A Journal for Western Man-- Issue XV-- June 18, 2003
C. Andrew Warren
Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains.
- Jean-Jacques Rousseau (1712–1778)
The first form of slavery is commonly referred to as contract slavery, or trafficking. This is the most prevalent form of slavery in America and other rich nations, as it is based on credible promises of high salaries. A common example of contract slavery would be if a person in a nice suit went to an impoverished African village and promised residents work in America for high salaries. The residents would accept, be taken to America using false papers, then forced to work in a brothel or textile shop for no pay. Both threats against families back in Africa and the threat of deportation prevent these new slaves from reporting their situation to authorities, perpetuating the problem. Most victims of trafficking end up in varying forms of sexual slavery (Modern-Day 2).
The second primary form of slavery is called debt bondage or bonded labor, and is by far the most prevalent type of slavery in the world today. Bonded labor begins with a small loan from the slave owner to the slave in exchange for work. The slave owner then pays minute wages and subtracts exorbitantly priced housing and food from those, usually increasing the debt and ensuring a lifetime of service from the slave, and sometimes the slave’s descendants. This method both allows high profit margins as well as a pretense of legality, making it immensely appealing to most would-be slave owners. This is also what makes Tolstoy’s observation so true, that money is the newest form of slavery. Slavery is hiding under the guise of debt repayment. This occurs in third world countries around the globe, including Haiti, The Dominican Republic, Mauritania, and to 10 million bonded laborers in India (Rogers 2).
The third primary form of slavery is called forced labor. This form of slavery is most common in countries experiencing political instability or rebellion, or in which there are two rival groups and no law enforcement. This form of slavery takes place when a government, militia, or other politically motivated group captures civilians and forces them to perform labor under threat of violence or reprisal. A common example is when a militia captures civilians and forces them to walk in front of the troops, ensuring that any and all landmines will be set off by the slaves and not the militia. Other jobs may include sexual slavery, munitions production, or munitions transport. Though not as prevalent as some other types of slavery on a global scale, this form is rampant when conditions allow it. It is currently common in Sudan and the Congo (Harden 2).
The fourth and final form of slavery is the traditional version, called chattel slavery. This is the variety of slavery that was prevalent until the mid-1800s, whereby human beings are treated as objects. They are bought, sold, traded, and abused by their owners, and are considered the personal property of the owner to do with what he or she wishes. This form is different from the other three forms mainly due its lack of pretense. It does not even pretend to be legal or just. This is why this form is so rare. It is blatantly illegal and simplest to crack down on. Other forms either have a legal pretense or exist in a place where legality is irrelevant. Chattel slavery is decreasing due to its perceptibility. It is by far the least common form of slavery, and does not seem to limit itself to any particular geographical area.
The forms that slavery has taken over the last century and a half are not the only aspects of slavery that have changed. The illegality of slavery has actually promoted an even more abusive and dangerous type of slavery than has ever before existed. When slavery was legal, it could be monitored and regulated by governments. This means that the slave owners would heed the government’s regulations. This is no longer the case. Now that slavery is no longer permitted by the government, it is no longer regulated, meaning that slave owners may now do whatever they wish to their slaves, knowing that, if they get caught, the punishment could be no worse than it would have been anyways. This promotes further human rights abuse. The only other safeguard to check back violence and indifference against slaves inherent in the system of slavery also no longer exists. This was the initial investment required to purchase the slaves. In the days of legal American slavery, the average slave would cost $40,000 to over $100,000 in modern money, and only made a profit of 5% for their owner annually (Rogers 2). This meant that slaveholders would need to keep their slave for twenty years before the slave paid for him or herself. This was an incredible incentive for a slaveholder to maintain his or her slaves healthy and in good condition. Not only were the slaves less abused than now, they also were fed decently and received limited medical care. There was still abuse and cruelty, and it was a step in the right direction when slavery was outlawed, but slaves are treated worse now than they were then. Today, slaves cost the slaveholder between $35-90, and make the owner an annual profit ranging from 50-800% (Rogers 2). This makes individual slaves nearly worthless, bordering on expendable in the eyes of the slaveholder. When slaves are expendable, it becomes unnecessary for the slaveholder to hold out on punishment, much less supply medical care or decent food. This drastically increases the human rights violations already so prevalent in slavery, making it only a matter of time until slavery is just another method of mass-slaughter.
In the early 1800s, individual abolitionists on the lecture circuit managed to persuade the public that slavery was wrong. Unfortunately, it is no longer within the control of the public at large whether or not slaves should be held. It is, however, within the control of the public to persuade public representatives to act against slavery. Increased public awareness is vital to begin enacting methods to abolish slavery for good (Modern-Day 2). There are four such methods that are currently being used separately on a small basis to try to abolish slavery. Each of them has upsides and downsides, but all of them help to fight slavery in their own way. Ultimately, it will be a combination of these methods, if anything, that will rid the world of slavery forever.
The first major solution is also the most common right now. Grassroots movements are well known for their versatility and dedication, as well as their close relationship with the public. This means that they would be excellent for raising public awareness about modern slavery. Unfortunately, that same dedication makes them very resilient to dissolution when they are no longer needed. They usually turn on each other and attack other grassroots movements eventually, leading to stagnation and lack of credibility on behalf of the whole movement. This can not only be seen in so many other major grassroots causes such as feminism and environmentalism, but even in the current anti-slavery institutions. Groups that are trying to eliminate slavery accuse each other of promoting it, achieving nothing. For example, UNICEF attacked Anti-Slavery International’s methods of fighting slavery, primarily the method of redemption which will be explained below (Walker 1).
