Modern Day Slavery

A big thank you to everyone who replied to my post from yesterday, in which I asked for inspiration what to write about. I had some great requests and you know what? I'm going to try and cover them all. I see it as a personal challenge to write an interesting and informative post to you guys.

This request is from @euguma and he has asked me to write about Slavery. When he first made the suggestion I thought to myself 'that's a can of worms', whichever way I write about it, I'm going to piss people off. On the other hand, slavery is wrong, but it still exists in our day and age. So bringing the topic to the forefront again is not a bad thing.

Before I kick off, let us remind ourselves with the help of WikiPedia what Slavery is:

'Slavery is any system in which principles of property law are applied to people, allowing individuals to own, buy and sell other individuals, as a de jure form of property.'

Now many people in the day-to-day workforce might feel like they're treated like slaves, but this is not considered slavery as 'a slave is unable to withdraw unilaterally from such an arrangement and works without remuneration.' If you feel like you are being treated unfairly, most of us can raise the matter with a superior/union or they can look for another job. You have signed a contract, but you are able to get out of it, if you follow the conditions of a contract. Someone who is enslaved generally speaking does not have this option.

Slavery has been part of history as long as one person has been able to outmuscle the other. We even find evidences of this in the old testament and it still exists today.

Let me start off by saying that slavery is wrong, it's immoral, outdated and unethical. Having said that, I am convinced that most people in the western-society help encourage and maintain slavery in the world today. That was a very strong statement, but I honestly believe this. As long as there's money/profit to be made and people to be abused to reduce the cost of manufacturing, slavery will not be eradicated.

Just think about where ALL the parts of your smartphone are made, where does your t-shirt come from, that cheap indoor decoration for your living room, where was it made? Be honest and can you say to yourself that you don't have anything at home that you can't explain where it came from?

I can't! I know my iPhone has parts from China that were fabricated under harsh circumstances in a country that does not take the value of a human life very seriously. I know I've bought T-shirts in the past from H&M that probably came from India where people did not really have a choice and earn about $140 a month! Where does your fruit and vegetables come from and are you certain it's all biological and sourced under humane conditions? Or what about that diamond you got for your engagement ...

But we can even look closer to home, human trafficking and forced prostitution are still a theme today. We all want to pat ourselves on the back and say these issues don't exist in the western world anymore, but these issues still exist today. Women from Eastern Europe are brought to the UK or other countries and forced to earn back the cost of their 'passage' through prostitution and what about the refugees from Africa or Mexico trying to improve their situation by fleeing north, acquiring the help of dubious people who take their money and then need more to help them cross the borders.

If we as 'civilized' people really want to help and make a difference, make sure you know where you get your products from and that you are happy to buy those, knowing the circumstances they've been produced under? If possible, buy local food instead of imported, that way you also support the local economy, because I'm certain that your farmers don't have an easy life either. Look for the Fair Trade label, all fair trade products need to meet strict conditions.

Below is a map of the world with what items were made where through slave labour. As it is pretty unclear to read, you can also find the link here, so you can have a closer look for yourself:

This is the fair trade label, for those of you unfamiliair with it:

Whether it's toys, coffee, clothing or your technology, supporting slavery is a choice, if you consciously look you can opt for products that were not made under slave conditions.

On a final note, this was a very nice opportunity to familiarize myself with a topic that I don't know much about and I challenge everyone to come up with more topics for me to write about.

Thank you,

Doron