Sirajuddin Aziz<\/p>\n
Slavery has existed since antiqui\u00adty and time immemorial. Recall\u00ading the beginning of human his\u00adtory, Rousseau said, \u201cLaws gave the weak new burdens, and the strong new powers; they irre\u00adtrievably destroyed natural freedom\u2026\u201d. The usurpation of rights has always been imposed upon the mass\u00ades through laws and litiga\u00adtion\u2014what are today\u2019s ordi\u00adnances, SROs, etc., strengthening elite capture and further weakening the oppressed and downtrodden.
\nSlaves were objects of law and not their subjects. Deprived of basic human rights, a person was treated as chattel, a piece of property, and a servant.
\nThe immoral and impudent policy of forcing any person into submission and servitude, mostly without remu\u00adneration, is abject slavery. At best, the owner would provide meagre food and even less clothing; only shelter was \u201cfree,\u201d more for the owner\u2019s conve\u00adnience than as a facility for the slaves.
\nIntimidation and the threat of brute force are instruments deployed by one person to dominate another. It is not merely law, regulations, rules, pro\u00adcedures, and regulatory dictates that subjugate, but also the \u2018innocuous de\u00adsuetude of our minds\u2019. Standards and codes, other than those that monitor conduct, essentially rob an individu\u00adal of their innate qualities and sever\u00adal inherent characteristics. When this is done at the corporate level, individ\u00aduality ceases to exist. All are made to look alike, fashioned according to the desires of the owner or entrepreneur.
\nAristotle wrote, \u201cHe who is by nature not his own man, is by nature a slave\u201d. Corporate slavery is a weed that keeps growing in every organisation and in\u00adstitution. It sees a rapid rise when the economy is weak or on a downward slide, creating scarce alternative em\u00adployment opportunities. This is when the employer thrives; economic weak\u00adness is exploited to the fullest.
\nRousseau\u2019s social contract states, \u201cCoercion created slavery, the coward\u00adice of the slaves perpetuated it\u201d. Em\u00adployees succumb to economic exploi\u00adtation and coercion; this is further exacerbated by the inability to survive without the crutch of a fixed income, which preserves the status of slavery until the hair begins to grey, and that\u2019s exactly when the die-hard, arrogant, and deceitful employer shows them the door. Over time, therefore, corporate slaves begin to enjoy being enslaved.
\nFrederick Douglass, in 1845, wrote, \u201cI didn\u2019t know I was a slave until I found out I couldn\u2019t do things I wanted\u201d. The capitalist entrepreneur\u2019s worst night\u00admare is the transfer of economic power from the arrogant and dominant elite to the possibility of a growing middle class. It seems audacious to the own\u00ader or entrepreneur when a worker de\u00admands participation in strategic man\u00adagement or ownership. I once upset a business tycoon by suggesting that en\u00adtrepreneurs like him specialise in hir\u00ading those who have lost or imprisoned their ability to \u201cthink\u201d, as they only hire individuals of mediocrity; the fear of hiring those better than themselves is obvious. Service with a free mind is different from service done in fetters. \u201cThis is servitude, To serve the unwise\u201d (Milton, Paradise Lost).
\nSome entrepreneurs offer lavish handouts to employees, not out of goodwill or the nobility of giving, but with the intention to enslave \u2018individu\u00adal performers\u2019 who are made econom\u00adically weak and therefore accept slav\u00adery. The option of losing a quality of life that depends on a credit of a cer\u00adtain sum at the end of a given period is an exploitative tool.
\nThe trappings of office held are the greatest tools for creating a sense of subservience; these offerings impris\u00adon the ability to think freely. All se\u00adnior management in the private sector and all bureaucrats in the government have a \u201cbell\u201d affixed to either their worktops or the side table, typical\u00adly obscured from visitors\u2019 view, which their ladyship or lordship presses, usu\u00adally incessantly, to summon the \u201coffice boy\u201d \u2013 any delay in response can po\u00adtentially provoke their wrath. The of\u00adfice boy is human (a reminder to the reader); domesticated animals also re\u00adspond to a whistle\u2026 what\u2019s the differ\u00adence? None. Entrepreneurs and man\u00adagers treat them alike, and in many cases, animals receive preferential treatment. This does not happen only in Africa but here too, as well as in oth\u00ader \u201cenlightened\u201d societies.
\nHuman Resources policies related to succession planning, promotions, increments, perks, privileges, allow\u00adances, and learning and development opportunities are designed to secure submission and subservience to the dictates of the owner or manager, who, by merely listing their institu\u00adtions on exchanges, come to be recog\u00adnised as \u201ccorporate persons\u201d, which is far from the truth. One can only imag\u00adine with disgust the situation pre\u00advailing in organisations with no rec\u00adognition of the separation between ownership and management.
\nI was told of a Chairman of the Board who kept the HR policy in the last sec\u00adtion of his drawers\u2026 no employee should take perks and privileges as a \u201cright\u201d, in his view; no, these are meant to be given to a chosen few, as \u201chand\u00adouts\u201d, \u201cfavours\u201d, and to appease. Slavery is often confused with loyalty\u2026 absolute nonsense! Suffering in silence is not loy\u00adalty but a compulsion, shaped by con\u00adstituents and characteristics specific to the employee\u2019s age and career stage.
\nLarge listed companies at the Paki\u00adstan Exchange are dominated by con\u00adcentrated ownership, and consequent\u00adly, control of the boards. With this dominance, high ideals of good gover\u00adnance and adoption of international\u00adly accepted best practices are discard\u00aded. According to rumours, a CEO was shown the door for presenting an HR benefits paper without prior approv\u00adal. Independence of thought must re\u00admain perpetually for sale or be per\u00admanently mortgaged; otherwise, the consequences are severe, especially for senior management. Diversifying ownership is the solution to change at\u00adtitudes towards employees.
\nCEOs must not bend their spines out of a misplaced sense of responsibili\u00adty by not wanting to rock the boat too hard; learn to keep sailing and navi\u00adgating without bending backwards\u2026 stand tall on the spine\u2026 exhibit that the \u201cvertebra of office\u201d has no gaps\u2026 fissures in the spine are very painful.
\nThe way each of us treats our help\u00aders at home reflects our upbringing; and it is this upbringing that we bring to the institution.<\/p>\n
The writer is a Senior Banker & Freelance Columnist.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Sirajuddin Aziz Slavery has existed since antiqui\u00adty and time immemorial. Recall\u00ading the beginning of human his\u00adtory, Rousseau said, \u201cLaws gave the weak new burdens, and the strong new powers; they irre\u00adtrievably destroyed natural freedom\u2026\u201d. The usurpation of rights has always been imposed upon the mass\u00ades through laws and litiga\u00adtion\u2014what are today\u2019s ordi\u00adnances, SROs, etc., strengthening […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[13449],"class_list":{"0":"post-443018","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-article","7":"tag-sirajuddin-aziz"},"yoast_head":"\n