Thanks for these pretty platinum shackles in the Tiffany box...

Every step we take towards making the State our
Caretaker of our lives, by that much we move toward making the State our
Master. -Dwight D. Eisenhower

I caused quite a stir with my last post (please read it if you haven’t already because I need you to know where I’m coming from to see where I’m going…). It seems a lot of people weren’t ready to hear what I had to say-some liked it and showed overwhelming support and some dismissed it as unnecessary or divisive…I even got called “part of the problem” in speaking the truth about the Constitution. I’m patient (in spite of myself). I realize waking a nation can take some time. For over the past 150 years, our liberties have slowly been taken from us for the sake of “liberty” at the hands of those voted to uphold the Constitution from both sides of the aisle. We’re unrecognizable to what we once were (and most can’t even imagine what once was to compare). We’re like children, kidnapped from our parents at such a young age that, growing up, we never questioned the legitimacy of our captive “parents.” I suspect our founding fathers’ words were hard to hear to the British settlers at the time. Most could agree that something should change but they weren’t so uncomfortable that they saw the need to react so harshly as to prepare for a war on the government. Most settlers could justify their loyalty to the empire for a multitude of reasons but their reasons were essentially based on fear of the unknown…

I’d like to take time today to write about a VERY sensitive subject: Slavery. I’m going to walk you through important aspects of slavery and then at the end, my dear Americans, I’m going to ask you some very difficult questions. Understand my intention here is for no other purpose than to promote free thought. Ask questions; seek the truth for yourselves (if you care)…

slav•er•y n.
1. The state of one bound in servitude as the
property of a slaveholder or household.
2.
a. The practice of owning
slaves.
b. A mode of production in which slaves constitute the principal
work force.
3. The condition of being subject or addicted to a specified
influence.
4. A condition of hard work and subjection: wage slavery.

We humans, have an ugly tendency to be lazy. We like to cut corners or rely on others for the sake of saving time, money, or effort. When given the option, any human will almost always outsource efforts to anyone with a reasonable bid…especially free. There are those who capitalize on laziness by offering a person (including themselves, their families, community members or the kidnapped) to fill their needs in exchange for some type of commodity whether it be monetary notes, security provisions, sheer convenience or otherwise.

Let’s start from the beginning…

Biblically speaking, slavery was part of the cultural status quo. Those who were less fortunate welcomed their own enslavement for the sake of survival. Many great stories (and I mean “great” as in they have powerful meanings-not as in they were heartwarming and sweet) in the bible were of those born into servitude or to those who were forced to BREED as a part of their “slave” job description…As one reads Genesis, it’s almost astounding to realize that rape and abuse wasn’t much of an issue…until the Egyptians, out of fear of the Jews organizing intellectually, enslaved the whole race and broke them into oppression. Then, the Jews lamented and started calling for a savior. When Moses, in the book of Exodus, led the Jews to freedom, the Jews quickly became angry with freedom because they didn’t want to suffer. They demanded food be handed to them and then complained when God offered miracles of bread! (“Hey, God, couldn’t you do a little better and give us some miraculous filet mignon?”) They felt entitled because God saw it fit for them to be free, which was not the case. Many times in the bible, people turned their backs on God’s miracles because there wasn’t much convenience and instant gratification in the process. (“Gee, God, thanks but that still sounds a LOT like work…”) At one point, the Jews begged Moses to take them back to slavery! After he had parted seas for them! Nothing was good enough. Now I’m not telling you this to preach to you, but it sets the stage for what kind of nature humans actually have…

Slavery has been a practice throughout history and it has come in many forms: (this info from iabolish.org):

CHATTEL SLAVERY is closest to the slavery that prevailed in early American
history. Chattel slaves are considered their masters’ property — exchanged for
things like trucks or money and expected to perform labor and sexual favors.
Once of age, their children are expected to do the same. Chattel slavery is
typically racially-based; in the North African country of Mauritania, for
example, black Africans serve the lighter-skinned Arab-Berber communities.
Though slavery was legally abolished there in 1980, today 90,000 slaves continue
to serve the Muslim Berber ruling class. Similarly, in the African country of
Sudan, Arab northerners are known to raid the villages in the South — killing
all the men and taking the women and children to be auctioned off and sold into
slavery.
DEBT BONDAGE, or bonded labor, is the most widely practiced form of
slavery around the world. In Southeast Asia, where it is most prevalent, debt
bondage claims an estimated 15 to 20 million victims. The staggering poverty
there forces many parents to offer themselves or their own children as
collateral against a loan. Though they are promised they will work only until
their debt is paid off, the reality is much grimmer. Thanks to inflated interest
rates and fresh debts incurred while being fed and housed, the debt becomes
impossible to pay off. As a result, it is often inherited by the bonded
laborer’s children, perpetuating a vicious cycle that can claim several
generations.
SEX SLAVERY finds women and children forced into prostitution.
Many are lured by false offers of a good job and then beaten and forced to work
in brothels. In Southeast Asia, however, it is not uncommon to find women
coerced by their own husbands, fathers, and brothers to earn money for the men
in the family to pay back local money lenders. In other cases, victims pay tens
of thousands of dollars to get to another country and are then forced into
prostitution in pay off their own debts. In still others, women or girls are
plainly kidnapped from their home countries. The sex slavery trade thrives in
Central and Eastern Europe and in North America. An estimated two million women
and children are sold into sex slavery around the world every year.
FORCED LABOR often results when individuals are lured by the promise of a good job but instead find themselves subjected to slaving conditions — working without
payment and enduring physical abuse, often in harsh and hazardous conditions.
Victims include domestic workers, construction workers, and even human mine
detectors. Migrant workers are particularly vulnerable, as their constant
changes of location make the organized crime rings that traffic them difficult
to bust.

