For our next blog I want you to contemplate SLAVERY. I know we’ve been spending a good deal of time talking about the Industrial Revolution and the impact that had on the working class and the middle class. We’ve been debating the impact of child labor during the 18th century and the modern system of divide and conquer based on race and/or gender. Why pay someone a living wage today, when you can pay someone less, or in the case of slavery, nothing?
I’d like you to spend at least half an hour on the following site –
http://www.freetheslaves.net/Page.aspx?pid=348. It has several videos (everyone should watch Slavery 101), maps and stories. Give yourself time to absorb what you are looking at. When you are done there, check out this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZTN0TbsRYA on YouTube about modern human trafficking.
How far will people go to get ahead economically? How do we draw the line? Should we?
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Obviously, people will do anything just for their personal benefit. This is similar/the same to the idea of laissez-faire economics introduced by Adam Smith. Personal gain, money, that is what makes our modern day world go round. Slaves everywhere, in Haiti, India, Africa, even the U.S., are no more than items to sell, posessions used to gain more capital, more profit. As we talked about before in class, they are "trapped" in this never-ending cycle that makes capitalism. I think that we draw the line by creating more effective laws and definitely making a change internationally. Our government needs to stop slavery here in the U.S., and overseas. We can't just stand by and watch the number of 27 million grow every day. I think that we need to draw this line. Also, we should all stop and think about the products we buy. As a former slave in Slavery 101 said, "when people eat chocolate they are eating my flesh." Continuing to buy these products really just supports slavery and the slave trade. Just like America and Britain during the 1800-1860 period, we say we will fight for the end of slavery, but we initiate no actions the prove our words. We have to stop slavery.
ReplyDelete--Kristen Lee
ReplyDeleteI feel that all the time, people who are so desperate to get ahead economically or even in terms of the sex trade may even realize what they are giving into, whether it be slavery or sex, yet they still push past that for their own selfish desires and contribute to it despite how wrong it is. I think with 27 million enslaved, we would be way too hopeful to try and get every one of those people out of slavery and have them get their lives back, but it is clear that something needs to be done. Although one of those 27 million may seem like a small percentage, that one life still is the life of one person. I can see this through the footage of the story of Chichay's son in Slavery 101, shows that every life means the world to that person and their family so to answer the question, yes; we do need to draw the line whether it means trying to save those 27 million or even just 1 life.
I believe that in modern day society there are good people and there are bad people. There is not a fine line between good people and bad people but slavery goes beyond the gray area. Many people will go to extreme measures in order to gain small success economically. For example if you are selling a human being for less than a hundred dollars thats not a lot of profit for that product, which explains why the slave trade is so large. What shocks me the most about the slave trade is not the sellers but it is that there are so many buyers of slaves, so many people have decided that it is moral to buy and own slaves. But I think that considering the magnitude of the slave trade the amount of people trying to stop it is very little. But these people are trying to enforce this "line" between what is the right way to get ahead economically and what isn't. I believe that we need to enforce this line because it is what separates our current civilized society with previous versions of society... it would be a step backward for civilization to allow these unmoral and unlawful acts to continue. But at the same time I think we can never make a distinct line because it would be evolving over time just as our lives changes from generation to generation, but for the time being we do need to confront as many major issues that we consider outdated and enforce a change as it comes rather than a never moving line.
ReplyDelete--Kristen Lee
ReplyDeleteIn response to Josiah...
I agree that the most effective way to end slavery is to just not give into it. Try and do whatever it takes to not support the products that are made by slaves or contribute to the profits the slave owners make by them. The desperation in the economy leads to the modern human trafficking which, I agree, leads to the cycle that fuels capitalism. We need to take action not only in our own country but significantly more in the countries in which the slavery originates. Clearly slavery is wrong and we should be trying to end it, but we need to further enforce the laws that prevent it, and further police it in other countries in the world that participate in it.
Based on the videos and documents on modern slavery, it is obvious that people will do just about anything for their own personal benefit, even if that means ruining the lives of hundreds of other people. Slave owners who run companies, factories, etc. only care about the money they are making from slave labor rather than the slaves themselves. Since America (for the most part) comprehends and agrees that slave labor is wrong, we should be the ones to make sure that it stops both nationally and internationally. We definitely should draw the line because other nations might not realize that slave trade is immoral or are gaining too much from it to completely get rid of it. Because of this, we can not watch passively as slaves are abused around the world but we have to take action against it if we want our society to move forward.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Josiah-
ReplyDeleteNot buying products made by companies who abuse slaves is a good way for citizens to get involved and hopefully bring our society closer to stop abusing slaves. However, I am sure that many companies who do use slaves don't advertise it. We have no way of knowing for sure weather or not certain companies use slaves. I also know that that many people (myself included) do care and feel bad that there are slaves being abused but won't take the time to find out which companies they should not buy from. But I think there is a very good idea behind this point which is that people should be able to take a stand against this in their every day life. There should be other ways that the public should be able to make it known that they are against the slave trade so that (hopefully) the government will notice and do something about it.
