21st Century Slavery and the Debt Plantation



Posted: Friday, March 25, 2011

by TeamAfro
AfroDaddy.com

America is the land of the free and for the past 400 plus years we have tried to live up to that standard.  We certainly have had our periods where we have fallen short of this ideal, the most glaring of which may be the institution of slavery.  Slavery meant different things to many people, but one of the core principles of slavery was that it was a means for a few people in America (plantation owners) to get rich off of the labor of masses who were enslaved.  Slavery for blacks was abolished hundreds of years ago and has been replaced by a new slavery based on the same profit motive principles.  Today we are witnessing a new slavery where the few (banks and large finance corporations) have found a way to enslave the masses (the poor and middle class) in order to reap profits off the backs of our labor.

The form of 21st century slavery we are talking about here is corporate slavery.  The means at which financial corporations enforce this slavery is through credit and debt.  The main difference between this 21sth century form of slavery and the slavery of the past is that the masses are willing participants in their own enslavement.  When a young man or woman turns 18 he or she is bombarded with offers to get credit cards or take out loans to buy things.  The media bombards us with the notion that you must have “good credit” to buy things and without a credit card you can’t function in society.  These of course are both lies.  You don’t need credit to buy things; you need MONEY to buy things.  Nevertheless too many of us fall into the trap and go collect credit cards and loans making us beholden to the banks to pay them back.  The slave papers are your credit card contracts and loan documents.  Once you take the credit card (you don’t even have to sign anymore) you have entered the slave-master relationship.

When you buy something with a credit card (ex. furniture) you own the furniture and the bank owns you.  You must pay the bank or the bank will punish you.  You must pay for 1 year, 5 years or however long it takes to repay the bank, even if you have long since disposed of the items you purchased.  If you choose not to pay or pay late, the fees go up and you must pay more.  There is no escape.  Keep buying on credit and you continue to tighten the master’s grip until you find yourself spending most of your working life paying off debts for things you bought years ago (again furniture) or for things you will only own in 30 years from now (i.e. your house).

The credit card slave contract never ends.  It renews every year automatically (of course you have to pay an annual fee for the “privilege” of continuing your slavery).  The only way to exit this relationship is to pay off your credit cards and tear them up.  How many people do that?  Very few because again the media brainwashes you into thinking you MUST have credit to function in society.

Don’t fall for this trap people.  Buy with cash.  You know it is the smart thing to do and even the banks have admitted that the best slave you can be is to be a slave with a zero balance.  “Authorities” on credit management tell you “the best thing to do is to use your credit card to buy things and then pay the balance off at the end of each month”.  If you can do that why do you need to use the credit card?!?  Just pay cash.

Next week: “The Government Slave”
Team Afro is the writing team for AfroDaddy.com - The Black Man's Survival Guide. The website is http://www.afrodaddy.com and you can reach the author of this article at teamafro@afrodaddy.com

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Top-level comments on this article: (1 total)
» left by David Tanguay
 1 year 35 days ago.
186 fans.
Yes we are slaves of the 21st. century. I don't have a credit card but I do have a debit card this limits my withdrawals to my bank balance. I can't spend more than I have in the bank.
» left by TeamAfro 1 year 28 days ago.
3 fans.
That's the smart way to do it. In fact, it is the only safe way to do it.
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