We're all slaves... but not in the usually accepted context, but you're absolutely correct with your assertions near the end of the article. But addressing the earlier part of the post- the root cause & moral context I suppose you could call it... Slavery and laziness have nothing at all to do with each other- it's not a product of laziness. For example, it's impossible for one man (or family) to work a large parcel of land (1000's of acres). Slavery was merely an expedient and cost effective means of production. Because America is always held as the model for any analysis (I don't know why- slavery existed for every culture around the globe during every historical epoch including today) it's always put into a racial framework by people wanting something for nothing and believe they've found a method.

By 1861 (the beginning of the War of Northern Aggression) slavery as an institution was finished- and everybody knew it. After 1807-08 there was an embargo on the importation of slaves. Applying the law of supply & demand- the cost of a slave was $2500. It was like buying a Bentley to plow the fields. Conversely, an Irish immigrant (and there were more enough to go around after the Potato Famine of the 1840's) would work for pennies a day and pay their own upkeep.

Going back even further in history- slavery was often the most expedient method of dealing with cultures that had been defeated in war. Rather than killing the vanquished- they were sold off as slaves. In fact that's where most of the African slaves that came to the America's came from. Contrary to movies like Roots... It wasn't white thugs in hobnailed boots stomping through the jungle capturing the noble blackman (they wouldn't have survived 2 weeks in the jungle with succumbing to disease) Muslim slave traders had them waiting at the docks waiting to be loaded onto ships (just like today)