Slavery

Published on May 24, 2026, filed under philosophy, politics, misc. (Share this post, e.g., on Mastodon or on Bluesky.)

When I look at our existence on this planet, I find it difficult to argue that there’s much positive about it. As a species that destroys its environment, other species, and each other—three observable facts—, it seems fair to say that our existence has a negative impact on whomever and whatever we come in contact with.

One particularly frustrating and depressing piece is that we, the vast majority of us, are and accept being in endless slavery.

I believe this can be shown with one question:

Do you have to work? ^*

Even if you’re one of the few people who can say that you don’t have to work, is this guaranteed? Is there no scenario under which you might need to? Maybe you’re so wealthy and well-protected as never to work again, but even then you may just be less enslaved than others, because modern slavery is a spectrum.

If You’re Forced to Sell Your Labor to Live a Reasonably Safe and Healthy Life, You’re Not Free

The uncomfortable truth is that almost all of us have to sell our time just to access basic resources, and are therefore not free—practically not free, not philosophically not free (which I think we are).

When you argue that this is unavoidable, I’d respond that you miss the gravity of the situation and lack imagination. As a species, we've not given it nearly enough thought to organize ourselves so that we build on voluntary work for the benefit of all.

But with our modern slavery being a spectrum on which freedom truly is a function of money, neither the fact that we can change masters, nor that our masters themselves may be slaves, nor that there are some very, very few people who are practically free ^† changes anything about our being slaves.

Succumbing to or Coping With Slavery

For the great majority of us, I see two traditional responses:

1. One group, probably everyone who’s in a precarious living situation, has had to succumb to it, very much keenly aware of being slaves.

2. The other group of us has decided not to view themselves as slaves. This idea of deciding who we are is a feature of reality and at the core of how the world works—not as a disjunction (or contradiction), but a conjunction that grants that people are both (philosophically) free and (practically) not free. Deciding not to regard oneself as a slave is a coping mechanism.

Given that it uses a feature of reality—deciding who we are—, the coping strategy isn’t a bad one. But it doesn't solve the problem that, effectively, almost all of us are living lives as slaves.

It is increasingly important that we recognize this, and that we reimagine and recreate our lot.

Using our vast number and the philosophical weight of deciding who we are, we can decide not only to stop seeing ourselves as slaves, but to stop being slaves.

We can decide:

• not to accept that our sustenance, health, and a high standard of living need to be “earned” through coercion, but rather sustained through shared, voluntary effort;
• to prevent conditions that allow slavery to exist or arise;
• to be free;
• to ensure the well-being of everyone, acknowledging that this secures our freedom above all.

Idealistic Sunday post over (please don’t tell any of my former philosophy professors).

^* This is different from asking if you want to work—work can be enjoyable, and people do enjoy it!

^† I’m willing to bet that some of these very few privileged people aren't feeling free, either, but that’s not the topic here. Our concern must be the actual freedom of the many.

About Me

I’m Jens (long: Jens Oliver Meiert), and I’m an engineering lead, guerrilla philosopher, and indie publisher. I’ve worked as a technical lead and engineering manager at various companies, including Google; I’m an open-source developer and a contributor to web standards (like HTML, CSS, WCAG); and I write and review books for O’Reilly and Frontend Dogma.

I love trying things, not only in web development and engineering management, but also with respect to politics and philosophy. Here on meiert.com I talk about some of my experiences and perspectives. (Please share feedback—interpret charitably, keep it friendly, but do be critical.)