Slaves vs. Modern Employees: A Controversial Comparison | Chapter 13
Slaves vs. Modern Employees
A Spectrum of Freedom: Agency and Self-Determination
Imagine an enslaved woman, Clara, on a tobacco plantation in Virginia, circa 1720. Her life is entirely dictated by her master. She has no say in her work, her living conditions, her marriage, or the fate of her children. Her body is not her own. She cannot leave, cannot refuse work, cannot earn her own money, cannot testify in court. Her lack of agency is absolute, enforced by law and violence. Every aspect of her existence is controlled externally. Even her inner life, her thoughts and feelings, must be carefully guarded lest they betray a rebellious spirit. Her future is a continuation of her present, unless purchased, freed, or she successfully escapes – all rare and perilous prospects.
Now, consider Sarah, a modern call center employee in a bustling office cubicle, circa 2023. She sits with a headset, bound to her desk by the phone system, answering customer complaints from a script. Her calls are monitored, her breaks timed, her performance metrics tracked by computer. She cannot deviate from the script, cannot express her true feelings, and must maintain a polite demeanor even when verbally abused by customers. She dreams of a better job, but the local economy offers few alternatives that pay her current wage, which barely covers her rent and bills. She has debt, mouths to feed. 'Another day, another stack of impossible problems,' she sighs internally, as the next call queues up.
Sarah *can* quit. She *can* seek other employment. She *can* vote, own property, and speak freely (outside of her job's strictures). These are monumental freedoms Clara never possessed. However, Sarah's 'choice' to stay in her current job is heavily constrained by economic necessity. The practical reality of her situation offers a very limited scope of agency. Her 'freedom' is largely theoretical if the alternatives are starvation or homelessness. While not legally owned, she is economically compelled.
Psychologically, both Clara and Sarah experience a profound lack of control over their daily work lives. Clara's lack of agency is total and legally sanctioned; Sarah's is economic and systemic. Clara's existence is one of constant, existential threat; Sarah's is one of chronic economic anxiety and job insecurity. The comparison highlights that freedom isn't just about the absence of legal chains, but also about the presence of genuine options and the ability to exercise meaningful self-determination in one's life. While the degrees of freedom are fundamentally incomparable, the exploration reveals that even in modern societies, economic structures can significantly limit an individual's practical agency, leading to varying degrees of a 'spectrum of freedom' that ranges from absolute bondage to constrained choice.