I would like to emphasize here that MANY governments still employ these methods and many governments still, at the very least, turn their heads as the private sector does the dirty work “for the sake of the economy.”

I’m going to bring this a little closer to home now: American history and Slavery, a touchy subject, I know...

English and European settlers colonized the new territory and were all still under rule of their governments, respectively. With their culture and old-style ways of doing business, slavery was very much employed. Slavery was an industry back then-and it was booming. What many people conveniently forget is that it wasn’t just African slave trade, but slave trade of many types of peoples…especially children. In fact, the Atlantic slave trade had made black slaves so valuable, that white slaves-mostly children-were used to do the most horrific work. Michael A. Hoffman II wrote in The Forgotten Slaves: Whites in Servitude in Early America and Industrial Britain :

“Before British slavers traveled to Africa's western coast to buy Black slaves
from African chieftains, they sold their own White working class kindred ("the
surplus poor" as they were known) from the streets and towns of England, into
slavery. Tens of thousands of these White slaves were kidnapped children. In
fact the very origin of the word kidnapped is kid-nabbed, the stealing of White
children for enslavement.”

William Blake, an British social commentator and poet, brought to light the disturbing nature and callousness of child labor in his poem “The Chimney Sweeper.”

Kate Chopin, an American social commentator, delved into the issues of the enslavement of women during the time prior to, during, and post the Civil War era. She often used different examples, in various race scenarios, to expose that women were viewed as property on every level-even amongst the “enslaved.”

Even after “theabolition of ‘slavery’,” Irish settlers came to America to find opportunity’s door was closed to them. They were forced to literally fight-like a Michael Vick puppy-for a meal. Hoffman also wrote this in his aforementioned piece:

“In 1855, Frederic Law Olmsted, the landscape architect who designed New York's
Central Park, was in Alabama on a pleasure trip and saw bales of cotton being
thrown from a considerable height into a cargo ship's hold. The men tossing the
bales somewhat recklessly into the hold were Negroes, the men in the hold were
Irish.
Olmsted inquired about this to a shipworker. ‘Oh,’ said the worker,
‘the niggers are worth too much to be risked here; if the Paddies are knocked
overboard or get their backs broke, nobody loses anything.’ "

So, why am I bringing this up? Before further explaining, I would like to point out that while much of this horrid behavior occurred during the time of “American Settlement,” and some time even after, people were not citizens of American spirit…yet. They were following cultural codes of the lands from whence they came. Overpowering other humans has always been inherent but was also encouraged behavior from their corrupt governments abroad. (Like, when your boss treats you like crap, you can at least come home and kick the dog …2 Michael Vick references, sorry…) I’m not defending slavery by any means, but revisionist history would have you think it was big, bad America and their “freedom-fighting” that murdered Indians, trafficked in blacks and laughed their big, white butts off over cognac and cigars while writing the Constitution as “Christian Hypocrites.” WRONG! (see the timeline)

A few brave men decided that they and their families deserved better than what their government was providing for them. They were being taxed to death; the British military reserved the right to come into their homes for any reason. Many were forced to hide religious practices because it wasn’t authorized by the government-often at the risk of execution. At the very least Catholics were banned from inheritance and land ownership. Many could be arrested without just-cause and sentenced to make an example for others. Their struggle to simply work and stay alive was monitored closely so the government could take their cut. One of the final straws was when they found out that tea, the one thing of leisure they enjoyed, was going to have a new tax because the tea provider was capitalizing and competing with the British “government option.” These men looked around and realized that they, too, were enslaved. Government’s oppression is like heavily-weighted shackles on the very advancement of mankind.

When I say it was a few men, I really mean it. Many, at first, weren’t too keen on fighting a government that “protected” them (remember the Jews and the Egyptians?).

