Sunday, November 05, 2006

Slavery, always ready to come back when it can

These are three links to the same article on present day slavery in Latin America.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/business/4307371.html

http://www.businessday.co.za/articles/world.aspx?ID=BD4A309105

Link to article.

I think there is a tendency to see slavery as part of the dead past, or a feature of backward societies. The correct way to see slavery is as a system of labor which always has the potential to introduce itself into the economic system anywhere anytime if it gets the opportunity to do so. Slavery is usually present if it is feasible and if it is economical. If it is economical, that is highly profitable, it becomes very feasible.

With the profits of slavery, officials, laws, religions leaders, opinion leaders can be induced to find some justification, some facilitization, some support to overcome opposition to slavery. Slavery really is the most pernicious thing, and once started somewhere, spreads like the plague, its supporters willing to support it with violence and thuggery.

The Antebellum abolitionists were for the longest time a minority and thought of as radical because they were uncompromisingly anti-slavery. The ending of government sanctioned slavery in the Western world is a phenomenal achievement in light of the opposition they faced.

The Neo-Confederate promote apologetics for slavery and call the abolitionists anti-Christian. They are fringe and at this time, avoid publicizing their views front and center. However, slavery and pro-slavery Neo-Confederate ideology will be there lurking down through the generations to some possible future time when the opportunity presents itself.

Not all forms of bondage are chattel slavery. There is peonage, serfdom, and other modes of bondage. My definition concerning bondage, is that to quit your job you have to run for it.

I don't have a comprehensive thought through plan to oppose slavery. I think in some cases it can be directly opposed, and in some ways there must be a systemic approach. A lot of people in modern day slavery, fall into it because they are vulnerable, lack education, and don't know what they are getting into. Economic development would help.

In other cases, we need to push police departments and labor officials to be more aggressive to shut down shops and situations here that are essentially slave labor.

HOWEVER, I think one thing can be done is to get people to stop thinking of slavery as something in the past except for a few aberrations or exceptional cases. People should always think of slavery as something that is always pressing to get in, and there is always a possibility of it getting in, not just in some foreign country or the Third World, but here in the U.S.A.

The following link is about the Confederate Christian nationalists who are apologists for slavery.

http://www.utpjournals.com/product/cras/323/sebesta.html

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