Let’s say one day the public voted in politicians who vowed for the top 1% of income earners to have 100% of their income paid in as taxes. Would this be slavery?
Those people could move to another country. Those people aren’t in chains. So would this be oppressive?
I think we could agree it would be counterproductive to the economy but that’s not the question. Would it be slavery or oppressive? What do you think?
Slavery wouldn't have been slavery if the slaves could have legally moved to Canada. So, no, it wouldn't be slavery.
Slavery is a pet peeve of mine and I don't like the term being used for anything other than real actual slavery, which remains a real phenomonom in parts of the world and risks being underestimated if people start thinking of less severe cases as "slavery".
They can move to another country. They are free.
It would be oppressive, but it would be very different indeed from real slavery.
I wrote about slavery here:
http://citizenleauki.joeuser.com/article/344720/The_Arab_Empire_and_Slavery
In the article I mention Francis Bok, a former slave who fled Sudan and now lives in the US. If he hadn't been a slave and could have moved to the US legally, he would have been in the same situation as a 1%/100% candidate envisioned in the blog post.
I.e. if he hadn't been a slave, he would have been like one of the 1%/100% people.
The danger you describe is real and it would be oppressive and could still be sold as "fair" to the sort of people for whom "fairness" is the idea that other people work for free. But slavery it is not.