An excellent article by Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves. What will it take to get the world's governments to focus sufficiently on contemporary slavery? How can 27 million people still remain enslaved in today's world. How can this be?
Well, it happens and, as Mr. Bales points out, it often happens right under your nose. That slavery came to church in suburban Fort Worth is an extreme yet highly ironic reminder of how comfortable westerners may be unwitting accomplices to this horror even in cases where we think we're helping.
What I don't follow entirely is Mr. Bales' resigned acceptance of the opacity of the supply chain of goods that make there ways to rich countries. Taking up Mr. Bales' example of cocoa, I would guess that slave-owning suppliers could always under-bid legitimate suppliers. I would guess it's safe to assume the law of supply and demand is encouraging slavery. Mr. Bales suggests that boycotting certain goods such as cocoa is akin to killing the patient in order to stop the disease: this is because legitimate (often family-owned businesses) would be wiped out along with the illegitimate. The only way to attack slavery, therefore, is through relentless enforcement, which means spending money. In addition, industries should be relentlessly pressured at the public policy level to step up to their responsibility to aid in this enforcement. Not sure how well big business would take to this idea. Not sure I give a damn.
So. Let's not let the beltway pundits and the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal pull the wool over our eyes, yet again, with the old "consumers demand low prices" and "over-regulation" shell games. On this one, you can be sure the industries and their lobbyists would hammer at our obliging representatives in government. They will do so successfully unless there is a counterbalancing force -- which can only be at the grass-roots level -- which can keep the focus on the real issue: ending slavery.
Of course, there is a long way to go before we even get to the point of government action. Mr. Bales needs to be watched and encouraged -- who will join him in the cause?
The Wal-Mart defence just doesn't cut it, not on this one.
About Me
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- I was born in the 10th month of the 11,988th year of the Galactic Era (GE) (-79 Foundation Era (FE)). My prediction of the eventual fall of the Galactic Empire has earned me nickname "Raven" Seldon: I guess it stuck. For reasons too tedious to explain, I have made very few in-the-flesh appearances to my interlocutors: just read the book. I prefer to appear in pre-recorded holographic messages when it is time to reveal a Seldon Crisis. However, since the invention of the internet, thanks to Al Gore, I have chosen to reveal my observations (and perhaps a few predictions) on this website.
2 comments:
Hi Hal,
Thanks for your mention of my article. And let me assure you that I don't accept the arguments of opaque supply chains. At the moment many of these supply chains ARE opaque, but we're putting a lot of work into changing that. Crucial to this is getting the industries to pull their weight, to take responsibility for those supply chains. It is their business to know those channels inside and out, not the consumer's.
For more info. on modern slavery visit: www.freetheslaves.net
Separate articles could have been written on WalMart and their relationship with prison-factories in China. They "inspect" these, but is working with a factory staffed with inmates who have no choice but to be there, and who are there without due process of law, legititmate? It also violates the Smoot-Hawley Tariff law, but no one seems ready to talk about that.
Many thanks for your thoughts,
Kevin Bales
Keep up the good work.
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