1865 13th Amendment Passed: Is Voluntary Servitude Legal Today?

John's surgery would require two of his children to live in servitude | #HealthCareCost #HealthEquity

Core value topics - #HealthEquity #HealthCareCost

Voluntary Slavery

Passed by Congress on January 31, 1865. Ratified December 6, 1865. The 13th Amendment was updated to include:

“Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.”

Voluntary servitude is 100% legal. Now consider the cost of heart surgery in the US in 2020 was $30,000 to $200,000. By 2050 that could easily sit between $100,000 to $500,000.

Automation and AI will begin to replace higher-paying jobs. Service jobs that pay less will increase. And, healthcare costs will be nearly unaffordable. Here’s a vignette I created in 2015.

Healthcare 2050

He was a healthy male and firmly in the middle class. The year was 2050 and it was cold, much like other winter days, suddenly Sam felt the pain in his chest. It was a sharp pain that extended from his heart throughout the left side of his body. 

He was losing the struggle to control his breathing, as he felt the fiery pain sending waves of hot lava through the left side of his body.  His mind was barely alert as he acknowledged to himself he had no health insurance. 

The realization that two of his four children would live five years in enslavement to fund his immediate treatment and recovery was more painful than the heart attack.  No one ever believed that slavery would return as a color-blind institution that would set its grips on more than 25% of the American population.   

The fact that involuntary servitude was not covered under The 13th Amendment, ensured the cost of health would be paid by someone. In fact, it was made possible for some babies to be born into slavery or sold to settle payment. The process wasn’t much different than 1860, except now the process was color-blind.

The off-shore surgeon using the remote robotic arms smiled at the ready-for ‘Enslavement Agreement & Implant’ tracking systems; in a matter of hours, he would be able to ‘allocate’ his property to bidders on the Social Big Board and immediately receive payment into his trading account.

As Sam slipped back into unconsciousness he now realized his mistakes.  As a congressman, he could have done more to ensure a stable American future.