Socialism offers the masses something
And what is that exactly, other than a miserable stagnant existence in the self administered chains of dependence? Or are you simply referring to the illusions that socialists have fallen for? I hope I'm not the only one who realizes that the
systemically poor deserve exactly what they get, and get exactly what they
demand. By demanding the redistribution of wealth they ask that compassion and empathy be made mandatory, which in reality means they are asking for a world in which all forms of genuine compassion and empathy be eliminated. The only possible victory scenario of socialism is successfully bringing the rest of mankind down with it, but in it's defeat we would see the greatest possible good for the greatest number of people (Karl Marx eat your heart out).
As a species we finally got rid of it (at least officially) in 1981 when Mauritania became the last nation to outlaw slavery.
Slavery has not been eliminated. And will never be eliminated. Because it is natural. Laws outlawing what is natural, never work. Anti-usury laws didn't work either.
Man thinks he is more powerful than he really is.
There are damned facts that we perhaps wish were not true, but I don't see how it will help me by lying to myself, just because those realities are uncomfortable.
BTW I was reading back through this thread and I found I seriously disagree with this statement. I think men merely mistake the oppression of nature and of their direct ancestors poor decision making for oppression by the hand of their fellow living man. Slavery between men can be eliminated or at the very least virtually eliminated. You can look at it from a point of view of diminishing returns in nonlinear dynamic systems, in that a society that is 99% free of coercion is basically just as good as a theoretically 100% coercion-free society while also being exponentially easier to attain the further you get away from that 100% theoretical goal.
Maybe you can expand on your reasoning because I just don't see it.