On modern servitude

Jean-François Brient: On modern servitude

“Tis the times' plague, when madmen lead the blind. “

King Lear, Act IV, scene 1, William Shakespeare

Modern servitude is voluntary, endorsed by those slaves who crawl on the surface of the Earth. They buy the merchandises that enslave them every day more. Slaves run after alienating jobs that are gently given to them if they prove to be tamed enough. They choose the masters they will obey. For this absurd tragedy to happen, it has been necessary to dispossess slaves from the awareness of their own exploitation and their alienation. Here is the bizarre modernity of our time. Contrary to slaves from antiquity, servants from the Middle Ages or the working-class from the first industrial revolutions, today we are contemplating people that are totally enslaved. The difference is that they are unaware of their enslavement and those who are aware, choose to ignore it. They ignore rebellion which should be the only genuine reaction of the exploited ones. Slaves accept without question the pitiful life that was planned for them. Renouncing and resignation are the sources of their misfortune.

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