I most certainly agree that slavery and human trafficking are terrible acts and should be stopped by any means possible. However, I sadly believe (not trying to be a pessimist) that these deplorable ways will continue while capitalism runs most parts of the world. With capitalism, there will always be some sort of disparity of money between people. Basically with capitalism in any society, there will always be a definitive separation between the wealthy and the poor. This relates to slavery and human trafficking because almost everyone who became slaves were poor and needed some sort of financial support either by being "shipped" to another country or by selling their bodies. It is the sad that desperation can lead one to being easily tricked or abused, but is proven to be true. These despicable traders and sellers treat real human beings as merchandise. As a matter of fact, these traders and sellers treat human beings a lot worse than merchandise since inanimate objects cannot be punished. From Slavery 101 I undoubtedly agreed with the comment of how slaves were similar to Styrofoam being bought, used, crumpled, and then thrown away. This truly is the life of a slave and it is often overlooked and forgotten. To the point of today's society trying to stop slavery, I am in a very unsure standpoint. Sure, not buying slave-made products may greatly decrease the number of slaves, but for how long? The decrease of slaves may last several years or even a couple of decades, but would it be permanent? I agree by following the ways to stop slavery may work for now, but I am really unsure about the long run. With disparity between capital and different social classes, I feel slavery would come back during some point of time.
ReplyDeleteSlavery and human trafficking are atrocities of mankind, which we have been trying to stop for hundreds of years. I think the reason we have only had some success is that it produces great profit. If companies can make the same product for cheaper and make more money off it, then they will. Ricardo said that with a great amount of workers the wages will lower, and there are plenty of workers, therefore the companies don't even have to pay them sustinence wages. We can try not to buy products made as a result of this, but ultimately that won't be good enough. There is no good way to break the cycle, but it requires first freeing the people currently enslaved.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shan. Since we are the ones protesting against this we need to lend more of a helping hand. We can't just say that it is bad and hope that things get fixed. There should be more penalties against companies promoting this, and we should be leading better and more organized rallies/protests against it. Just like what Kristen said though, because of the tough economic times, and because of the lower cost of products made as a result of slavery, it is difficult to stay away from such products. But we as a community, a country, and a planet, need to work together to end what is happening now and will continue to happen unless we stop it.
ReplyDeleteYear after year people think that slavery will end and get better, but it hasn't since slavery is at its worse right now. Our economy is really bad that some people would do anything or say anything to enslave someone. Even over the years, the treatment towards slaves has not been getting better. They are still beaten, raped, and tormented. Little kids are also being treated this way. These kids have been raised into slavery, they don't know any other way to live. The kids in the youtube video of human trafficking said "My yum yum (oral sex) is good." They aren't aware that what they are being forced to do is wrong. We need to do anything we can to stop slavery and show these innocent people how they should be treated. When most the slaves were freed, they learned how to work for money and live a normal life. We need to help all the slaves reach this way of life. I am not saying it could be done soon because it won't. I wish it could, but we could do what we can now to try and stop it. The best way right now is to avoid buying products made by enslaved companies. Someone is Slavery 101 said, "we buy into slavery everyday." If we stop buying products from those type of companies, then maybe they won't earn enough money and the slaves will be free. If we started our act towards ending slavery with this, then eventually this brutal time could finally come to an end soon.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Daniel that trying not to buy products made by enslaved people would not last. A lot of people depend on certain material and want to get their hands on the cheapest and best quality. Some people don't look to see who makes the products, they just want it. That is the problem with most people, they are unaware of what is going on. Slavery is a real problem and we need everyone to realize that. Also, in agreement with Shana. Most companies don't show who makes their products. We could all be buying from a company with enslaved workers and not even realize it. We need to figure out and research different companies to prevent people from buying their products. If we could make everyone aware of the horrible and miserable things happening to people and prevent people from buying from those type of companies, we could move one step closer to ending slavery.
