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Whatchu think wage labor is? Companies lease you for your labor, and can nullify the contract agreement (i.e. fire you) at will. If you work for a wage, you’re a wage slave.
On the one hand, yes, I can see your point.
On the other hand, let's not minimize American prison slavery by saying "we're all slaves". If you strain the definition you can argue all workers under capitalism are enslaved, but even then, some forms of slavery are far more brutal and dehumanizing (and racist. Let's not forget racist) than others.
Yeah, especially since the majority of imprisoned people tend to be non-white (this is an issue with our justice system, I'm absolutely not saying non-whites do more crime, only they're convicted far more often due to a racist system. A great many are innocent.) this will turn into 1 to 1 a facsimile of slavery from yesteryear. Bunch of white landowners leasing cheap labor (suspiciously predominantly non-white) from people who have no other legal options. Gross.
It was this argument with my mom that helped me realize she was the sort of racist that doesn't think she's racist. We were talking about how black men tend to get a longer sentence for the same crimes than white men. Her stance was pretty much "well, they shouldn't have done the crime" and I'm like.... Mom. Unfair is unfair. Thankfully we're no longer close for other reasons.
Sorry to hear that, but good for you for making that decision.
Ah, I never meant to imply that “all slaves are equally treated just as bad”, thereby minimizing the suffering of others.
Of course some forms are far worse than others. And of course we want to help those suffering the most first and foremost.
I meant my comment as a solidarity statement. Not the straw man you crafted, apologies for the misunderstanding.
People in cooperatives are slaves? To whom exactly?
That's like living as another slave of a dictatorship, versus living as a free person in a democracy. In context I think they're talking about typical (dictatorship) corporations.
He is most likely talking about the typical corporations, but it doesn't mean he's right about pointing the finger at wages. Wage labor isn't the cause of wage slavery and neither is the existence of a company. It's the authoritarian company structure, which is systemic to capitalism, that is causing an unfair power dynamic between the employer and employee. That power dynamic is what creates wage slaves.
As far as wages are concerned you can get a wage and not be a wage slave. It comes down to whether the company is with an authoritarian (capitalistic) or a democratic (socialist) structure.