# Anyone pro-slavery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 13, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194 "2000-06-13T03:12:09Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/1 "2000-06-13T03:12:09Z")
Are there any goups or famous individuals around today that believe slavery should be legal? I’m talking about the kind of slavery that was present in America before 1865. (Sorry, ladies, but I hear enough bitching from my wife and employees about “slavery”). I am not asking if there is anyone who believes in white supremecy, racial seperation, or the extermination of blacks. I know the sick answer to those questions. But does anyone have the gall to suggest that there be kept, unpaid servants in America??? ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/2 "2000-06-13T03:22:00Z")
Not in America, but try third-world nations. That is just barely on topic, but by your definitions there really aren’t any groups like that. I could be wrong. Do some serious research (not just Yahoo, but a few more) and get back to me here. I’d be very surprised if there were any groups that seriously proposed what you are asking here. If you ask me, that’s a good thing. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/3 "2000-06-13T03:32:30Z")
I don’t know of anyone like that in America, but just last night I saw a news special about African diamond mines. Apparently, the mines in Sierra Leone are run with slave labor. Also, I’ve heard people say that the opium growers in places like Myanmar (Burma) use slave labor quite heavily. Not what you’re looking for, but those are the two places where I’ve heard of actual slavery still existing. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/4 "2000-06-13T03:35:25Z")
It’s just that I saw a program that talked about pre-Civil War days, and the debate that ending slavery would destroy the South’s economy. I just wondered if anyone was radical enough in this day of age to suggest slavery in America. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/5 "2000-06-13T03:36:44Z")
I have never detected any organized attempt to repeal the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. I can’t imagine that slavery would do a lot to help the economy. It’s cheaper to pay someone minimum wage and no benefits than to clothe, feed, and shelter someone. ---
**Author:** ![Grendel69](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/7bcc69/32.png) [@Grendel69](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grendel69)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/6 "2000-06-13T03:39:57Z")
Many academic institutions believe that their undergrad and graduate science students should serve as slave labour in the university labs. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/7 "2000-06-13T03:53:39Z")
I’ve also failed to find a pro-slavery movement in America using the web, however I did find the occassional message from an individual claiming things such as that slavery would be a good way to get the homeless off the streets (they could work in return for housing) or give abused children a place to go. Obviously, he seems to think that the homeless and abused will willing become slaves to escape their circumstances. I have to admit, I was actually rather suprised to _not_ find any pro-slavery groups on the net, given the amount of other boneheads out there. ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/8 "2000-06-13T04:03:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > Many academic institutions believe that their undergrad and graduate science students should serve as slave labour in the university labs. > \*\* DOH!!! :o As one of those graduate students, I can’t believe I didn’t say this first. “How often do we look high and low for something that is right under our noses?” 😃 ---
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 4:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/9 "2000-06-13T04:28:20Z")
Forgive me PKbites but I can’t really see the point of your question. You might want to think about framing it differently. Assuming (per your qualifications re the definition of “Slavery”) that we’re not talking sexual fetishes or racist definitions of slaves as non-human chattel then what are you left with? For people in a (nominally) free and democratic society to believe that others should be held in bondage without some variant on the aforesaid impulses or rationalizations is hard to consider. I am sure that someone might have the limited mentality and “gall” as you term it to think this is “OK” but there are people who hold all sorts of opinions. I’m sure there are people who think it’s OK to marry a donkey but so what? Slavery, in many forms, was until relatively recently in macro-historical terms, pretty much business as usual for many societies across the world. In many areas of the ancient world it was no more wrong to have a slave than any other piece of chattel. In fact, if memory serves, the Old Testament section of the Bible mentions various (though not all) slave-owner relationships in non-judgmental, (re slavery as evil) matter of fact terms. This kind of slavery didn’t have (or seem to have) quite the nasty tinge that the mercantilist based slavery of the 17th and 18th century had. Ancient slavery wasn’t justified by de-humanizing the slave as such. Slaves were generally either down and outers, simply on the losing side in battle or in the wrong place at the wrong time during periods of conquest but I don’t think they were considered sub-human “animals” as African-American black slaves were commonly regarded. In real terms people are monkeys with car keys and the only thing that keeps us civil to others outside our immediate family or social group is either the threat of sanction or the promise of reciprocity (positive or negative). To the extent Slavery has passed by the wayside is a direct reflection of the extent to which we have internalized the civil mores of modernity and the various buttressing philosophies that allow for a _relatively_ egalitarian, democratic civil society. But don’t kid yourself, people are not inherently anti-slavery and many folks (all the soccer moms driving giant SUVs are for sure in this category) given an appropriate situation and opportunity would rationalize owning slaves as easily as they rationlize owning a giant, gas guzzling, environment destroying grotesque-mobile if it made their lives _that_ much more comfortable. The suasion of modernity is all that keeps them from your door. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/10 "2000-06-13T05:27:02Z")
