I would guess the new Django Unchained movie brought this subject to light again.
Because it teaches you how not to treat your workers.
Are you saying it's not good to think of your workers as being more like server hardware than like founders?
That's exactly what it sounds like
I think that any comparisons between wage labor and slavery are simply category errors.
Ok, many people think otherwise and have written at length about it. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wage_slavery
You can't simply label something a category error and call it a day.
"I think". That many people think that there is a fruitful analogy to be drawn between chattel slavery and wage labor has no bearing on whether I think it's a sensible comparison to draw.