This is mainly directed at libertarians, but why is slavery to which the enslaved has consented wrong? Should it be allowed? I can already anticipate most of the replies involving the invalidation of contracts that infringe upon rights, but so long as the contract is agreed to by both parties, what's wrong with it? Keep in mind that current laws aren't a sufficient basis for argument. You cannot say that such a contract would be invalid simply because it involves an unlawful act, because the idea is to determine whether or not the act is truly unlawful.
Slavery
- Thread starter Yom
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Hmmm, in my card-carrying-libertarian opinion, "consensual slavery" is not wrong. A person can do what they want with their body, even if it extends to selling it or killing it.
bloodofages
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I heard but i am not sure if this is true that in the bible GOD says for slaves to follow thier masters orders.
Bozo Erectus
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Consensual slavery? Isnt that a contradiction?
Mise
isle of lucy
In my mind, a contract can always be broken, with a penalty. If there is no "get out clause", then it's not a proper contract, and it would be illegal. If there was a way of getting out of slavery, it wouldn't be slavery. So I too think that consensual slavery is a contradiction in terms. It's either slavery or it's not. Either way, that in no way means that it should be legal.
newfangle
hates you.
Bozo Erectus said:
Thats what I was thinking.
Bozo Erectus
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Yeah its like saying the military was going to institute a 'voluntary draft'.
The Last Conformist
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I don't see anything inherently contradictive in voluntarily surrendering your rights to your life and freedom to another person.
Ditto what TLC said.
For an example of a contract that cannot be broken except (effectively) through death, look at US soldiers on a battlefield in wartime. They are not allowed to simply cancel their (enlistment) contract at that point, and were they to do so, they'd be tried for desertion and shot. Even though they signed up voluntarily.
For an example of a contract that cannot be broken except (effectively) through death, look at US soldiers on a battlefield in wartime. They are not allowed to simply cancel their (enlistment) contract at that point, and were they to do so, they'd be tried for desertion and shot. Even though they signed up voluntarily.
Becouse it defies minimal wage laws. Minimal wage laws are based on the principle that buisnesses need workers and would be willing to pay a decent amount to have them. If individuals allow buisnesses to pay him less then minimal wage, they would force others to settle for bellow minimal wage too, or else they would be replaced.Yom said:
Slavery is an extreme form of low wage.
The Last Conformist
Irresistibly Attractive
A Libertarian, of course, would insist that minimum wages are an evil, and an infraction on people's rights.Souron said:
The Last Conformist
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What? I can't see what you're getting at - a free labourer may be paid in kind, and a slave may be paid in cash. The difference isn't the mode of payment.Souron said:
I don't know if there's a Libertarian party line on voluntary slavery.
The Last Conformist said:
Nor do I. It hasn't been a significant issue in American politics recently, that I know of.
Why is consensual slavery so hard to imagine? For instance, let's say that someone decides that Candide is right, and that the only way to be happy (or simply have a lack of misery) is to work hard, but he or she does not have the will, so her or she signs a contract with a person in which he or she will be the other person's slave. This situation would be an example of consensual slavery.
Minimum wage laws have nothing (very little, more accurately) to do with the slavery of which I am talking. If there is no minimum wage, then wages would still be at the value of the marginal product of labor of each individual, provided that there is perfect competition (which is very unlikely, but more likely for farms and such, where minimum wage laws are likely to apply).Souron said:
Bronx Warlord
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I'd rather die on my feet than live on my knees
Bozo Erectus
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The Last Conformist said:
There are no contracts in slavery. Call it something else, like indenture.IglooDude said:
The Last Conformist
Irresistibly Attractive
Slavery is about your present status, not about how you ended up in it.
Bozo Erectus said:
The DoD refers to them as enlistment contracts and out of habit I do as well.
