Millions of Slaves Make What We Buy

in #slavery5 years ago (edited)

Slavery is a thing of the past. Or so we are told. There are many forms of slavery that are ongoing. Labor slavery is one of the oldest and the most known from the past few centuries. But so too is sex slavery.


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I hear of sax slavery in the news some times, like children who get kidnapped, or the NXIVM sex slave cult in Hollywood. These are just he tip of the iceberg that we see. It's widespread in the underbelly of society.

The older form of labor slavery is also widespread around the world, despite us thinking we have gotten rid of slavery. According to research from Walk Free Initiative, in 2018 there are 40.3 million people living in slavery conditions in the world. Most are women, which is no surprise, especially considering the sex slavery angle.

The organization aims to eliminate slavery in the world by 2030. That's a commendable goal, but unrealistic. There can be strides made though. They also want to eliminate human trafficking, forced labor and child labor. Again, these are great goals, but the time frame just seems unreal to me.

The research seems to indicate that 16 million people are victims to slavery where their production labor ends up in supply chains throughout the world. And this excludes child labor numbers.

The UN defines modern slavery as conditions of work which * are performed involuntarily and under the menace of any penalty.”* Of the 193 UN member states, only 40 have laws that try to prevent businesses from buying slave labor products, or products that include slave labor anywhere in the production-line of the product.

The fashion industry and tech industries are the most slave-like, where people are forced to work long hours without the option of leaving. And the West, the US in particular, is the largest importer of such products.

We are buying products made in slave-shops in China, such as the Apple factories have shown. Much of the clothes we buy is also made in child labor industries. We are driving modern slavery, as we focus on our own personal well-being where we enjoy our "freedom".

The sad reality is that we aren't free. And so long as we exploit others, be they humans or non human animals, we aren't really free, nor are we creating a free world. We have a long way to go.

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absolutely agree. Our freedom is well created illusion.
There are free people, but there are so few of them. All the rest are really sleeping slaves.
btw, do you know why do they wear those pieces of cloth on their faces? infections? are they afraid to be sick?

Yup... sad world. Maybe toxic fabrics or something to not breathe it in?

A good version! Maybe.. but I watched many programs about this country, and many people wear them even in the streets. Bad ecology? Maybe..

Yup... sad world. Maybe
Toxic fabrics or something
To not breathe it in?

                 - krnel


I'm a bot. I detect haiku.

People justify that the industrial and financial revolution would have not been possible with cheap human labor in the form of slavery.

The rich exploit the poor and uneducated in order to minimize cost and up profits.

Fashion and sportswear companies use a lot of third world slave labor in the effort to minimize their costs and then sell for exorbitant amounts in first world countries.

Thailand and China has a lot of dog food companies that use slave labor and dodgy health standards to fuel the growing business of designer dog foods and threats.

Yup, we wouldn't be where we are now without all the bad shit... so what, that doesn't make it right morons ... jeez. We would be somewhere else, but things would have been better all around.

But we are already stepping forward instead of standing still.

Forward and backward ;)

Very true, good post, I will follow you. Even what little freedoms we do have today are being ripped away at blinding speed.

There is a way to take back our power through decentralization, cryptocurrency, and privacy/security, however.
http://www.meaningoffreedom.com/meaning-of-freedom-movement/

Yup, decentralized power is a great solution, though hard to actualize ;)

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there is not only slavery, there are also different classes all over the world. There is a lot of talk about India and the caste system, but if you look closely, there is such a thing also in Western life. The rich with the rich, the middle with the middle and the poor only with the poor. Nobody in the West wants to marry a poor man when he is rich. Not only that, even to be together with poor people no one who has money wants. Caste system in Europe? YES, there is also that there!

Yea, but that's voluntary, it's not a caste system where ppl hurt others to keep in place.

The US has the most slaves of any country.
Millions of people who have done no harm to anyone but themselves were captured, forced to sign away their lives and then work making The US military uniforms.


Saying that a sweat shop is slavery is only in comparison to economically mature nations. In the poor countries you can make pennies working in the field under the hot sun, or you can work indoor (with no AC) for four times that amount.

There are no other choices available.

How do you get a country to rise out of poverty? You teach its citizens how to make and use things like pumps and pipes. Which is 10x harder than just shipping them the pipe and installing it for them.

Yes, exploit other countries with lower standards of living and it raises them up over time.

It is a crazy world craved out of the pockets of greed. People are shocked when I tell them that in China many people live on the grounds of the manufacturer, they live in rooms with fifteen bunk beds stacked to the ceiling, they are charged rent, utilities and for food that they eat, they are made to work sixteen hour days...all that for what?...so people like Jeff Bezo can make over two hundred thousand dollars a minute. Jeff makes it sound so special that he was going to build a plant in New York and pay people fifteen dollars an hour...well that may sound like great pay for middle American and a dream come true for third world labors but in New York it wouldn't even pay a person's rent every month.

Yeah we have a ways to go us humans in how we treat others, humans and non humans alike. We don't need to eat fellow animals to survive, we can thrive with plants alone.

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Yeah more adultery happened

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