6 ms·

It's sad how little attention contemporary slavery gets versus historical examples of slavery. It would be great if Hollywood made a movie about this (or slaver

It's sad how little attention contemporary slavery gets versus historical examples of slavery. It would be great if Hollywood made a movie about this (or slavery in the middle east committed by Western allies).

jrochkind1 11y ago
Or slavery in the United States. Yep. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicagarrison/the-new-american-slavery-invited-to-the-us-foreign-workers-f http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicagarrison/the-new-american-sla...
- marknutter 11y ago
  That's not slavery, it's kidnapping, plain and simple. It's illegal and not condoned in any way by the U.S. government or society at large, so comparing it to slavery is a bit hyperbolic. But yes, it still sucks
  - justizin 11y ago
    Since when did slavery not involve kidnapping? Slavery isn't defined as an inherently legal practice, it simply was legal in some places at some times. The secondarily linked story does also talk about local law enforcement being involved, so that is at least condoned "in a way", not "not in any way".
    - mentat 11y ago
      Slavery doesn't involve kidnapping if there is a legal framework for selling people (which by definition isn't kidnapping).
      - 1stop 11y ago
        Are you talking about people born into slavery? Like from slave parents. Because the transition from non slave to slave is some form of kidnapping/trafficking. The conversion of something to property is almost always a theft of some sort.
        gherkin0 11y ago
        I think the Romans could sell their family members into slavery to pay off debts, etc.
        peterfirefly 11y ago
        Or themselves.
    - nl 11y ago
      Debt slavery[1] doesn't involve kidnapping (by any conventional definition). It's probably the most common kind of slavery these days. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage
    - mc32 11y ago
      There are people in the South Asian sub continent as well as SEAsia where families will sell other members into slavery for varying economic and social reasons. It involves no kidnapping. Sometimes it's for very menial and manual labor (tea picking, for example, next time someone enjoys some Assam tea) or are later sold into human trafficking rings.
  - danenania 11y ago
    Being illegal or not condoned doesn't make it not slavery. These enterprises often operate in gray regions of the law and find ways to blur the lines between slavery and employment, so it's important not to throw away the label just because it's not officially condoned.
  - markdown 11y ago
    World rejoices as first-worlder solves slavery problem. Millions of slaves around the world now considered free under new definition Humans held and treated like property will henceforth not be considered slaves if their country has laws against the practice. When asked how he came upon the genius solution to the century-old problem, marknutter nodded at the portrait of former President G.W. Bush hanging above his fireplace. "I was inspired by President Bush... I mean... enhanced interrogation... genius!"
    - justizin 11y ago
      Mission Accomplished!
    - marknutter 11y ago
      I'm sorry I have a strong aversion to hyperbole, but if you're going to compare the situations outlined in the article to slavery you're going to have to lump a lot of other stuff into the slavery pile as well. It's important to preserve the weight of words lest you further increase people's apathy.
      - tsotha 11y ago
        I agree with this 100%. There are a lot of previously useful words that mean almost nothing today. "Slavery" is one. "Rape" is another. I know people think they're doing good when they try to expand the definition like that, but all they're really doing is taking away our capacity to describe things accurately.
    - JadeNB 11y ago
      This seems like pure uncivil sarcasm, rather than anything constructive. If you think that marknutter's insistence on precise useage of words causes additional harm to those enslaved (by strict or loose definition), or prevents their liberation, then why not explain that rather than sneering at him?
- bilbo0s 11y ago
  Yeah... You haven't had the misfortune of having to witness REAL slavery. Real slavery is going on a walk outside the embassy and seeing a 6 year old domestic girl given a LEGAL black eye by the fist of her mistress. And there is nothing you can do about it. That's when I learned... if you can call the police or get the authorities to intervene... then it's not slavery. Slavery has got to be the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. Worse than combat even. Because there is nothing you can do. It's just in your face. This was way back in the early 90's... and I still remember the girl look up at me afterwards... a few seconds went by... and a trickle of blood started to come from her nose. Yeah... I just went back to the embassy. Certain parts of Africa back then were just not tourist spots.
  - jordigh 11y ago
    > That's when I learned... if you can call the police or get the authorities to intervene... then it's not slavery. Did you read the article? These women are beaten and raped and the police are helping the business owner ensure that the women remain his legal property.
    - jbattle 11y ago
      Sounds like he didn't need to read the article, he's seen this first hand
      - justizin 11y ago
        But he clearly misses the point that the article is about police facilitating enslavement.
        bilbo0s 11y ago
        And you missed my point that you can still appeal to authorities. As I said in another comment... you have the option to call in the Feds. I'm talking about people in situations where they have NO option to call in ANYONE. And not only them. Anyone who wanted to help them... maybe just because they witnessed it and they wanted to put an end to it... that would-be good Samaritan has no recourse either. No Feds. Central governments could be weak, corrupt or both back then. (They still can come to think of it.) No police. Many places HAD nonexistent police forces. Things have changed in some parts of Africa... but I don't know about everywhere. No nothing. And it might not only be Africa. This may happen in parts of Asia or the MidEast region as well. I only WITNESSED it in Africa. There are a lot of people living some horrible lives out there. And they don't have police, or Feds or journalists to write about them.
paulannesley 11y ago
The Whistleblower (2010 film) is one example of a film about one of the many forms of modern slavery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower
- zo1 11y ago
  Not to be confused (as I was) with the 1986 film with almost the identical name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistle_Blower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistle_Blower vs the one you speak of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower
  - cbaleanu 11y ago
    I love English :) Thanks for clarifying this.