ReplyDeleteI think it is definitely necessary to draw the line for how people get ahead way before slavery, which we have done by making slavery illegal and coming up with minimum wage. The line has been drawn, but there are obviously some issues in enforcing laws to make people stay away from the wrong side of the line. I think education of villages that might be targeted by human traffickers is extremely important in the prevention of slavery, but that will not help people who are born into slavery or who are taken by traffickers using violent means. This requires us to go to the source of the problem, so we need to somehow get the idea of personal gain and profit out of owner's heads. There should be people from the government who travel from cacao farm to rug maker (anywhere that uses slaves) forcing reforms on these sites and requiring them to pay their workers wages. The sex trade is especially sickening, and completely unnecessary. The people running that trade need to find another, more productive business to be a part of that does not involve the selling of people. It is still a disturbing practice even if someone chooses that life, but at least they are being payed and have the choice. Even if industries that use slaves have to be completely shut down, i think it will be worth it to have ended slavery and hopefully those industries will have a fresh start using slave-free practices.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Shana that the US should be the one to spearhead the effort to terminate slavery, and the first step would probably be to put an end to all slavery in our own country. In response to what many people have said about not buying products made my slaves, first of all we would need a LOT of people for it to have any effect and second of all we don't really know what products are made by slaves. Even if everyone boycotted chocolate, which would be nearly impossible, we would be boycotting all the chocolate farmed by slaves and some chocolate that maybe wasn't. I think the best solution is for the US to stop importing goods from places that are known to use slavery as a means of labor, and maybe even set up our own ethical cacao farms and carpet makers.
ReplyDeleteI think that there has to be a line draw somewhere, but with the economy and all the hard things our country is going through, the line that we think should be drawn is definitely not what traffickers think. Since slavery is such a wealthy industry they need it to make even more money because of recession which is resulting in a increase in slave trade. Since this problem has been going on for so long and has never really stopped since 1807 when it was first abolished, the problem of slavery isn't going to go away quickly. We did see in the 1800's that slowly, once more and more countries started to end slavery, fewer slaves were being traded illegally. So maybe that is what the US should really focus on. THey should focus on themselves ending it first, then other countries might do the same and slave trade would lower significantly. Watching those videos made me realize that the traffickers are not sane people, they are heartless men and women that are so desperate for money they higher 12 year olds for sex trade. That was really sickening to watch.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Shana's response to Josiah-
ReplyDeleteI think that by not buying the slave products it is hurting them just as much as buying them. If people don't buy there products they end up getting abused even more because their employers become angry because they aren't making money. They also have to fire workers who have no other homes because their homes have been destroyed by wars or attacks on villages. I'm not saying that we should buy lots of their stuff but i think there is a better solution than completely not buying their products.
I also agree with Daniel about the fact that we have to realize slavery isn't something that will just go away now. It has been around so long that it will take a while for it to be completely abolish or even lower in the number or slaves sold.
In response to Danielle
ReplyDeleteI may be playing devil's advocate here but how would we be able to "somehow get the idea of personal gain and profit out of owner's heads?" Isn't that the main focus of capitalism. The thought and competition for one's own wealth and political/social power? I am not saying capitalism is terrible nor saying it is better or worse than any other type of economic system. I am simply saying that if an individual is wealthier than he/she is supposed to be, then logically there will be an individual poorer than he/she is supposed to be. Like I previously mentioned in my first response, capitalism undoubtedly creates inequality and separation of classes.However I am not fully blaming capitalism for the people's want of wealth. I am actually blaming the characteristics of the people. There is one particular nature of a human I strongly agree with. It is that a person will never reach full satisfaction. Everyone always wants something more and will fight to get it. The slave traders and sellers are giving into their evil human desires, which in this case is making dirty money. This is why I am sadly cynical that slavery would ever end. Totally abolishing slavery and related issues is almost like creating a perfect society, a utopia.
Before I answer the question, I have to say some of my thoughts. The fact that you can buy a human being for less than an ipod is nauseating. I knew that slaves existed, but I never knew that slaves are more prevalent today than at any other time in history. And they are all over the world-- slaves have been found in all 50 states! That was shocking to me.
ReplyDeleteBack to the question--clearly some people will do anything to get ahead economically. I understand that first and foremost everyone looks out for their own self interest, but I would like to think that most people draw the line at hurting another human being. So how do the people who sell slaves justify what they do?
My first question after watching these clips was what can I do to help. It sounds like the most powerful thing for us to do is to donate our time toward organizations who aid families who have a history of slavery and educate children to get them out of the cycle of poverty and make them self sufficient humans who are not vulnerable to human traffickers.
