Are we being offered safety and security or slavery? – The Daily Telegram

Charles C. Milliken| The Daily Telegram

As I note the descent of America into an autocratic command society, I wonder how the beacon of freedom has become so dim. Obviously, there must be something very attractive about having others in charge of our lives, else why would we be going in the direction were headed, and so rapidly?

The old song echoes Freedoms just another word for nothing left to lose. We have plenty to lose, dont we, and desperately want to hang on to it. Therefore a government that promises safety and security has a timeless and powerful message.

Consider how we grew up. For the most part we had parents who looked after us, fed us, and provided all we needed (if not everything we wanted). It is sad that many children grow up in other circumstances, but for most of us parental care is what we knew for our growing-up years, and for all the chafing under the accompanying rules and restrictions we liked it just fine so fine that over the three generations since I grew up safety and security has extended well beyond childhood into the 20s and even beyond. The bubble-wrapping of children is almost total. Does it seem likely that a generation encased in swaddling clothes is going to find adult dress attractive?

History reinforces the message. When the Hebrews, led out of bondage in Egypt, faced up to the realities of freedom, they balked. Sure, the Egyptians lorded it over us, but at least we had plenty of good food, and we werent wandering around in this wilderness. Greece, Rome, most civilizations of the world until the 19th century had greater or lesser degrees of slavery. I take it as significant, even though slaves often way outnumbered their masters, revolts were few and far between, and made big news (and eventually big movies) when they did. Watch Kirk Douglas as Spartacus for a perfect example of the genre.

The bottom line is that slavery lasted because slavery usually worked, and when it ceased to work, as in most of Western Europe in the Middle Ages, it simply died out. Since it was working very well in the American South, it took the bloodiest war we ever fought to get rid of it. A fascinating book to read in these anti-capitalist times is Cannibals Allby George Fitzhugh, published in 1857. (Available online for free). It is a defense of slavery, and an attack on capitalism, contrasting the wage-slavery forced on disposable workers in the North, with the benevolent lifetime security offered in the South (well, offered isnt exactly the right word, and benevolent would be highly debatable, but you get his drift). Such as it was, a slave had lifetime security. A worker could get tossed out to starve if he were no longer useful. Just as in ancient Rome, slave unrest was rare, and made big news when it happened. Meanwhile, from 1790 to 1860, the slave population quadrupled.

Because of the racial make-up of American slavery, and because it is thoroughly demonized, we fail to examine why it survived so well and so long. We dont even give much thought to what slavery is. Essentially, one man is forced to work for another and receives less than what he contributes. Chattel slavery, as that in the South, is only one form, and not necessary. The Egyptians didnt buy and sell Hebrews, for example. Karl Marx, loving the concept of wage slavery,didnt suppose factory owners bought and sold workers. They were enslaved voluntarily because of necessity they had to eat.

Striking out on our own is frightening. Freedom is full of risks. Freedom demands decisions, and what if we make the wrong decision? Then what happens? So, collectively, we surrender about 40% of everything we make to government which, like masters everywhere and from all time, tells us what to do and how to do it. Apparently, that is just fine with most of us. As I said, slave revolts are few and far between.

Charles Milliken is a professor emeritus after 22 years of teaching economics and related subjects at Siena Heights University. He can be reached at milliken.charles@gmail.com.

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Are we being offered safety and security or slavery? - The Daily Telegram