How would you respond to being a slave?

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In Soviet Russia, government work you.

Da, da. Konyeshna. In the Marxist worker's paradise they had real slavery, including labor camps in Siberia.

Which reminds me of a conversation between two Marxisists:

Comrade A: Comes the Revolution we will have whipped cream with our strawberries.

Comrade B: But suppose I don't like whipped cream and strawberries.

Comrade A: Comes the Revolution you will like whipped cream with your strawberries.


ruveyn

It matters not. Few people want to be enslaved. They fear the loss of control and suffering. Still, they can be utilised as tools and deprived of their freedom nonetheless. In the grand scale of things, slavery is just a way of getting things done. It may well come into widespread use again, in the future.

I fear you may be correct. As long as Might make Right, the tendency is there waiting to show itself again. Slavery is a manifestation of the human Dark Side.

ruveyn

Some would say we are slaves right now....we just have the illusion of freedom.

I suppose we'd have to define "slavery" in its more extreme form.

After all, there is really no such thing as living without restrictions on your liberties. Your rights end where another person's rights begin, so even a libertarian viewpoint imposes restrictions upon you.

I comment about "wage slave," and I find it ironic that it is seen as a Marxist term against the capitalist system because under capitalism, anyone can be an "entrepreneur" and make a living working for themselves...beholden to nobody save the market forces that impact their business.

I've seen more and more Americans compelled to be "employees" and not "businessmen." They become "wage slaves" because they know nothing other than gain a skill then become someone's servant as a means of support. Maybe it's a minor difference, but the alternative about working for yourself is that you enter into every "contract" on fairly equal footing. You have a skill/service/product, they have a need. You are free to negotiate the terms you deal on. If you don't like the terms, you can walk away. If you accept them, they only apply to that customer, not every customer. Employees/"wage slaves" have no choice. Employers are pretty much dictating the terms on a "take it or leave it" standard. More so, employers want to control your options outside the workplace.

As far as how to respond to being a slave, I see two battlegrounds.

Physically, you have little choice if you can't rebel against the system or not participate, you are going to be someone's slave. However....

Mentally, the battleground for slavery is really in the mind. You might have to do a task, but you don't have to respect or love your master. If you study oppressed cultures (slavery, military occupation, etc.) you will find that much of the "resistance" wasn't the often romanticized "freedom fighter" but a legion of "slaves" who took every opportunity to short-sheet their masters. Doing the absolute minimum possible, doing only precisely what was demanded of them, looking for any way to sabotage operations by being wasteful of resources, etc.

This is what makes the indoctrination of a slave population so important. If you have a person by their mind, they will do everything possible to serve you. If you only possess them physically, you get very little back for what you invest into them.