worse than slavery essay

worse than slavery essay

The Injustices of Modern-Day Slavery

1. Introduction

The global and general modern-day and specifically foreign labor systems have become more severe, illegal, and frequent due to the economic issues in societies in past years. These systems have become in significant violation of international laws through the physical and psychological abuse of general workers and the insistence of forced labor in some situations. Many of these foreign laborers are deceived as to the terms of their labor and resulting income. This gross exploitation of workers, mainly by their countrymen and sometimes foreign employers, has resulted in an indirect form of slavery. Steps have been taken to mitigate the situation, but few have been effective in changing the conditions of the laborers themselves, often resulting in the same situation or worse due to retaliatory restrictions by their employers. This forbidden foreign labor is a great injustice and can be easily identified by breaches of international laws and conventions, the abuse of human rights, and the failure to adhere even to the lowest acceptable standards of living. All this is in contrast to the expectations and requirements of the provision of labor laid down in the classical economics paradigm.

2. Historical Perspective: Slavery vs. Modern-Day Exploitation

In an analysis of those words, it would seem that Bales contradicts himself in evidence that enslavement has been combated during the late 20th century; in actuality, there is no real contradiction. A close examination of the resolutions adopted by the UN in the mid-1950s to late 1900s reveals that the intent of the UN was to decry a specific school of thought that had re-developed slavery, not to decry all forms of slavery, which may explain why there was little follow-up regarding the resolutions.

In a scholarly review of the book “Disposable People: New Slavery in the Global Economy,” Howard Wolpe states that the author, Kevin Bales, contends that the concept of slavery had a more bloody and grim ending between the mid-1800s and late 1900s, in which Bales even states, “The General Assembly of the United Nations has adopted a number of resolutions, beginning in 1956, decrying slavery in all forms. Despite that fact, there is little evidence that enslavement was seriously considered an evil to be combated until the late 20th century.”

During the present century, a great deal of media attention has been directed at the issue of slavery. Unfortunately, there are many misconceptions about the nature of slavery in the world today, and many people wrongly assume that slavery was a “black eye” on mankind’s past eradicated with the end of the American Civil War. The fact of the matter is that slavery was not just an American or Southern phenomenon, and it has certainly not been abolished.

Slavery vs. Modern-Day Exploitation. In the early 1900s, the twentieth-century philosopher and theologian Reinhold Niebuhr stated: “Man’s capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man’s inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary.” This quote epitomizes a relevant concept in terms of the slavery issue in America. As a nation founded upon the concept of “liberty and justice for all,” our past and present sins will continue to haunt us until we summon the courage to pass the necessary laws and advocate for the enforcement of such laws for the protection of the downtrodden and the exploited in today’s world.

3. The Hidden Realities of Modern-Day Slavery

The exploitation of workers is a salient issue on a global scale and is certainly not restricted to any particular country or nationalities. It is a well-known fact that differentials of wealth have stigmatized certain world regions with the ‘developing’ status; it is here that the injustices of modern-day slavery are most prevalent. This ‘third world’ debt has driven many countries to export their goods and natural resources at a price below their true value. In their search for livelihood, the people from these countries, who are often poorly educated and already committed to repay debts, will fall victim to false job adverts and contracts. This is an effective method of luring workers into slavery as many of them will not realize that their rights are being abused. The portrayal of work in a foreign country as a means of repaying a debt, and doing so through an agreed work contract, isn’t a bad thing in essence. But in a situation where debt bondage and forced labor occurs, the line can be very fine. Substandard terms and conditions and contract alteration result in low-cost or free labor. There are many companies and individuals in the global market today benefiting from such an operation, but the low cost of labor is particularly attractive to industries involved in manufacture and primary production. Firestone and the diamond companies of Sierra Leone are but a few examples in industry and agriculture. The worldwide demand for cheap products and resources is an indirect cause of modern-day slavery.

Introduction Slavery conjures up images of the past; of agriculture in the southern states of America and of small black children in chains. This doesn’t allude to a particularly bright period in global history, but the images, black and white, spoken and written, give an impression that slavery was a thing of the past. This is not the case. There exists in the world today, many different types of slavery: debt bondage, child soldiers, trafficking of children for sexual exploitation, child labour, and forced labour to name a few. This essay is focusing on the global issue of modern-day slavery, specifically within the economy, and the deceptive methods used to exploit the vulnerable and marginalized without them realizing. This form of slavery is difficult to expose and regulate, and the victims often do not know their rights have been contravened.

4. Impact on Human Dignity and Society

Without choice, there is no self-determination; there is but life at the whim of another. A person in chains is subject to the will of her master, and must do whatever he commands. The only difference between the life of a slave at one extreme, and that in some types of menial employment at the other, is that the latter can leave if he wishes – a possibility not always so different from being unable to leave – and that the conditions of employment are chosen. But it is always a matter of degree. Lacking all choice as to the general conditions of life and labour, the New World slave is less than an employee, and little better off than the man on public assistance who is today sometimes forced to accept work in order to receive benefits. Step by step, there is a sliding scale from full liberty to total domination, and the more that one is towards the latter, the less human life it is.

When a person is free, it is up to her whether to work or rest, to leave one job for another, to move home, or to remain in the same place. One can choose to raise children or not, to get married or not, and so on. Importantly, one can freely choose to continue with a past choice, or to reverse it. This is to have the chance to shape life according to one’s own rational plan. For the enslaved, all that is lost. They have but the smallest possibility of some alternative in the free time that remains after work; as said, work is forced. There is no chance to bargain for a better job, nor any way of leaving it, and no way to improve the conditions. So there is no choosing another job. In shanties or in shackles, the enslaved remain trapped in poverty and desperation, with no hope of change.

But the loss of freedom of choice – the essence of dignity – lies at the heart of enslavement, and of the misery and suffering it brings. We might say that this is the most central way in which the injustice and barbarity of the New World slavery presents itself. It is also the most obvious way that the very existence of slavery degrades society. The enslaved are denied the most basic liberty to determine their own future.

5. Call to Action: Eradicating Modern-Day Slavery

Modern-day slavery is a real issue. Despite our apathy, ignorance, and inaction, slavery still exists across the globe in the 21st century. The problem first emerged after reports came out that people were being sold and held against their will in the state of Florida. When most people hear the word “slavery,” they think of history and, in particular, the transatlantic slave trade from Africa to the Western Hemisphere. Slavery has been globally recognized as an abuse of human rights – an evil institution that must be battled against at all costs. The UN Universal Declaration of Human Rights claims that all humans have the right to life, liberty, and security, but unfortunately, it is an ideal that is not upheld in practice across the globe. As such, we must reignite the fervor against slavery that brought about its abolition in the 19th century. Abolitionists created the human rights movement; we must now take it to the next step.