Kevin Bales: How to combat modern slavery
Posted by admin in Finance Thursday, 6 May 2010 01:29 28 Comments
www.ted.com In this moving yet pragmatic talk, Kevin Bales explains the business of modern slavery, a multibillion-dollar economy that underpins some of the worst industries on earth. He shares stats and personal stories from his on-the-ground research — and names the price of freeing every slave on earth right now.TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world’s leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the “Sixth Sense” wearable tech, and “Lost” producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at www.ted.com
Slavery in America is called the War on Drugs. First they created fear of Blacks and Hispanics on drugs raping white women. Then white America passes laws against drugs and prosecutes predominantly Black and Hispanics at first. When you are in prison you either work or you go to the hole. So we got Slavery again in the United States. In Louisiana they even pick cotton.
@RichGriese
In the UK it’s often illegal immigrants who have been smuggled in by criminal organisations, thinking they have a legitimate job waiting for them when they get here they end up in a brothel.
@RichGriese, look for more information on sex slavery, and you’ll get a better idea of where.
wait a minute… did he say that there are slaves in the USA? is there any more information I can find out about thins? where are they?
@TravisMorien
wasn’t meant to sidestep importance. it was just to throw another form of slavery on the pile albeit more abstract.
@liquidminds There are different kinds of regulation, and protectionism is usually a bad thing too. Australia has very little protectionism besides quarantine on certain fruits and vegetables, few tariffs and unions which for the most part make reasonable demands. One of the problems the US faces is that it has grown accustomed to propping up unprofitable industries in a way which is very NON-free market. There is a legitimate debate, which country is the truer capitalist, Australia or USA?
@TravisMorien: OK.. so the whole misunderstanding between us, was based on the fact that you were talking about the specific australien type of capitalism, that is very well regulated, while I was talking about the extreme-capitalism enforced by major US and European corporations that want to have their own playground stripped of all rules there are.
A well regulated capitalism is something I could live with. The current world-model is just too far away from beeing well-regulated for me to like
@xjustamem0ryx No, get lost. If you people actually cared about the plight of slaves you’d stop trying to dumb down the word “slavery” to include every person in the world who isn’t working in their dream job.
If you wish to go off and start a charity trying to get 100% of the global population into highly paid, interesting, easy and low stress jobs then go ahead. More power to you. But to the people who are literally chained up, whipped and worked to death you’re all colossal douchbags.
@liquidminds Regulation can and should and does play a role in a healthy capitalist system. We have labour laws, environmental protection, in some industries like finance we have prudential regulation to protect customers and the system (Australia retained such laws, looking on in some horror as the US and Europe each stripped its own banking system of such controls. Their banking systems needed a bailout, ours is just fine, we even avoided a recession).
So I’m not against regulation.
@Zeno1999 The new YT interface is a pain in the ass, isn’t it! It makes it so easy to create duplicate postings, and you can’t really get rid of them all because it still shows your multiposts as “comment removed”.
Surely it would not be beyond them to create a proper tree-oriented comment system something more like Google Groups/Usenet.
@Zeno1999 The problem is that their economic output is very low. In the west, kids used to have to work to support their families, often in very dangerous and unhealthy conditions. Why don’t we have that any more? Yes, we have laws against it, but the reason why we now have such laws is that we have the luxury of not needing child laborers. The economic output of one child is negligible compared to a trained adult in a mechanised factory. Our output is high enough to permit kids a “childhood”.
@LIVEETERNALLOVE Capitalism is working brilliantly. No system is going to solve all problems overnight, but the track record of lifting people from poverty to affluence is unmatched.
That’s why we shouldn’t be in any hurry to implement revolutionary new systems. We need to learn from the failures of the past (including the lessons of communism that having committees work out production quotas doesn’t work as well as letting individuals work out supply and demand) and do a lot of research.
@TravisMorien The improvements came as a result of observing cause & effect, then making changes. Observing here now, most see room for further social engineering. We’ve progressed, but haven’t yet arrived. We’re far from fulfilling our potential. One can’t reasonably expect to find detailed Utopian plans in comment boxes. Such plans however & their resulting manifestations begin with single ideas that without, would have us on a perceptively flat planet minus cars, tvs, phones & running water.
