• JayleneSlide@lemmy.world
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      9 months ago

      We never got rid of slavery in the US. We merely shifted cost of ownership. Quite successfully. The laws have been advanced and tweaked to make everyone a potential criminal, especially if a minority. Prison labor is absolutely legal. The prison system is mostly privatized and for-profit. Healthcare is tied to employment, with dental care (a foundational element of good health) often being an add-on to employer-provided health insurance.

      Stop the country, I want to get off.

      Refs:

      • Hacking of the American Mind by Robert Lustig
      • New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander
      • Evil Geniuses by Kurt Andersen