Every once in a while one of those TV news magazines (Dateline 20/60) will have a story on enterprising buisinessmen who bring illegal aliens into the country to work as slaves in sweatshops. I suppose those blankety-blanks would like to repeal the 13th amendment. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 5:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/11 "2000-06-13T05:27:10Z")
It’s just that 135 years ago a large number of people in the USA thought it was alright to shackle a man and force him to be a servant. It is hard for me to comprehend that kind of mores’. I was just wondering if there are any significant groups/people who think that was actually ok. ---
**Author:** ![Doug\_Bowe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/df788c/32.png) [@Doug\_Bowe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doug_Bowe)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 5:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/12 "2000-06-13T05:56:20Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > It’s just that 135 years ago a large number of people in the USA thought it was alright to shackle a man and force him to be a servant. It is hard for me to comprehend that kind of mores’. I was just wondering if there are any significant groups/people who think that was actually ok. > \*\* –Here’s your (first?) problem. You said “…to shackle a MAN…” For slavery to work in the conscience of a majority Christian nation you must remove the “man” (or “human”) part of your statement. Hope this helps. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 1:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/13 "2000-06-13T13:59:11Z")
[http://www.dailyrotten.com/rusoboxer.html](http://www.dailyrotten.com/rusoboxer.html) ---
**Author:** ![labdude](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/5fc32e/32.png) [@labdude](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/labdude)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/14 "2000-06-13T15:01:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > I have never detected any organized attempt to repeal the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. > I can’t imagine that slavery would do a lot to help the economy. It’s cheaper to pay someone minimum wage and no benefits than to clothe, feed, and shelter someone. > \*\* This is not true. I can’t believe someone didn’t counter this yet. Lets see $5.50 per hour times 60 hours a week. (60 hours a week of work for a slave would not be too many. The 40 hour work week is a modern construct.) Thats $330 a week. I could feed, clothe, and shelter a slave for much less than that. Perhaps you think slaves had a higher standard of living. A wooden shack, a pair of pants and a shirt, and pancakes aren’t that expensive. Maybe you were joking. I hope. michael ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 4:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/15 "2000-06-13T16:47:21Z")
I was partly trying to be humorous, but I figured that with minimum wage laws it would still be cheaper to just pay someone than to pay for everything else. However, I was figuring that someone would only be working 40 hours a week, which is pretty absurd considering how absurd the concept of slavery is now, even though some people still engage in it. I do offer apologies if anyone was offended. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/16 "2000-06-13T17:52:29Z")
I thought that slavery was a part of this great Southern Heritage that’s supposedly represented by the Confederate flag. The South is still hot, humid, and the economy sucks except for agriculture. The only difference between now and the early 19th century is slavery. ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/17 "2000-06-13T17:59:01Z")
Let me try that link again [http://www.dailyrotten.com/rusoboxer.html](http://www.dailyrotten.com/rusoboxer.html) ---
**Author:** ![HorseloverFat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8e8cbc/32.png) [@HorseloverFat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HorseloverFat)\ **Post date:** [June 13, 2000, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/18 "2000-06-13T23:03:34Z")
Look at that, there’s no sex-slave lobby, yet. ---
**Author:** ![Apollyon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/apollyon/32/4238_2.png) [@Apollyon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apollyon)\ **Post date:** [June 14, 2000, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/anyone-pro-slavery/22194/19 "2000-06-14T02:12:43Z")
> [@](#): > > \*\* > The South is still hot, humid, and the economy sucks except for agriculture. The only difference between now and the early 19th century is slavery. > \*\* …and honkin’ great [John Deere cotton pickers](http://www.deere.com/deerecom/Farmers+and+Ranchers/New+Equipment/Cotton+Harvesting/PRO-SERIES+Cotton+Pickers/default.htm).