DOES SLAVERY STILL EXIST IN THE UNITED STATES?

One man's take: "And I don't think "slave" is too strong a word to describe someone who is not permitted to quit his job no matter how dangerous it becomes or how much he hates it."

Here's Goldberg's response. Certainly recruits enlist because of the alleged benefits -- education, money, fame, girls in every port, all, no doubt, sweetened up by the "recruiters" -- the problem is they get sent to places like Fallujah. I'm not sure what the "contract" says, but this brings up another interesting debate libertarians love to engage in: under libertarian principles, can you sell yourself into slavery? In a live debate format, I witnessed Walter Block argue "yes" and and Hans Hoppe argue "no." (Another question: if your boss decides to send you to Antartica for a year, can you dissent and quit your job? Can a military man do the same without severe penalty?)

Final note: I ran into a kid I knew in high school at Best Buy a few weeks back. He was being shipped out to Iraq and explained his reasons for enlisting: a) "to shoot f**king Iraqis in the f**king face" and b) "bring home their ears." Such a nice young man.

Thanks to Antiwar's Blog!

UPDATE: Another opinion on the slavery article: "As a general rule, if you're induced by a false representation to enter into a contract, you can get out of the contract. Should soldiers be entitled to ditch the military when they realize they've been sold a boat that doesn't float?"