cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/17294985

“Labor is prior to, and independent of, capital. Capital is only the fruit of labor, and could never have existed if labor had not first existed. Labor is the superior of capital, and deserves much the higher consideration.” - Abraham Lincoln

“I am glad to know that there is a system of labor where the laborer can strike if he wants to! I would to God that such a system prevailed all over the world.” - Abraham Lincoln

“The workingmen of Europe feel sure that, as the American War of Independence initiated a new era of ascendancy for the middle class, so the American Antislavery War will do for the working classes. They consider it an earnest of the epoch to come that it fell to the lot of Abraham Lincoln, the single-minded son of the working class, to lead his country through the matchless struggle for the rescue of an enchained race and the reconstruction of a social world.” - Karl Marx

  • Todd Bonzalez@lemm.ee
    1·
    4 months ago

    20% is still 100% too many, and it doesn’t matter if the prison is publicly or privately owned, or if the labor is profitable. Forced labor while in another’s custody is slavery. It doesn’t matter if it’s the government that owns you. It doesn’t matter if they are losing money on your labor. It doesn’t matter if you are guilty of a crime. The definition of “slavery” is very straightforward.

    Anyone arguing otherwise is arguing in favor of slavery. There are no acceptable defenses for slavery.