@TravisMorien: ok.. maybe got that one wrong… would have been a logical conclusion..
I agree with your positioning, as I would place myself close to that described, but I need to point out that similar conclusions can derive from different observations, leaving huge differences in the individuals views of the world.
I think your model depends on everyone wanting to do good. Individuals that corrupt the system don’t seem to be included.
in addition to the 3rd world slavery, some modern slavery can be seen in:
permitting prisoners (working class) enough to furnish their cell (house) with self-satisfying pleasures (electricity, cell phones, tv, internet, cars, clothes) they will no longer seek to leave the cell. so, it is encouraged upon them to keep them that way. 2 birds one stone.
@TravisMorien> g point; I think main problem in the 3rd world “slavery” is due to lack of justice.
In ON, Canada, wages have dropped in last 10 yrs for semi-skilled workers while minimum wage and 40 hrs/week work can not pay for the basic necessitites of life. So here is first world country becoming 3rd world really fast.
Slavery is a relative term today.
@TravisMorien> g point; I think main problem in the 3rd world “slavery” is due to lack of justice.
In ON, Canada, wages have dropped in last 10 yrs for semi-skilled workers while minimum wage and 40 hrs/week work can not pay for the basic necessitites of life. So here is first world country becoming 3rd world really fast.
Slavery is a relative term today.
@liquidminds The majority are actually extremely affluent compared to any previous generation. The working class have electricity, running water, cell phones, TV, the internet, cars, more than one change of clothing etc. All in all, a vast improvement over sharing a single room shack with a whole family of ten, many of whom will die before reaching adulthood.
Your problem seems to be pathological envy. Maybe you should talk to someone about getting help with that.
@liquidminds “I guess you are american.. the american propaganda would explain your views.:
Brilliant deduction there Genius. Did it take you long to figure that out?
Actually, I’m Australian, born and bred. And very much a centrist politically, with a mixture of views characterising both left and right wing attitudes.
I’m economically center right, I believe in free but adequately regulated business. In many other things though I’m very much a lefty.
@TravisMorien: allright… you are totally right.. in medival ages they tortured with glowing metal and whips.. nowadays we use psychological terror, waterboarding and isolation…
you are right.. such an advantage… because thinking of a world without torture.. impossible…
You have all the wrong facts and are obviously incapable of seeing the whole picture.
I guess you are american.. the american propaganda would explain your views.
It’s like talking to a commie… fully delusional…
@TravisMorien Are you capable of not thinking in black and white?
there are million other ways, and to be honest.. ALL beeing poor is better than a minority of assholes having everything and ruling over a minority.
America used to be so proud of not beeing communist and nowadays trying everything to get the same livingconditions …
@liquidminds “the middleclass is dying”
Absolute nonsense!
The middle class is growing rapidly, particularly in emerging economies like China and India, and remains high everywhere else.
You’re attempting to paint an overly rosy picture of the past if you think there was ever a more egalitarian age. When were things better? Before the 20th century women didn’t have the vote, go back only a few decades and racism was almost universal. The past was horrible.
@liquidminds So let me get this straight…
If we go from a situation where the majority are dirt poor and a minority somewhat less poor, to a situation where the majority are much more affluent and comfortable, but a minority are super-rich, you consider that a big step back?
The Russian communists used to criticise the Chinese communists over such views, mocking the then-Chinese idea that it is better for everyone to be equally impoverished peasants than to permit some inequality.
@TravisMorien: that’s because you think in absolutes… look at the difference between the richest and the poorest back then and today.. there’s a difference of a factor of 1000 or more…
of course, the poor had a higher rate of childdeaths. But the rich had the equal amount, because medicine just wasn’t that far.
the middleclass is dying and we are aproaching a world where a rich 5% minority dictates over the poor workingclass who tries it’s best not to starve.
good luck beeing in the first
“The solution requires us to evolve from haves and have nots… to just haves.” With a practical and detailed plan like that, how can your utopia possibly fail to happen!
Ok, Sarcasm aside, by any objective measure the quality of life of even the poorest people in capitalist countries has improved vastly over time. It wasn’t too long ago that people would have ten kids and lose most of them to epidemics, small kids would do heavy laboring. Cars? TVs? Cell phones? Running water> As if!
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