Jean-François Brient
On modern servitude
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“Tis the times'
plague, when madmen lead the blind. “
King Lear, Act IV, scene 1, William Shakespear Modern servitude is
voluntary, endorsed by those slaves who
crawl on the surface of the Earth. They buy the merchandises that
enslave them every day more. Slaves run after alienating jobs that are
gently given to them if they prove to be tamed enough. They choose the
masters they will obey. For this absurd tragedy to happen, it has been
necessary to dispossess slaves from the awareness of their own
exploitation and their alienation. Here is the bizarre modernity of our
time. Contrary to slaves from antiquity, servants from the Middle Ages
or the working-class from the first industrial revolutions, today we
are contemplating people that are totally enslaved. The difference is
that they are unaware of their enslavement and those who are aware,
choose to ignore it. They ignore rebellion which should be the only
genuine reaction of the exploited ones. Slaves accept without question
the pitiful life that was planned for them. Renouncing and resignation
are the sources of their misfortune.
Shattered times
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