Can one be enslaved and not know it?

Answer 1

YES! In far more ways than anyone can imagine! Those that know it all too well and those who are not aware of it.... The truly sad thing is, is that many of those who do know it don't care and actually prefer it!

Answer 2

It seems possible, but not in the sense of "plantation slavery"

A few examples:

(1) One can be enslaved to others' obsessions or neediness — i.e., can be the subordinate party in a manipulative, abusive, or co-dependent relationship and yet think that everyting is "normal."

(2) One can be enslaved by personal habis and presuppositions that limit one's freedom and choice.

(3) One can be enslaved by fashions, fads, and social prejudices.

Answer 3

Paying a mortgage isn't indicative of slavery.

There are REAL slaves on the planet that are completely dominated. They have to be aware because the master demands their constant submission under penalty of abuse, death or the threat of the same to their family.

How could a slave not know that he or she is a slave? If there is no slavemaster present who enforces his power, there is no slavery. Even if the slave had no language to understand the concept "slave," he would still have every affection of a slave. And if not, then he would meet with death. Any kind of test that you could develop to determine whether a person is a slave would necessarily be satisfied by any slave.

The slave may say "no, I am not a slave" but that doesn't mean we can rest with his subjective authority. On the contrary, the slave passes the slave-test. His knowledge has been tested. There's nothing more than demonstrating the practices to follow as a slave to know that one is a slave.

In other words, whatever the slave wants to call himself, he is aware of the normative realities of his existence, what action is proper to each possible domain, and so it would be uncharitable to call the slave ignorant of his condition because he calls it by a different name. Otherwise you make it seem as if the slave's existence is completely transparent. And brutality is anything but invisible; there's a constant need for abuse..

The sublime slavery of the working classes defines the slavemaster as invisible economic forces according to dialectical materialism. The individual is coerced by the greedy capitalists, e.g. the banks that lend money for mortgages, to sell their labor on the cheap in order to subsist.

Being dominated by a political system is not the same KIND of domination as real slavery. The slave doesn't have any, even marginal, power over the slavemaster. But no "one" person is pulling the strings of economics/politics /culture/history. And even when you "follow the money" to the leaders, they still must conform to the very same system; they are not, in any case, completely autonomous agents. They have more responsiblity to these intangible forces; they are more
enslaved", whether as public servant or private businessman-- these so-called slavemasters have to be accountable and submit to the law.

The analogy is far more than rhetorical. It also deprioritizes real slavery, making it only one miserable part of a much larger set. So that we think we are victims of war too, because we practice Sun-Tzu in the workplace. Or know famine because the price of gas increases. Through universalization, these hyperbolic gestures have a nullifying effect on the source of the injustice, immorality, or catastrophe. As if we are all part of the same experience -- that somehow genocides are part of our daily lives already. So when the real phenomenon receives no attention, it is not because it is ignored, but rather accepted as a condition of life.

Answer 4

Yes. Most people are enslaved in some way. I'm a slave to a job I hate because it pays the mortgage. Anyone who's stuck in a bad situation & sees no way out. Bad jobs & marriages. Of course we could get out if we really tried/wanted to. Sometimes it's easier to stay in a rut than try to get out. Easier to live in a prison than break free.

Answer 5

yes, systems are designed that way, because someone always finds a need for a puppet who can understand what is expected of them to fulfill an-others ambitions, thus the service must be delivered , enslaved by time bought. time away from reflectiveness.

Answer 6

Of course it is possible!
For example, you can be enslaved by innocence or ignorance... in this context, you are not aware that you are enslaved.
if the way you understand the concept "enslaved" is very narrow, there would be a large possibility that you are enslaved and yet you did not know it.

Answer 7

Enslaved as in influenced, yes indeed, one can be so and not be aware as to the extent, until you are able to see yourself and your situation with hindsight.

Answer 8

An enslaved man always agrees to be a slave. In one form or another. He could fight for his freedom and die trying but most are not that commited to freedom. Better red than dead so to speak.

Answer 9

Absolutely. In fact, most people are enslaved voluntarily. Do you have a job? Well, most people do, in order to have food in their stomach and a roof over their head. At the same time, we all abide by and are subjected to certain laws, virtually all of which the public does not create. Just try not paying your taxes and you'll find out how free you really are!

Answer 10

Baby, we're ALL slaves. Pay no taxes: Do not pass Go, do not collect 200 dollars, go directly to jail.

Go to school, learn the same things they've been poisoning our minds with for the past 300 years. Go to work, pay your bills, make the banks rich or die in penury on a subway grating.

Conformity is a social prison.

On a more personal level, sure. Take the wife who supports her husband, keeps his home, raises their children, asks for nothing in return until one day she decides she wants to go back to school...