Do you really think slavery is no longer prevalent in modern civilisation?

Question

Or has the method of enslavement just changed?

I won't offer my own views at this point. =)

Impressed the Bill, one more poster and you have come the closest to an important aspect i hoped would be discussed.

Western greed for goods at ridiculously cheap cost to ourselves has led to misery and a starvation level existence for so many. And no opportunity to escape this situation as business will be taken to those who put up with it. No good saying organisations like the IMF support these people either, so many strings are tied to money given that donations are often worthess in real terms. This is enslavement by stealth.

Totally disagree my view is pessimistic, it genuinely is that bad, would say i'm being pragmatic.

Many posts have raised valid points about differents methods employed, cheers everyone. =)

This post is going to be a nitemare to choose best answer for, there are so many i like. My favourite ones are those that look at the broader perspective of what constitutes slavery/ enslavement, the answers from Melody, Robin, Straight down the line, bletherskyte, Anarchy, Bobounumpty, Marguerite L and Dragoner appeal to me very much. I think most still think of slavery as the *owned slave* concept. Enslavement is really an individual or section of society oppressively depriving others of opportunities and basic rights to facilitate their own advantage.

We seem to not have made any genuine progress at all in this area, just shifted methods and location as some have said. Many have even found ways to *pretty up* these horrible practices, to make them seem more acceptable, but a *stinkweed* by any other name just,...... stinks!

I'll try to choose a best answer today, not looking forward to it tho. =)

Answer 1

I suppose slavery means being forced to work for another without the prospect of changing location. By that definition much of the world is enslaved by the western capitalist governments trade agreements that stipulate the goods that can be grown and the rate that will be paid for them. What chance does an African cocoa bean grower have of not doing so (in real terms) True, he is technically free to refuse but he and his family, and village will die in the process.

The need to personally own slaves has been superseded and re-branded as global capitalism. Feels nicer don't it ?

Answer 2

Slavery is still very prevalent. There was a big debate in the House of Lords earlier this year on the subject of Slavery and the Slave Trade.

Thousands of American children are sold into slavery every year. Most of them end up as sex slaves in Arabia and other Middle East locations.

Of course, neither the US government nor people want to know about this.

Those of us who think slavery is only applicable to the 18th and 19th centuries should just wake up. It's going on right in your own neighbourhood.

North American Secretariat on Child Labor and Education - ICCLETwelve year old Suman, a former child slave now turned into anti slavery youth activist questioned the genuineness and honesty of the world leaders ...
http://www.iccle.org/cleMDGsunsummit.php3

Answer 3

Well there are still slaves in parts of Africa, North Africa, and other corners of the world but these are not representative of modern civilisation are they ..?
Do you think the proletariat of the industrialised nations are wage slaves ..? well we've always been wage slaves ..! but slavery is coercion with no or little choice, and in modern civilisation slavery is no longer prevalent, there's lots of choice how a worker can earn a surplus to his immediate needs. necessity limits his choices but not entirely.
Individuals .. say a woman in India .. might feel like a slave if she found herself in a marriage which was entered into with the sole purpose by the husband of acquiring dowry (I read somewhere that this is not uncommon in India) but this is ignorance not institutionalised slavery. Even a dirt poor African can find his way to Europe. I think you take too pessimistic a view of the human condition in the 21st century.

May be ridiculously cheap cost for us but still a living wage for them that are doing it and preferable to working in the fields apparently. No evidence that these badly paid workers are suffering starvation or near starvation. I think this is more than anything else the fashionable topic for the bleeding heart liberal fashionistas at the moment.

Answer 4

Well there is slavery in every aspect of the industry. One thing we must understand, power never gives up power. For instance, if you mandate every wealthy individual to give a portion to the poor. The wealthy will earn it back within 3 years or less.

Slavery doesn't have to be a person that is kidnapped and forced to do work in the fields or mines. Nowadays, it's the treatment we get from the wealthy. Take the middle class, or better yet the working class, economists are saying we are spending more. I believe we are spending more due to obligation, not by choice. We need gas, food, and a roof to survive in this world. Prices are going up, and we are forced to pay those dues.