I agree with Shana- we in the United States have the responsibility of ending slavery because the countries in which slavery is most prominent are benefitting from it, very similar to how we and Britain benefitted from slave trade and were therefore slow to stop it.
ReplyDeleteDaniel- I think that you may be right that the self interest that drives capitalism is the self interest that drives the slave industry. I always thought that capitalism was a good thing, but is there a way to have the good without the bad? Do you really think that if we (the US) got involved in stopping slavery it would come back later? This is definitely not an optimistic point of view, but unfortunately it is sounding like it could be true.
In response to many people, is not buying products really the answer? Because it seems to me that it may get rid of some bad businesses who use slaves, but it wouldn't be helping the people who are vulnerable to slavery. I think where we need to focus the most is helping the victims of human trafficking and preventing people from becoming vulnerable.
In response to Tess' response to Shana's response to me-
ReplyDeleteI really don't think that not buying products made from slavery hurts the slaves as much as they are being hurt now.If companies here that are affiliated with slavery are exposed and their products are not bought, they will become bankrupt. If there is no "demand" for the services of these slaves in foreign countries, the slave owners who make the "supply" that is shipped will have no choice but to stop their businesses. I think you're right that there is a very likely chance that slaves will get beaten because of the unsuccessful businesses, but how can a slave owner beat a slave when he has his own financial downfalls to worry about. I think that if we can get more slave owners to be foreced to fire their slaves, we will be able to reach more slaves and free them.
Also in response to Daniel-
I understand what you're saying, but why do we have to care about the long run? Why do we have to think of what will happen or when will it end? I think that these ideas of not completely stopping slavery (rendering our efforts ineffective according to you), are truly the spark of society as a whole not being pro-active. If we keep on saying we won't be effective, how can we even possibly imagine stopping slavery? I think that the key part in stopping it is to believe that every action we take is really important in the end. People might say, "oh, I'm only one person, if I don't do anything it won't matter" but if you subrtract every "one" person from the equation, there's no one left to stop slavery.
In response to Rebecca N-
On second thought, I never really thought of the last part of you're second comment when I first wrote. I think you're absolutely right. Education is definitely a crucial part in stopping slavery, and the lack of it is really what gets slaves into these horrible and unjust situations in the first place.
Throughout the years, people have been thinking that the ending of slavery and human trafficking has gotten better, but really it is getting worse day by day. Economies throughout the world have been suffering recently, and some people will do anything to make profits or be successful, even if it means participating in slave trading or human trafficking. I was appalled that the profit of slavery/human trafficking this year was more than Starbucks, Nike, and Google added together. This large number just shows what a lucrative business slavery is, and it encourages other slave traders to continue it. If slavery and human trafficking continues, it will just lead to a greater increase in slaves, which will make it harder for us to get rid of slavery all together. These slave traders need to find a different business that doesn't involve the hurting of other human beings in order to make a profit. Slave traders need to ask themselves the question, "Would I want to be a slave?" All of the videos I watched made me feel that we need to help get these people and little children out of slavery and human trafficking, so that anti-slavery organizations can educate the freed slaves about how to live a normal life and make their own money.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Josiah,
ReplyDeleteI think that a good way for citizens to get involved in the stopping of slavery is to quit buying products produced by these slaves. If someone buys clothing or goods made by slaves or child labor, they are only contributing to the problem of slavery. Sometimes though, companies or producers may be using slaves to make their products even though they say they don't participate in slavery/human trafficking. I think that governments around the world,especially the U.S., need to take a stronger stance against the illegal slave trade and make people more aware of this constant problem.
People's greed dominates many humans, who have been blessed with a life involving no tortures. They are born with money and power, and then will strive for more, exploiting anyone else that they have to. All of this will be done in the name of self-interest. No matter what the cost, many people in today's society will allow human trafficking for a profit. Humans lives have lost value when compared to business assets. If people were to act in a manner that benefited more than just themselves, then atrocious acts such as these would not be committed. However, people, will strive for power, and then attempt to protect this power. They will essentially switch roles with the previous exploiters, and exploit more and more people. If the line was drawn here, and people were allowed to do this, society will continue as it is now. However, if people worked together for all rights of all humans, were everyone is truly free, and truly equal, the society will never allow these despicable acts. The line should definitely be drawn, and all people should be given real equal opportunity, and be treated as equals.
