jonathan-cunningham:

While Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker’s (R) law dismantling collective bargaining rights has harmed teachers, nurses, and other civil servants, it’s helping a different group in Wisconsinites — inmates. Prisoners are now taking up jobs that used to be held by unionized workers in some parts of the state.

We make up indefensible laws to incarcerate citizens (for video taping police officers, sending their children to good schools or smoking marijuana), then enslave those citizens for cheap labor. It’s very similar to indentured servitude, but without consent (and thus less morally defensible). Will we continue to allow the upper class to make serfs out of us?

I really like the usage of the term “serfs” here, as that is exactly what is going on here: an attempt to return us to a feudal society. I have made this point here before, usually as a critique of libertarianism.

The signs are everywhere, and this is just one of the more blatant ones. We also have prominent right wing politicians and pundits openly stating that those who are not landowners shouldn’t have the same rights as those who are, in an attempt to disenfranchise the vast majority of Americans.

Their plan as I see it is a simple one. Remove voting rights for those who do not own any property (or at least make it very difficult for them to vote), pass ridiculous laws (as Jonathan said) allowing them to lock up people for victimless crimes, and then force people who are in prison to work for free. Using this free prison labor, they can now fire every employee who is a member of a union (or just fire them all anyway, free labor is good for business). Next thing you know, you have a class of landowners (nobility) and an underclass of slaves or serfs.

Humanity has fought for literally thousands of years to stop this sort of society from exploiting people. We cannot allow this type of oppression to return at any costs.

(Source: azspot)