or 70 hours per week because they want to. Many are doing it because that is what they must do just to survive....This is putting an incredible amount of stress on working class families. In fact, it appears that a lot of Americans are literally working themselves to death. [5] Sources: http://www.forbes.com... [1] http://www.numbeo.com... [2] http://dictionary.reference.com... [3] http://en.wikipedia.org... [4] http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com... [5]