jrochkind1 11y ago

Or slavery in the United States. Yep. http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicagarrison/the-new-american-slavery-invited-to-the-us-foreign-workers-f http://www.buzzfeed.com/jessicagarrison/the-new-american-sla...

marknutter 11y ago
That's not slavery, it's kidnapping, plain and simple. It's illegal and not condoned in any way by the U.S. government or society at large, so comparing it to slavery is a bit hyperbolic. But yes, it still sucks
- justizin 11y ago
  Since when did slavery not involve kidnapping? Slavery isn't defined as an inherently legal practice, it simply was legal in some places at some times. The secondarily linked story does also talk about local law enforcement being involved, so that is at least condoned "in a way", not "not in any way".
  - mentat 11y ago
    Slavery doesn't involve kidnapping if there is a legal framework for selling people (which by definition isn't kidnapping).
    - 1stop 11y ago
      Are you talking about people born into slavery? Like from slave parents. Because the transition from non slave to slave is some form of kidnapping/trafficking. The conversion of something to property is almost always a theft of some sort.
      - gherkin0 11y ago
        I think the Romans could sell their family members into slavery to pay off debts, etc.
        peterfirefly 11y ago
        Or themselves.
  - nl 11y ago
    Debt slavery[1] doesn't involve kidnapping (by any conventional definition). It's probably the most common kind of slavery these days. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Debt_bondage
  - mc32 11y ago
    There are people in the South Asian sub continent as well as SEAsia where families will sell other members into slavery for varying economic and social reasons. It involves no kidnapping. Sometimes it's for very menial and manual labor (tea picking, for example, next time someone enjoys some Assam tea) or are later sold into human trafficking rings.
- danenania 11y ago
  Being illegal or not condoned doesn't make it not slavery. These enterprises often operate in gray regions of the law and find ways to blur the lines between slavery and employment, so it's important not to throw away the label just because it's not officially condoned.
- markdown 11y ago
  World rejoices as first-worlder solves slavery problem. Millions of slaves around the world now considered free under new definition Humans held and treated like property will henceforth not be considered slaves if their country has laws against the practice. When asked how he came upon the genius solution to the century-old problem, marknutter nodded at the portrait of former President G.W. Bush hanging above his fireplace. "I was inspired by President Bush... I mean... enhanced interrogation... genius!"
  - justizin 11y ago
    Mission Accomplished!
  - marknutter 11y ago
    I'm sorry I have a strong aversion to hyperbole, but if you're going to compare the situations outlined in the article to slavery you're going to have to lump a lot of other stuff into the slavery pile as well. It's important to preserve the weight of words lest you further increase people's apathy.
    - tsotha 11y ago
      I agree with this 100%. There are a lot of previously useful words that mean almost nothing today. "Slavery" is one. "Rape" is another. I know people think they're doing good when they try to expand the definition like that, but all they're really doing is taking away our capacity to describe things accurately.
  - JadeNB 11y ago
    This seems like pure uncivil sarcasm, rather than anything constructive. If you think that marknutter's insistence on precise useage of words causes additional harm to those enslaved (by strict or loose definition), or prevents their liberation, then why not explain that rather than sneering at him?
bilbo0s 11y ago
Yeah... You haven't had the misfortune of having to witness REAL slavery. Real slavery is going on a walk outside the embassy and seeing a 6 year old domestic girl given a LEGAL black eye by the fist of her mistress. And there is nothing you can do about it. That's when I learned... if you can call the police or get the authorities to intervene... then it's not slavery. Slavery has got to be the worst thing I've ever seen in my life. Worse than combat even. Because there is nothing you can do. It's just in your face. This was way back in the early 90's... and I still remember the girl look up at me afterwards... a few seconds went by... and a trickle of blood started to come from her nose. Yeah... I just went back to the embassy. Certain parts of Africa back then were just not tourist spots.
- jordigh 11y ago
  > That's when I learned... if you can call the police or get the authorities to intervene... then it's not slavery. Did you read the article? These women are beaten and raped and the police are helping the business owner ensure that the women remain his legal property.
  - jbattle 11y ago
    Sounds like he didn't need to read the article, he's seen this first hand
    - justizin 11y ago
      But he clearly misses the point that the article is about police facilitating enslavement.
      - bilbo0s 11y ago
        And you missed my point that you can still appeal to authorities. As I said in another comment... you have the option to call in the Feds. I'm talking about people in situations where they have NO option to call in ANYONE. And not only them. Anyone who wanted to help them... maybe just because they witnessed it and they wanted to put an end to it... that would-be good Samaritan has no recourse either. No Feds. Central governments could be weak, corrupt or both back then. (They still can come to think of it.) No police. Many places HAD nonexistent police forces. Things have changed in some parts of Africa... but I don't know about everywhere. No nothing. And it might not only be Africa. This may happen in parts of Asia or the MidEast region as well. I only WITNESSED it in Africa. There are a lot of people living some horrible lives out there. And they don't have police, or Feds or journalists to write about them.

paulannesley 11y ago

The Whistleblower (2010 film) is one example of a film about one of the many forms of modern slavery: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower

zo1 11y ago
Not to be confused (as I was) with the 1986 film with almost the identical name: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistle_Blower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistle_Blower vs the one you speak of: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Whistleblower
- cbaleanu 11y ago
  I love English :) Thanks for clarifying this.