Slavery: For or against?

[HappySqurriel]

homer said:

Chairman-Mao said:

No, because its cheaper to just pay workers than it is to pay people to keep the slaves in check (make sure they don't try to revolt). 

I disagree. If that were the case, then slavery would have been abandoned long ago, seeing as slavery was usually used as a way to make even more money by not having to pay a decent salary.

Many uncommon economic conditions have to be in place for slavery to be viable; and even rarer conditions have to be in place for it to be highly profitable on a wide scale. This is the reason why slavery was not widely practiced through the western world even though it was legal. What you need is a labour intensive product that is highly valued and requires no skill to produce, in an area where unskilled labour is expensive enough the massive up front costs associated with buying a slave and the recurring cost of food, shelter and clothing for the slave.