Business Sense

UNICOR, When Prisoners Work the System Works
By David Glenn Cox

There's a sentence is this Kos larvae diary that keeps nagging at me. Nagged yesterday and again this morning.

COX: If I do what these people are compelling me to do I can regain my freedom. But it was a mixed message while the prisoner interpreted as regaining his freedom his slave masters read it another way work makes free. Your work makes products free for that is the essence of slave labor compelled indentured or forced labor. The Nazi’s employed thousands in their war machine for these slaves were captured prisoners or undesirables or both and it was essential to keep them busy for the good of the state.

For unlike America the Germans looked down on Rosy the riveter they preferred the ladies to stay home to make babies for the next generation master race. But the Reich needed labor so what’s a Fuehrer to do? The Japanese as well had huge programs of forced labor during world war two and thousands died at the hands of their slave masters. It would be easy enough to assume that their slave masters were wantonly cruel but that misses the point completely, it is the nature of slavery to dehumanize the slave.

The slaves of the American old south were purchased property their owners had a monetary investment in them while they could be wantonly cruel if they wanted to it didn’t make sense from a business standpoint.

----Guess which sentence. Monetary investment hmmm? In essence, Nazi slave labor, Japanese slave labor, Soviet Gulags, and the American Prison Industry slavery bad, dehumanizing – but in one sentence Mr. Cox white-washes America's history of slavery from 1619-1865.

Yessirree Bubba, those old southern slave investments must have generally been treated good because cruelty jest wouldn't make no sense from a business standpoint.

Wanton cruelty jest wouldn't make no sense. Pay no mind to the southern aristocracy's degradation and vices; surely they would not wantonly indulge themselves with their own property. Even though they be the richest men of their times - they wouldn't senselessly be cruel, right Bubba?

Pedophiles, sadists, rapists, and evil brutes wouldn't make good business sense, right Bubba? I guess even enslaving and selling their own interracial children and grandchildren – was good sense economics, kind hearted investors they be.

The masters didn't need no whips and chains, runaway slave laws and bloodhounds - those were just for show. From a business standpoint, the master musta made those cotton fields and cane fields a pleasure to work in sunup to sundown, after which there was a sumptuous high on the hog meal of chitlins and neckbones and ditch greens. Lawdy, lawdy, them was the days of good business standpoints.

By 1860, around the evening fire in front of the slave quarters, there were 4,000,000 satisfied darkies singing Way Down Upon the Suwanee River; happy niggas lovin' the masters of business; every one just longing for more of the plantation.

Most likely Cox is completely oblivious to the meaning one sentence may hold for some folks. Although he writes on and on about Unicor labor, he doesn't mention the racial makeup of Unior's modern prison slaves – most of whom are descendents of slaves, owned by past masters who made "sense from a business standpoint."