The working class get the shaft on alot of things. College tuition and etc are getting expensive, where those who want to better themselves must take a loan to pay for their schooling. Saving money for the future is harder than hell, with such expenses. In the workforce, employees are taking on more responsibilities with unreasonable pay. Funny thing is the employer thinks they're paying you well if you work a job making 16,000 USD a year.

Answer 5

Slavery still exists in many countries in many forms.

The commonest is the sexual slavery of children and women throughout the world in all societies.

Some societies still have a form of bondage as a method of repaying debt.

some people theorize that the lowest level of paid employment is no better than slavery. However, the true slave has no choice in any aspect of his/her life, being forced not only to do a certain type of work but also needing approval to marry, only being allowed to live in certain places, etc.

Whilst many lowly paid workers throughout the world have hard lives, in more democratic societies they do at least have the personal freedom to choose which type of employment they will take, who they will marry, where they will live, and have opportunities to get education to improve their lives.

Answer 6

The biggest form of slavery is practised in the western world. It is based on an old Indian landowners technique where farm workers are given rented accommodation and are asked to pay x amount per month which is deducted from their "salaries" - (I put that in inverted comas as you will see later).

The worker is grateful for this rolled in accommodation and job scheme till he either wants to get married or he runs into financial difficulties. At which stage he borrows money from the land owner who increases the monthly payback till it now exceeds 80% of the monthly pay. This goes on and with interest, the worker starts to work for free because he now owes too much to pay back on what he earns. He then spends the rest of his life on the farm.

Think mortgage. And a lot of people actually survive on bank overdrafts to such an extent that if abanks say they will give no more overdraft as soon as the monthly wage goes into the account, many will be destitute.
So we must look no further than our noses.

Answer 7

No, I don't believe slavery is gone. If you pay attention, you still hear a news report about some country or other either condoning it or turning a blind eye. Or of people in eastern nations being sold into slavery by crime figures. If anything, yes, the methods have changed, and the locations have changed, but it's still as big a problem as ever.

Answer 8

Slavery still exists in the traditional sense, as some investigations of claims by "embassy employees" here in Washington, DC prove. It also existed in Arabia at least into living memory, and probably does still. There are many institutions throughout the world in totalitarian states which are indistinguishable from slavery: Do what the beloved leader says, work as he says, do not complain, and so on.

Answer 9

No reasonable person could believe that slavery no longer exists. While we know of the sweat shops in the far east that exist (contrary to popular belief) not because of Western greed but because Eastern desire for money from the West. The owners of these sweat shops are, in fact, upper class Asians who have exploited the lower classes for thousands of years.

Slavery exists in the People's Republic of China as evidenced by the proletariat working for the Party elite, forced to limit procreation, and unable to speak out against government policies. The same slavery exists in North Korea, Cuba, and Venezuela.

Slavery exists where ever Shariah Law holds sway. Women are regularly used as commodities to be traded or sold against their will. They are the victims of "honor" killings should they go against family wishes.

South America is rife with slavery, especially in prositution where daughters are often taken as payment for debts, used until useless and then discarded or killed.

The term "greed" is so easily applied to the West but we conveniently forget the African tribal leaders who sold and still sell captives, Asian elites who have always abused their people, upper caste Indians who think nothing of the "untouchables", or the mulahs that enslave women in order to "protect" them.

Answer 10

There are certainly cases of actual slavery today. most often we hear of young women be kidnapped and forced to work as prostitutes. I wouldn't call it "prevelent," but it certainly is out there.

For those who have complained that we're all working for survival and that somehow constitutes slavery: I vehemently disagree. Most people for most of history have had to struggle to survive. Life was hard with few grand rewards. Nowadays people are complaining they're working too hard for too little if they can't afford a cell phone, a DSL line, a cable TV, and multiple cars!

Some people are still legitimately very poor (actually struggling for food, shelter, and clothing), but that doesn't make them slaves. Slavery is not about the quality of life: some slaves lived in palaces and became advisors to kings! Slavery is about being /literally/ owned by another human being. My boss does not own me. He can threaten to fire me and cut off my income if I don't do what he says, but I still have the choice of not doing what he says. A slave does not. A slave by law is forced to do what his master orders.