ReplyDeletein response to Andrew
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that there are good and bad people in this world. The distinction between these two categories is also very difficult to determine. I also found it shocking how there are so many buyers of slaves. This means that there are two culprits; the buyer and the seller. I find multinational companies who decide to use slaves to get a economic lead disgusting, and sadly practically all, if not all, do partake in this. Our economic systems were created by people such as Adam Smith, and we have evolved from that stage. Our capitalist society is built around exploitation, which includes large human trafficking. People who have had a taste of power lust for more, and their new greed means that they will progression the only way that is possible: through exploitation. However, i feel that the line needs to be completed destroyed, and eradicated. The entire system needs to be abolished, and the world should move on. If society didn't revolve around the idea of slavery, or the idea that other humans must be exploited since they are weak, then these despicable acts wouldn't happen. By trashing the current system, a new line can be drawn, establishing the basic rights of humans. This feat cannot be accomplished as we stand now. Even if thousands of slaves are freed, more will be taken in, even slowly. If we slowly progress, then soon enough, we will slowly return to how it once was. This cycle will not break, and a radical movement must pass in order to break it. Emancipation of all slaves is called for, and human trafficking should be completely destroyed.
in responce to Ishan
ReplyDeleteI agree with your statement that we cannot just free slaves but i also disagree with the fact that once people see power they greedily try to get more. i think that this is true for many but not all. I think that there are good people in this world. And i dont think that we need to destroy the modern system completely, just alter it.
As proven by the video, and its sickeningly true, some people will do absolutely anything for money.It is so apalling how people treat their fellow humans like property even when its morally and actually ilegal. I feel it is definitely our responsibility to stop this trade because we have the means to do so. The worst part of the trade is how many people are obliiging the parents to sell, the actual slave traders, and the buyers. The video was very true in saying literacy can help the first problem, the more empowered the parents are the less of a need they will feel to sell their children. The actual slave traders just need to be more severely punished by the government. The video said in a given country there were 1,500 know brothels so why haven't they been raided and shut down? the hidden nature of slavery makes it hard to combat but when we know it is occuring it should be addressed immediately. The last part of addressubg the problem is making sure people don;t buy slaves by increasing punishment and searches of any suspicious houses. Lastly, there was the account of the rehabilitated girl who had to return to her terrible parents who sold her. There should definitely be a way for her and others like her to get adopted by another family in her home town or to come to another country for a better future.
ReplyDeleteResponse to Reba...
ReplyDeleteI agree that not buying from companies is an effective way to end slavery, howeve I think more long term solutions are required. I was listeing to NPR one day and heard a story of a man, who on total gut insticnt, thought that his neighbors "cousin" who lived with them was a slave, he reported it to the police and surely enough she was. The story amazed me and really drove home the point that could have been one of my neighbors. So along with boycoting overseas slave trade there needs to be a way to more throuroughly police what is going on behind closed doors, even if that seems like an invasion of privacy.
Modern Slavery needs to come to a halt as soon as possible. The fact that it is still going on today, and that the slaves are even cheaper than 200 years ago has shocked me. I thought that slavery was banned and abolished after the Civil War? But apparently, that is not the case. There is no reason whatsoever to destroy a person both menatlly and physically for their own economical gain. This issue has happened throughout history, but it was in the last 200 years that it has become illegal and morally worng. Why does it have to continue? It is ridiculous that the issue is even talked about presently, because it should have ended years, if not decades ago.
ReplyDeleteAs shown by the hugely prevalent slave trade around the world, certain people will stop at nothing to get ahead economically. It is truly disgusting and shows the reality and truthfulness of certain philosophers, such as Thomas Hobbes, ideas of humans being inherently evil. Before I watched these videos, I was unaware of the huge amount of modern slavery around the world. It is eye opening to find out the immense numbers of people still enslaved in the worldwide illegal slave trade today and it needs to be stopped. When I studied the slave trade in history, I thought that no disgusting and terrible practice like that could ever be present and thriving in the world today, but it is. It is a sickening practice that shows the lack of limits of some who want to make money and I think the U.S. government needed to find a way to stop this terrible injustice. One of the most productive ways of doing this is If the U.S. limits their imports of products made with slave labor and if they create more government programs to find places which use slave labor and shut them down and punish them severely. Also, there should be organizations to rehabilitate slaves and try to help them with the rest of their lives, try to make up for their terrible past, and ensure a better future for them through education. What is especially sickening is the number of children whose lives are taken over by human trafficking. There is no reason that this practice should be continued any longer and the U.S. government needs to take action against the crimes going on throughout the world. In the video, “Modern Slavery-Human Trafficking,” it says that in Chang Mai, Thailand there are over 1,500 known brothels. This shows that not all of the sex slave trade is under ground and that governments are standing by and not trying to end it. This method needs to be changed through people discontinuing their support of the trade through not buying products made with it and causing the public to be more aware of what is going on.
