Intent on keeping citizens dependent?

I can answer the question without looking it up.. However for the benefit of others..

13th Amendment

SECTION 1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.

SECTION 2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.


This is all well and good. The problem of dependency still exist. You have to (ok you should) live within your means. What that means to me is many folks on limited income have to buy from business meccas like Wal-mart, not because they want to , but because its what they can afford. So In my eyes that is dependancy (or a form of servitude)

We can all trump up how bad walmart is (and I'm an adamant walmart hater), but the truth of the matter is that as long as they have the cheapest (even though its crap) they will continue their ways.

But my biggest problem is people who think these companines are doing us a favor by bring jobs to the community. First, they are killing small town America, second in the end they are outsourcing jobs (to get even cheaper crap to sell), third more people from outside are moving to these areas which means more job competition for the ones that are left. And I won't even go into the welfare wages these comanies pay. (sounds like servitude to me) of course you do have a choice, you can work for the next sprawlmart down the road or be homeless, but it is a choice, some choice eh?

__________________
"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

The population flux of the US is towards the more populated coasts, not vice versa.
Over 1/3 of impoverished people in America own homes. That is a very curious attribute of those living in servitude.

Progress, as it always has, changes the nature and composition of the workforce. You may disdain business, but it is because of business and consequent economic expansion that children often reach the age of 5, the average American lives to the age of 75 (pushing 80 for women), people no longer die from cavities, small pox, minor bacterial infections, broken bones, etc. Corporations are also responsible for the research, design, and production of the computer and internet that you're currently using. The machinery used to produce the Pentium chip alone required millions of man hours to develop, not to mention the innumerable number of products produced as a consequence of the chip. No one ever put a gun to your head and made you buy the very products you use. Your 'dependence' (I call it an exercise in freedom) was your choice.

And perhaps this is because I was not raised in a small town, but I can't relate to this either-or choice between Walmart and joblessness. There have always been countless production/service jobs available where I've lived, and not at places like Walmart, either.

In general that is true. However when a new company moves to town (any town) many out of towners move in to take advantage of new job openings.

I suppose that depends on the situation they are in. For example, in our city it was cheaper for us to purchase a home as opposed to renting an apartment ($350 for mortage on older home or $475 for a one bedroom apartment).


I'm not saying ALL business is bad. I agree that many of the advances we see are an improvement. However I feel you are confusing industry with technology. One doesn't necessairly need the other to progress.

You are correct about the gun pointing in the instance of some items (such as computers, cars, etc). Now while Walmart may not "point a gun at your head" it might as well. If they are the only place you can afford to buy things then what is the difference?

__________________
"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

Did you listen to Swimmin in the Big? It is also a song about this very same issue.

http://www.danalyons.com/listen/

pcdreams

I did not ask what this amendment said. I asked under what condition the US government says slavery is ok. And the answer is ---punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted ---.

Is there any way you could be considered to have convicted yourself in the eyes of the US government? Is taxation identical to slavery?

which I though was quite obvious from what I Posted.

no, I don't see any reason why I would be convicted in the eyes of the government, at least for now. Now when they pass the law making freedom of speech a felony I'll be in trouble.


Taxation is similar to slavery though not identical.. actually its more like indentured servitude. Are we required to pay taxes, yes. Do we have a choice, no.. Sounds like indentured servitude to me.

While we're on taxes should I mention that the government "forgot" they never ment to last forever. Oops I wasn't suppose to let anyone know!!

__________________
"Let the beauty we love, be what we do. There are hundreds of ways to kneel and kiss the ground." Rumi

Shssh, you are getting too close. There are slaves in the present USA.

Many "felons" on parole are working slaves paying from jobs dictated they hold by a court system in connection with the Slave Masters who employ them. If they run away from their cooking, cleaning, construction jobs, the government will catch them and bring them back. Servitude in its rawest form.

It ain't just a obscure passage in some law. It is an active system to include the use of chain gangs that are legal. Remember these same people said the Russian Gulags were violations of human rights but have created a system maybe worse, it is truly legal and operates to fill its ranks with increasing recruits.