Assess whether Santa's Elves are slaves, or indentured servants.
The following is my response.
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Santa Claus, beloved by many and known around the world as a force of good in a dark and twisted world, bringing joy to millions of children, is not what he seems. Santa Claus (aka Father Christmas aka St. Nicholas) has a veritable plantation at the North Pole in which he forces his elves to work year round as slaves. The evidence is clear: (a) There is no definitive ending point to the elves' term of employment, (b) their enslaved condition is hereditary, and (c) the isolation of the elves indicates that leaving is simply not an option. It is time we called out Santa Claus for who he is: a slave-driver profiting off the backs of an enslaved workforce.
Santa's Elves cannot be considered indentured servants because they are not serving for a definitive term, nor are they paying off a debt to Santa Claus. It can be argued that Santa Claus occupies the North Pole courtesy of a form of the Headright System, in which he was granted land in exchange for bringing indentured servants with him. Regardless of how Santa and the elves arrived at the North Pole, it is clear that Santa's Elves are tied to him for the duration of their life or else there would be reports of elves buying houses and land and reintegrating into society after the customary seven-year period of indentured servitude.
Santa's Elves are not indentured servants because their children automatically join Santa's workforce. As with the uniquely American system of chattel slavery in which the enslaved are treated as property and their condition is hereditary, the offspring of Santa's Elves simply stay at the North Pole and work in Santa's Workshop. They are not sent to a boarding school, they do not have a choice with what to do with their lives. It is expected that they will enter Santa's Workshop and continue to make toys. This is slavery, plain and simple.
Consider the North Pole. It is isolated, cut off from the rest of the world. In 1739 a number of the enslaved in South Carolina rose up against their white oppressors in what became known as the Stono Rebellion. As a result, sweeping anti-literacy laws such as the Negro Act of 1740 were passed by fearful legislatures. Within 100 years nearly every Southern state would make it illegal for the enslaved to learn to read or write, as education was power. It is no coincidence that Santa's Elves are kept at the North Pole, out of contact from the rest of the world. Even if the Elves could escape on the Underground Railroad (similar goal: Canada), they would not be able to survive the journey. This is by design. Santa has successfully isolated the Elves from outside society in an effort to keep them subjugated.
Traditionally, we sing the popular holiday song "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" in a joyful manner. Perhaps a remix is necessary to highlight the dark warnings held within the song:
O! You better watch out
You better not cry
You better not pout
I'm telling you why:
Santa Claus is coming to town!
He's making a list
He's checking it twice
He's gonna find out
Who's naughty and nice
He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
He knows if you've been bad or good
So be good, for goodness' sake!
This is a pattern of fear and intimidation. If this is how we are told to fear Santa Claus' inescapable power, how must his Elves feel? Santa's Elves are not indentured servants, as there is no time period after which their servitude ends. Santa Claus has violated the rights of his Elves by keeping them on his plantation for the duration of their - and their children's - lives. He has isolated the Elves and limited their educational opportunities in an effort to preserve his own way of life: a hero who gets all the credit for someone else's work.
