Just a note on that 1863 Emancipation Proclamation: Black freedom was conditional upon the surrender of the Confederacy by January 1, 1863. As the Confederacy did not surrender, Blacks were declared free. The word didn’t reach the furthest reaches of what was then the West, Galveston, Texas until 19 June 1865, because southern planters wanted to get as much work out of their slaves as possible before it became mandated that they had to treat them as paid employees.
You might look up my post on “Slavery” it is back away in time, Slavery has never ended, it is now called “Slave Wage Labor” Sure, we are getting paid a wage, but that wage is never enough to live a decent life on. I think the federal minimum wage is still set at $7.50 an hour, who can live on that, when the greedy hedge fund property owners charge $2,000. bucks a month for rent in a slum dwelling? The other day I went shopping and bought 7 cans of soup, 5 bananas, 1 cucumber and the bill was $72.00. A loaf of bread is $3.50. The only way I am still alive at 75 is I have learned to live on 1/2 bowl of soup and a bit of bread a day, no meat, except for chicken soup tidbits…..What a world we have made for ourselves when the only story is the “Almighty Dollar” and how many of those a man/woman has…..So Sad….George ________________________________
Thank you, George. I will look that one up. It is a shame that we have been imprisoned by capitalism. Everything should not be about money, but that is what corporate capitalism has brought us. All by design.
“Everyone’s values are defined by what they will tolerate when it is done to others” William Greider…..I like your thinking Ms. Displaced…..Now that people have been forced to learn how to live simply I wonder if at the end of this virus it will be back to “Business as usual” or will we decide to abandon capitalism?
It will take a whole heap of upheaval to get the PIC to abandon capitalism. It would be nice, though, to take a bite out of consumerism. I think the loss of jobs and income will take care of some of that. Business as usual will only come back if the people allow it. All of us people who survive until November, that is.