ReplyDeleteIn response to Kristen...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree that at the moment the prospect of ending all slavery in the world immediately is unattainable and that every single person who is enslaved in the trade is more than just a statistic. Anything to end slavery, no matter how small, is important. But, eventually, I believe that the slave trade throughout the world can be stopped if governments around the world become more aware of the injustice and begin to take action against it.
In response to Charlotte...
ReplyDeleteI completely agree with you, except for the part about not buying the products that are made by the slaves. I cant remember which video it was but one said that to stop buying the products will put more people out on the streets, and out of jobs. And with that, the unemployment rates will continue to rise, which has been a trend within the last year. At least when we but the product, the slaves are put into work, and I know this sounds awful of me, but still i believe that the slaves are better of working than starving in the streets. Also if we dont buy the product, I think the masters will punish the slaves a lot more than if their product is selling.
The comments by Julia Ormond not only shocked me but really scared me. Ever since I was born my classmates and I have been raised and taught to believe and think slavery ended when the African slaves were freed in America. Maybe there were some far away distant sweatshops in the Far East yet nothing like before. This new information was horrific to me. Not only is it worriesome that people who are severely deranged would organize and manage these downright wrong human trafficking but that people who in "normal" society we believe to be completely healthy would partake in these actions. It disgusts me with how these children are raised and brainwashed so that the only thing they know and want to do is sell themselves. We as a worldwide society have supposed worked so hard the past 200 years to rid ourselves of this monstrosity and better our community yet this slave trade has only augmented. We are supposed to be educating the children for the world of tomorrow yet right now millions and millions of children are barely living by selling themselves. This industry has made their lives into nothing except for disgusting pleasure for other people. I simply can't imagine this happening in America where supposedly everything is perfect yet it obviously isn't. Those 200 years have done nothing.
ReplyDelete-In response to Shana's response to Josiah
ReplyDeleteThere is the problem that we will never 100% know which companies use slaves, profit from them, or support the slave trade yet more information can be found. I think it's really important that the national governments are educated more and take more action because one outside foreign force (e.g. U.S.A.) can not alone disintegrate the entire slave trade of the world. Our own government needs to work with the governments of the most afflicted nations in order to have them exercise more authority. Then from the national government other actions need to trickle down the line of command. Obviously a local government won't hold the sway or be able to exert the same influence and power yet they can still accomplish important goals in their personal community. They can help fund, build and protect local schools and hospitals for the obviously extremely needy children. Even non-federal police forces, as long as they are controlled and not corrupted, can be very effective in reducing the slave trade in a given region
Slavery is undoubtedly the worst thing possible! When I read all these comments, I took some consolation in the fact that everyone mentioned that slavery is bad, immoral, or wrong. I, however, feel that that is not enough. We should not just say that it is wrong and immoral. We need to be angry about it. Whether it is each of taking action to stop slavery or just expressing how wrong it is. Those who said they were nauseated, sickened, scared, disgusted, or appalled were right. Slavery is all of those things. I can't think of anything that is worth. When we call something immoral, unjust, or wrong, what are we talking about? As intellectuals, Americans, cultural or religious people, and just plain humans beings we value many things. As American we value rights such as freedom, protection, liberty, and life. We also value other, more in depth rights such as privacy, rights to choices, and much more. As religious or cultural beings we value spirituality, art, nature, happiness, etc. As intellectuals, we value education, contemplation, dignity, etc. We take all of these things into account and use them as a weighing mechanism in deciding what is good, moral, just, and right. Some of the main things that we would call wrong, immoral, etc., are murder, genocide, rape, organ theft, and torture. Why do we call these things wrong? Because they violate our tenets of morality, they violate those rights that we use as a weighing mechanism. Slavery, not only violates most of those rights, it violates every single one of them, except, in some cases, life.
