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Feeling a little rushed for time, I still wanted to share some thoughts of a book called the Servile State by Hilaire Belloc, written in 1912 and suggested by a quote from WesBurt in one of his posting. I have commented before on how much good writing, I think, was done in the latter part or the 19th century and this falls into that category. The title is almost a double entre in which there is the servile state on the indivudual level, identified as man who has lost the means of production and is dependent on others to provide him with paid employment and the Servile State, which refers to government which has colluded with business to subvert the democratic process to create the conditions by which the majority is disenfranchised of the means of self sufficiency by a small minority of property holders and landlords. Some books, like George Orwell's 1984 have become metaphors used to bring to light the loss of freedoms and potentialities of whole populations. Belloc's book should be included in this genre and quoted and read much more than it is. The time of 1912 was before the First World War, and just after some of the major "trusts" what we would call monopolies had been curbed after years of accumulation by the titans of the day. Many of the problems we are dealing with today are similar to problems that existed then. The accumulation of vast wealth by a few and the poverty and disenfranchisment of the many by employers. The breakdown of the agricultural peasantry was not yet complete, with 50% of the population still be employed rurally, but the trend had been more and more towards industrialization. It was in this change that Belloc says the small landowner is being supplanted by capitalists with the collusion of governments to make slaves - a word he uses quite often - of the working class. Quote: Page 51 A clear boundary exists between the servile and the nonservile condition of labour, and the conditions upon either side of that boundrary utterly differ one from the other. Where there is compulsion applicable by positive law to men of a certain status, and such compulsion enforced in the last resort by the powers at the disposal of the state, there is the institution of slavery; and if that institution be sufficiently expanded the whole state may be said to repose upon a servile basis, and is a servile state. Where such formal, legal status is absent the conditions are not servile; and the difference between servitude and freedom, appreciable in a thousand details of actual life, is most glaring in this: that the free man can refuse his labour and use that refusal as an instrument wherewith to bargain; while the slave has no such instrument or power to bargain at all, but is dependent for his well-being upon the customs of society, backed by the regulation of such of its laws as may protect and guarantee the slave. This following quote is a clear example of Belloc's idea of slavery. Without posting the whole article, it seems that a number of welfare recipients were "forced" to take jobs due to changes in the US Welfare laws and after working for 6 months as part of a government program were hired by the firm. As the firm experienced financial difficulties, the welfare workers "slaves of one bureaucracy" were replaced by "slaves of another bureaucracy" which was enforced by laws of the state. Atlanta Journal-Constitution 06-19-1999, Page A1 Prisoners 'hired,' so ex-welfare clients fired; Free convict labor means trash sorters are recycled out of a job. To save money, a struggling South Georgia recycling plant fired workers hired off welfare to sort trash for $5.25 an hour. They were replaced with free convict labor, bypassing a Georgia law that prohibits prisoners' taking the place of paid employees. The concept of Workfare - which is anything but fair, is another instance of government sponsored slavery in which a welfare recipient can be required to work without being able to "bargain" or withhold his/her labour by laws backed up by the powers of the State. But, it is more pervasive even than these blatant abuses. I will relate an antecdote. A friend of my daughters related how after 20 years of long distance truck driving, he decided to retrain himself. After two years of Tech college, he attained certification as a System Technician with a great amount of hard work and considerable expense and sacrifice from his family. After searching for a job for over 6 months, he was "offered" a contract which is basically - if you want it - take it or we will find someone else, for $13.50 per hour Canadian which would be the equivalent of about $8.50 American - now it is true that he can refuse his labour, one of Belloc's conditions, but the second condition - to be able to use that refusal to bargain with his perspective employer is basically denied to him due to the job market surplus's. Secondly, if he is on any kind of government assistance program, he is not legally allowed to refuse the job on pain of losing his benefits. Both options, in my opinion lead to conditions of slavery. The same observations could be applied to our current nurses strike in Quebec, where the government, in this case the employer can legislate fines, imprisonment, back to work legislation on workers who are refusing their labour because of inadequate compensation. To avoid these penalities and go back to work is a form of slavery because the power of the state is used to force people to labour and denies them the right to remove their labour if they feel the terms and conditions of employment are not right. Well, that's enough for an E Mail, but it has been a good read and I would advise others that there is much to be learned from Belloc's thought. Respectfully, Thomas Lunde |
Title: The Servile State
