Slavery

1. If I have an unconditional right,
   to use my inalienable fair share,
   of what the Earth freely provides,
   to turn my labour directly into,
   my needs and luxuries of life,
   then I am free.

2. But if I am forcibly deprived,
   by an invincible power of authority,
   of what the Earth freely provides,
   to turn my labour directly into
   my needs and luxuries of life,
   then I am destitute.

3. I must serve somebody who has
   what the Earth freely provides.
   If I manage to find such a one,
   who desires that I serve him,
   in return for my needs of life,
   then I am his slave.

4. As a slave I may be either:
   forcibly bound to my one master,
   or free to seek any who'll have me.
   But I must serve somebody:
   whether under Feudal confinement,
   or in a free and open labour market.

5. In recompense for my labour,
   My master may reward me in kind
   or he may pay me a wage in money.
   But there is no systemic difference:
   Cash is simply a means to buy kind.
   Kept or waged, I am still a slave.

6. So a modern employee is clearly a slave,
   Churned forever in a cauldron of chance,
   The destitute remnant, a warning to him.
   Only the rich and the landed are free.
   Such rancid imbalance has mystified me.
   Please will you tell me, how can this be?
   

7. By ancient theft of the land from its people,
   Fenced by Acts that exclude common man,
   Decreed by a King, sanitised by his law,
   Enforced by his guards to protect his elite,
   Now by a Government by way of its police,
   Democratically elected by those it enslaves.

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© 18 September 2022 Robert John Morton