ReplyDeleteThen we need to ask ourselves, would a life in slavery be better than a life in poverty, and, would that life be worse than death. A life in poverty is always better than slavery. First, what are the differences between slavery and poverty, and what might make poverty worse? We believe that poverty is bad because people go hungry, people are fatigued beyond belief, people do not get education, people do not have luxuries, and people do not have the basic sustenance for life. With slavery, people work themselves to the bone, and are even more fatigued than those in poverty. One video explained that one of the freedoms that slaves lose is being able to make to make the decision when to sleep; clearly slaves are more fatigued. Slaves must work in the worst of conditions, while the impoverished have some choice as to the conditions they work in. With slavery, slaves have no luxuries and no education, they are forced to work all the time. The only thing that slaves have is some sort of sustenance. The problem is, as long as people are using slaves to cut the cost of labor, they would only be giving the slaves the bare minimum they need to live, while the impoverished may have nothing some of the time but they usually have the bare minimum. That means that both the impoverished and slaves have the bare minimum that they would need to live. As for whether life in slavery is better than death, it isn't. Slavery is unimaginable. Slaves have no dignity, no rights, and no choices. The worst thing, however, is that slaves are in a constant state of torture. They work all they time. They are beat, raped, dehumanized, and tortured every day of their life. Not only that, they are tortured mentally. Every day they live in fear of being raped, beat, and torture, they live knowing that they might be subjected to those things every day of their life, and they live knowing that that endless fatigue and burden will never be lifted. This pain beyond belief is much worse than death or poverty. Finally, slaves will die in slavery and so the question comes down to whether dying earlier with less pain is worse than dying later with unimaginable pain. With death they are at the worst put out of their misery, and therefore, death is much better because it avoids the pain. With poverty, the impoverished are not subjected to these horrors. Undoubtedly, slavery is the worst thing possible.
ReplyDeleteThe next question becomes, what will people do to get ahead economically. As we have established, slavery is the worst thing possible. This means that people will go to any length to get ahead economically. They will do the worst things possible and cause immense pain for a couple of bucks.
ReplyDeleteThat question is very easily answered, and so is the next question: Should we do anything to stop it? There is no doubt in my mind that we must stop slavery. Here is why.
First, when we see another person, without knowing anything about them, what do we feel towards them. As humans, we feel some sort of connection. They are similar to us. Among other things, they can think, comprehend, and feel. We would never want ourselves to go through that imaginable pain. That human connection gives us the emotion, sympathy. Because of sympathy we do charity, we become doctors, and we do many other things to help others in society. We also have many other emotions that cause us to help others. One example is fear. We all fear being homeless, we fear rape, we fear many other things. Because of that fear, we help others in the hopes that if we were put in that situation, they would help us. If we do all this to help the homeless, to help the mentally disabled, to help the sick, etc. then it is our obligation to help those that are victims of the worst thing possible, because their suffering is exponentially worse than anyone else we help. The second reason why it is our obligation to help slaves and prevent slavery is because slavery is a gateway to other dehumanization. Slavery provided the incentive for colonialism. Slavery has lead to the us/them dichotomy necessary for racism. Slavery has lead to the increased kidnapping of children and adults alike. We have an obligation to protect ourselves and those around us and to help those in need, as I have proved above, thus we have an obligation to prevent these atrocities and further atrocities. Finally, we have an obligation to create a moral rule to stop that atrocity and an obligation to uphold that moral rule. We create moral rules to guide our actions. Without moral rules, murder would run rampant in society, rape would be out of control, and we would allow atrocities like slavery. Without a doubt we must have a moral rule that prohibits the exploitation of others by means of slavery. We need this rule to a) prevent such an atrocity, b) prevent the suffering of others for personal gain, and c) to stop the slippery slope or gateway that leads to other types of atrocities. Upholding this moral rule is even more important. If we don't uphold moral rules we first and foremost allow atrocities to continue, but we also degrade our sense of morality. If we create a moral rule, then we begin to convince ourselves that people are following it. So many of us were surprised that there are so many slaves, so many of us thought that slavery was abolished, and so many more don't even know slavery exists. On the contrary, there are more slaves in the world today than at any other time; 27 million slaves. This proves that we believes that most follow the moral rules we set. If we are not upholding those moral rules, we run the risk of allowing anyone to violate them, and blindly ignoring it. This means that the only way to prevent atrocities is to uphold the moral rules we create. Thus, we have that obligation to make and uphold those moral rules, and therefore we have an obligation to prevent and stop slavery.
