Chattel slavery is the worst evil on a very, very long scale of evils inflicted on working people. It is so evil it stands apart. But it doesn’t make all the other labor abuses unimportant.

The plantation owners buy chattel slaves if you let them. You take them away and they import indentured labour. Take that away and they want convicts. Or illegal immigrants who can’t go to the authorities. Non-union labor. Wage theft. Casual workers on commission. Self employed contractors with no labor rights. Unpaid interns.

Stealing every word written, every note played, every picture painted by every human to exist shouldn’t be a surprise. The fact that this was done in lawful democratic societies under our noses is crazy. It should be causing an outrage. People are becoming worryingly disconnected and distracted.

The worst thing I think is that for so long we were told that working people could escape poverty and gain some control of their lives through education. Not much you could do for yourself working in a mine or factory but if your kids focus at school they can go to college and get a career. Don’t have to struggle like their parents. Buy a nice house. Raise a family. And the rug has been pulled out. The house isn’t happening. The family is on hold. Nobody is worried that AI has copied fine arts and literature from dead people. The problem is the impact on the living. It is another betrayal.