To these few men, for the sake of their family’s future, freedom was too important. These men had one shot to take advantage of the “New World”: the last frontier, the last spark of hope. It was a bloody and ugly transition. Many lives were lost. What came out of it though, was something so invaluable that many since have vowed to lay down their lives for it: Emancipation and liberty.

With the Declaration of Independence, there came confidence and freedom from tyranny. With the Constitution, there came a nation of sovereign states to make of freedom what they would. With the Bill of Rights came humility, education and promise of human advancement. You see, the new-found “America” had some old European habits that died hard (the Civil War)-but relatively quickly in comparison to the world. As the new country’s citizens grew in its own new-found freedom, our founders realized that there would have to be enforcements of said freedom. As Americans grew and learned from their mistakes, amendments were written to uphold the integrity of the Constitution as it stood.

Americans came to realize the mistakes of oppressing people-all people. There were amendments written as means of formal apology and a warning to the future citizens. Labor laws kept employers aware of the amendments and an educated consumer, enlightened by a free press, could keep that employer doubly honest.

Hatred, oppression and tyranny see color, gender, age, or class as mere opportunities to distract and spread fear. That is why it behooves our current political party system and our sympathetic revisionist historians to focus on the “color” of slavery and casually labeling it as the “black eye on American history,” but, in actuality, The Republic of The United States of America was the cure to the WORLD’s slavery. All Americans had to do was be honest, educated and vigilant, because they were outnumbered by those who wanted nothing more than to see it destroyed. Acknowledging women as women, blacks as blacks, Hispanics as Hispanics only distract us and make us defend our colors and genders, thus dividing us so we can’t be strong as one people. It contradicts everything our founding fathers purchased for us with their blood and sacrifice.

Some questions to you to ponder:

Slaves, to be kept in slavery and avoid an uprising are discouraged to learn. Many can be pacified by distracting them with vices, instead of giving them idle time to question anything; eventually they are zombies ready to do their masters bidding blindly…Do you or someone you know welcome distractions by entertainments of the world instead of seeking truth? Do you drink, do drugs, obsess over music, sports, TV, video games, etc? Do you “outsource” your opinion; do you allow/trust an outside source to give you the basic gist so you can form a quick opinion? How has that source proven itself trustworthy? Do you trust them at all or figure no one is trustworthy, so you deal with what’s presented to you?

Are you an educated consumer? Are you aware or do you even care who makes the products you consume? Does it bother you that quite likely the products you use were made through oppressive circumstances?

In America, we welcome new citizens all the time. It’s how we’ve become such a diverse country. With all of the ways legal immigration can happen, why do you think there is such a market for illegal immigration? Why do you think the government allows it to go on? Who benefits from illegal immigration and how are they any different from the slave owners/traffickers of the past?

Do you know what your government is up to? Do you know the Constitution? Are you aware, genuinely, of your rights? Who told you about your rights? Would they for some reason find it fitting to twist the truth?

Do you find yourself working so hard to stay alive (never mind get ahead)? Does it seem the government keeps coming up with new ideas that don’t really help you but require your hard-earned money?

Do you receive government aid? Does it make you feel confident? Does it inspire you to educate yourself and seek out truth...or do you find it gives you more comfort and security, relieves you of stress and allows you to pursue some of the vices listed above?

Do you find yourself so frustrated and confused that you'd rather ignore politics all together? Do you feel that government is too big and too corrupt to do anything about it so you'd rather not think about it or care? Do you wish people would just drop the subject because you’re quite fine in your own little world? Are you easily bored with the subject and assume, if there's ever a real problem, someone else will handle it?

When America first became a free nation, there was excitement. People wanted to know all about what this freedom was that they had. They worked, read, educated, developed and became the front-runner of the world in both economy and advancement…Why is it, do you think other countries beat us to the punch now? Are their people freer than us, or have we fallen back in our own freedom? Why do Americans, who once hated to be like any other country because of the oppression they impose on their people, now admire them and look to them for acceptance?

"Now more than ever before, the people are responsible for the character of
their Congress. If that body be ignorant, reckless and corrupt, it is because
the people tolerate ignorance, recklessness and corruption. If it be
intelligent, brave and pure, it is because the people demand these high
qualities to represent them in the national legislature.... If the next
centennial does not find us a great nation ... it will be because those who
represent the enterprise, the culture, and the morality of the nation do not aid
in controlling the political forces."
James Garfield, the twentieth
president of the United States, 1877

"The jaws of power are always open to devour, and her arm is always stretched out, if possible, to destroy the freedom of thinking, speaking, and writing."
John Adams

"If ye love wealth greater than liberty, the tranquility of servitude greater than the animatingcontest for freedom, go home from us in peace. We seek not your counsel, nor your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you; and may posterity
forget that ye were our countrymen."
Samuel Adams

"If ever time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government,
our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin."
Samuel Adams

"They who would give up an essential liberty for temporary security, deserve neither liberty or security."
Benjamin Franklin