ReplyDeleteThen we must ask: How do we draw the line? The question itself is perplexing. What is it asking? I believe that it is asking: What should we be allowed to do to get ahead economically? and How far do we go and what do we do to stop those things that should be prohibited? As to whether we should be allowed to enslave people, we should absolutely not be allowed to, and we must prohibit slavery because of how terrible it is. The second part of the question is more perplexing. What do we do to stop slavery and how far do we go? First, I believe that we must take every viable option there is to stop slavery. I have already stated why slavery must be prohibited. That is why it must be stopped. Therefore, we have to every viable option to stop it. The only exception that there may be is to commit genocide or some other mass atrocity, however, I would contend that those are not viable options.
ReplyDeleteSo, what do we do to prevent slavery? The first and most important thing is to call slavery an atrocity and make the moral rule that prohibits it. I have explained why we must do this, but not how. The way to do this is a) to feel disgusted every time we think of slavery, b) never commit it ourselves, c) to believe that it is a moral wrong and the worst wrong, and d) to let all around us know that we believe this. The next thing that we must do is to believe that we can stop slavery and that every person makes a difference. The mindset that some are taking is that we can never stop slavery and individual does not make any impact. This is not true as I will explain later. Additionally, if we cannot stop cannot, then we will convince ourselves not to take any action, and worse, not to take any action that takes effort. One example is when vegetarians tell someone not to eat meat because animals are harmed. Often, the person will say that them not eating meat won't have any effect on the industry, and to many people eat meat to stop the industry together. This just proves that people do take this mindset. However, while we can dispute the livestock industry, slavery is different. The third thing that we can do is educate. We can educate ourselves and those around us. When we are educated, we understand the scope and depth of the problem and this allows us to create new and intuitive ways to stop slavery. It allows us to take steps to and join those that work to prevent slavery. We can also educate those that could potentially become enslaved. We can educate them about their rights so that they are not tricked into slavery. We can educate them about how they could be lead into slavery, so they do not let that happen to them. We can also educate them so that they may get better jobs, earn more money, and create a safer society for themselves and their descendants, so that they are not forced into slavery, so that they do not have to resort to slavery for some sustenance of the bare minimum, or so that they do not have to resort to some sort of indentured servantry.
ReplyDelete. The next thing that we can do is donate to "boots on the ground" charities. "Boots on the ground" charities do things like bust down doors and raid slave factories. The next thing that we can do is to donate to other organizations that lobby governments on the subject of slavery. Governments need to take a stronger stance on slavery. I believe that our government needs to severely reprimand any company that is involved in slavery. They can use monetary punishments that would insure that companies would not use slavery for fear that they will be punished. Additionally, our government can sanction countries like Thailand that are not actively preventing slavery. Sanctions do not only force governments to take action, they are symbolic. A no tolerance policy shows that we believe slavery can be stopped and that it must be. Next, our government can sign the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. This treaty would give the court jurisdiction to punish any person who violates its statute. Enslavement is a violation of that statute. This would deter companies from using slavery because CEO's would fear imprisonment. All of these things and many more are viable options that we must take in order to prevent slavery.
ReplyDeleteThe last thing that I would like to address is the subject of not buying goods from companies that use slavery. This cannot be the sole option we choose. There are many companies that we do not know are using slavery, and many who do not directly use slavery but instead use materials from companies that do use slavery. An example would be a company that makes chairs, and doesn't use slavery, but does buy lumber from a company that does. The next thing is that it would be impractical to stop buying goods. First, because of patents some companies that use slavery are the only companies that make a product. Second, not enough people are educated enough to know which companies not to buy from. Third, many people below the poverty line must buy the cheapest goods, and thus must buy from companies that use slavery. This is an instance where we can say that individual impact does not have enough effect. This is because it would take an enormous loss in profit by these companies to outweigh the amount of money they save on free labor. However, the one thing that we can do is consciously make the decision to choose the product that is slavery free, when possible. The other part of this is to educate others to do the same. Although, not a huge impact, this is still a positive action that strives towards the final goal of eliminating slavery.
ReplyDeleteSo, the conclusion is, slavery is the worst thing possible, people will go as far as possible to make economic gains, we must make and uphold a moral rule that prohibits slavery, and although there maybe some sacrifices we have to make, it is our obligation to take every viable option there is to prevent slavery.
thank you for your heartfelt comments on this blog. I especially appreciated those of you who added how you felt about the videos and the ideas presented. I think this is what is missing in our history classes at times -- we talk so abstractly about the past -- partly my aim is to begin talking about how we feel in the present. I encourage all of you to share how you feel and to make that as relevant in your minds as what you "think." Nick -- thank you for your extended thoughts and specific action steps we can take. I would love to see us as a class become more active in our world.
ReplyDeleteRockenbach