The same coin, just different sides

By Harry Felker

Heads I win!

Slavery is an institution of forced labor, the basic needs are met in order to preserve life, but beyond such is a rarity. The slave lives as a captive; a prisoner of circumstance; overseers or taskmasters are the guards of these perpetual prisons. Given the ultimate authority over slaves, the owners (masters) and guards are legally allowed, often encouraged, to treat them as property. To maim, rape or kill a slave at whim is a constant possibility as a slave’s life and body is not the possession of the slave; it was bought, traded or won in combat. They use force, the lash, to encourage productivity, and in the event of escape they hunt the slave down like a wild animal. The conditions of slave labor, being poor at best are useful in producing one thing, less productive work, the slave, seeing no real improvement for achievement, only seeks to achieve one thing, lower expectations. As a self-pitying victim of circumstance the only realistic rebellion the slave can perform and enjoy is to strain a little less in the field, just enough to feel it, not enough for the guard to notice it and thus avoid the lash. This gradual declination of productivity often inspires others along the same route and slavery becomes a self-defeating institution, not productive enough to maintain itself, let alone the lifestyle of the owner. As the slaves notice another producing less, they in turn fight for the role of the one that is accepted as the least productive by the guards, in the meager hope that the guards will assign lighter work for them to be less productive at or just be tolerated by them as unproductive.


As a slave, basic needs are met, meagerly at best but met none the less, but there is a price to pay for this, I like to call this the “rewards of slavery”, I personally like the irony, and after the proper conditioning, it is the slave’s consensus. Entertainment is allowed, often encouraged for a happy slave is an obedient one, but only with the fellow slaves and never at any labor hours. Granted the scraps of food not ingested by the owner, usually consisting of foods not usually considered for eating by the owner or guards make for a veritable concoction of food. As seen in the United States, this is what “soul food” was derived from; one would think that after so many years that the people would reject this food, but it seems the attitude of the slave still exists today. Clothing was provided, often a one size fits all affair, quality is not meant for slaves, so old torn clothing was normally reserved for a slave otherwise it was a mass produced garment, meant only to cover nudity. The owners, out of interest to protect their investment, will also shelter the slaves, ranging from cloth tents to shacks more suited for chicken coops, packing as many as possible per residence. These are the “rewards of slavery” and one must then consider the price of this slavery, what is it that must be given for this, what is the value one would be expected to give for these living conditions? Every moment a slave is alive, he lives your life for another’s whim, every ounce of his labor is his owner’s profit, and every breath he take is taken mischievously from his owner’s pool of fresh air. In return for obedience a slave are kept unarmed, unable to defend himself from other slaves, although more importantly the lash of authority, as a slave that can defend himself is usually not long for this world. The slave trades his children as well, many times slaves were encouraged to copulate, to bring forth a new generation, more obedient and unquestioning, never knowing freedom, never knowing life without the lash.

Tails you Lose

The prime tenant in Communism as well as its precursor, Socialism, is the individual’s life belongs to the collective, that is to say; his livelihood (labor), his private life (free time and family) and all of his property are not his own. The collective is represented by the government in every practical application of these policies, as property holder and arbiter, for the greater (common, public) good. This gives the power of moral sanction to the government to do what it pleases with said life of the individual, the government can give and take away anything in the name of the nebulous “greater good”. The government becomes the owner of the individual, exerting the authority of the “greater good” that outweighs that of the individual, in essence using the individual as the means to the government’s ends. Government authorities are given full sanction to do as they please with individuals, authorities are often encouraged to treat them as subordinates and subjects were treated in the past, where the authorities badge is a coat of arms that relegates the power of medieval aristocracy. This leads to the annihilation of the individual, as he is then a part of the collective, and as his effort is the property of the government, he often begins to prove inability as a goal. The government, with economic authority, will prevent a person from not being able to draw a paycheck, despite the fact that the person does not deserve one. As other members of the collective see the less productive retain their employment they join in the ranks for a competition of inability, the mentality that the quality and quantity of work should suffer so that one is making the most for what labor one produces. If the individual rebels, often the punishment is either death outright or even worse life in a forced labor camp, which is the same as slavery listed above.

The rewards to the collective are promising to the ideal but depressing to the practice, for giving up individuality, and thus freedom, one must really consider the trappings one receives. The individual’s needs are met, all be it in regard to what the collective (the government) decides what the needs are, this includes in the most orthodox form everything from housing to every bite of food ingested. Less orthodox forms still exert the same control but they give the illusion of choice by allowing the individual to have money to spend, but regulate and legislate all products and services available to him to exert every bit of control. Entertainment is encouraged; in the form of government regulated propaganda, mandatory “volunteerism” and government controlled gatherings, in order to impress conformity and dilute the ability of the individual to break away from the collective, a busy individual is too indoctrinated to be an individual. The services provided are many fold, but it is the quality and the quantity of these services that suffer in these systems, this is not only a function of resources but a function of work ethic as described above, the inefficiency extends to a full transformation of the individual to moral bankruptcy, as they vie for basic comforts (Drink, Black Market, etc.). All services provided are availability based as the system is “supposedly” egalitarian, but as resources and poor productivity take their toll as well as rampant theft for sale or trade in the black market, these services are lacking as a rule. Housing is often limited in the most orthodox cases, multiple generations of family living within the same quarters, waiting for the list, which is biased to government favoritism, to grant adult children a separate residence from parents, either way this is not the person’s property, rather he is eternally paying the government rent. Food is rationed, and that was not all, waiting on lines for this food was a regular occupation for many family members that were not working, but all resources were rationed in this manner, from gasoline to electricity and heat. Clothing is one size fits all (pretty much) and quite uniform, from underwear to coats, the government mass produces garments for distribution, to meet demand, which is impossible to meet, this is the same with all products. A dominant theme in communism is the defenselessness of the individual, as required by the government, in the name of the “greater good”, as the individual is no longer a factor against the collective. This is key to this system as it curtails any real potential revolt, and thus leaves the collective as subjects to the government, as the government is the only owner of arms. Further, all children are required to participate in indoctrination organizations, these organizations starting as early as 3 years old that span until old age, constantly enforcing standardization to conform to the collective, raising children to be good communist soldiers.

So, what is the difference?

Both institutions focus on a detachment of the individual from the person, that is a breaking of the free will of the individual to a heard like mentality of conformist collectivism. In either situation the complete liberty of the individual is discarded and all production from said individual is not his own, in the most extreme cases neither is his life. Importance is placed on obedience, the moral high ground of the ruling class or owner, the indoctrination of the next generation and the fulfillment of the basic necessities (however scant this may be). Total control is a feature of both systems, either through the lash, imprisonment or death, only through conformity to the collective, and subordination to authority could one hope to avoid these particular punishments. This is not to say that life in and of itself in either system was not punishment on the average daily life, due to the poor quality or complete lack of necessities. The only real difference between slavery and communism that is apparent is that owners in the slavery institution, made no allusion to freedom, they were quite clear the slave was property and despite the consequences if caught there is always an escape. However, in communism, the illusion of freedom is open to the collective as the government insidiously takes control of everything, even the mind, and no matter what you do, there is no escape.


Special thanks to Ma Cherie for giving me the insight of life in a communist country....