The second major solution is the enforcement of both local and international laws. This is by far the most sweeping and effective solution, providing that it does get enforced. There are four international treaties currently banning slavery (Education 3), and they obviously have not achieved their aspirations. Another actor would need to be coupled with government in order to ensure that something actually gets done (Education 3). Once something does get done, however, governments have the power to inflict massive damage on the slave trade (Abolition 3).
The third solution is product identification, whereby products that were not made using slave labor (or those that were) are marked with a certain logo or label, so that the consumer understands the history of the product they are buying. An example of this is the company called Rugmark, which puts its logo on carpets that were not made using slave labor (Anonymous 2). This would not only raise awareness about slavery, it might also limit the consumer base, undercutting the profitability of slavery. The fur trade and the apathy of its consumers, however, provide an ominous warning about whether or not such a solution could solve the problem entirely.
The fourth, final, and most controversial solution is that of redemption. Redemption is a program spearheaded by a Zurich-based group called Christian Solidarity International. They pay neo-underground railroad conductors $35 for each slave they rescue, which usually is used primarily in purchasing the slave off of the owner (Walker 2). This is the most immediate and certain method of getting slaves out of slavery, but at the same time it could promote slavery (Walker 2). By encouraging the idea that people can be bought and sold and that slave owners may make money by selling their slaves, it has been argued that redemption only furthers the slave trade. This would, at most, need to be a temporary solution. In the long term it would only reinforce the idea that slavery can be profitable to slaveholders.
None of these solutions can solve the problem alone. Grassroots movements would only turn on each other after sufficiently raising awareness, and probably not actually solve the problem. Law enforcement cannot be expected to sweep every corner of the earth of slavery, or to be speedy and overwhelmingly effective. Politics would always get in the way of passing whatever resolution is required, and funding for enforcement would constantly be under the revision. Product identification would not deter some from purchasing slave-made carpets, and even if it affected everyone did it would need to do so internationally to actually put the slave owners out of business. Even then, many would keep them as house servants. Buying back one slave at a time will take quite a while for 27 million slaves, and there is no certainty that they would not be recaptured indefinitely, at which point the owners are continually paid more and more money to free the same slave over and over again. Since no solution can alleviate slavery individually, the only way to do so must be through a coordinated combination of all four methods.
Since governments are continually eyeing the budget, the moment grassroots movements are no longer needed, there would no longer be any support or money for them from the government. This would help to minimize grassroots backlash when their job is done, as it will be plainly clear when that time is anyways. They would probably attack the government for abandoning them and their noble cause, but the government gets blamed for everything anyways, and not many would notice. This way, grassroots movements have the opportunity to inform the public and build up support to abolish slavery, while not overstaying their welcome. The other side to that is that the government would have groups constantly applying pressure to abolish slavery, making them enforce the laws that are passed, and thus cracking down on the slave trade legally. The combination of government action and product identification might help to attack the problem from multiple aspects; undercutting the profitability of slavery to the owners while the government cracks down on them legally might get rid of most if not all of the slave owners. This would attack both the economic and legal aspects of the business simultaneously, hopefully making it very undesirable to slave owners internationally. The most important benefit to the combination of different solutions would be the time frame. While the grassroots movements are still gaining support and politicians were still bickering over the legislation, groups promoting the redemption solution would be helping people out of slavery in the mean time, making sure that no time was wasted in getting slaves out of bondage. Also, the point at which slavery would be abolished soon anyways, any slight negative impacts of redemption would be irrelevant, making it a workable policy. This would require coordination between many different groups, but it is the only feasible solution that has the ability to abolish slavery.
Slavery justifies any and every atrocity known to humankind. When humans become objects to be owned and traded, they may be treated however the owner wishes. This justifies torture, death, and circumstantial discrimination. Every single right, all that humanity has achieved morally over the last ten thousand years, is no longer relevant. This is why slavery must be eliminated. It is the living embodiment of everything that humanity seeks to rid itself of; it is all that humanity is but does not wish to be. In short, it is iniquity incarnate. As such, it is humanity’s moral obligation to counter it whenever possible. Humanity is unconsciously losing the battle, but the actions of the slavery abolition movement over the next few years will determine the tide of the war. And the war will decide humanity’s future.
Bales, Kevin. "The Social Psychology of Modern Slavery." Scientific American Apr. 2002: 80.
Brinkley, Joel. "U.S. Report Details Modern 'Slave' Trade." Milwaukee Journal Sentinal 02 Apr. 2000, final ed. : 55A.
Education Packet Part 2: Slavery Throughout History. Free The Slaves. 4-22-03. <http://www.freetheslaves.net/edpack/edpack_2.pdf>.
Education Packet Part 3: Slavery and Human Rights. Free The Slaves. 4-22-03. <http://www.freetheslaves.net/edpack/edpack_3.pdf>.
Education Packet Part 4: Bonded Labor Campaign. Free The Slaves. 4-22-03. <http://www.freetheslaves.net/edpack/edpack_4.pdf>.
Education Packet Part 5: Resources and Contacts. Free The Slaves. 4-22-03. <http://www.freetheslaves.net/edpack/edpack_5.pdf>.
"Ending Modern Slavery." The Christian Science Monitor 01 Oct. 1993 : NOPGCIT.
Moffett, Matt. "Work: Against Their Will - Slavery has Been with Us for a Very Long Time; Some Forms are just More Obvious than Others." The Wall Street Journal 11 Jan. 1999, eastern ed. : R28.
Pine, Jordan. "Modern Slave States." The Washington Post 09 Oct. 2000, final ed. : A22.
Purdum, Todd. "Several U.S. Allies Criticized in Powell Report on Slave Trading." The New York Times 06 Jun. 2002, late (east coast) ed. : A15.
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Raspberry, William. "Some Things Simply Must Not Stand." The Washington Post 02 Oct. 2000, final ed. : A25.
"Thousands of Children Caught in Slavery's Trap." The Chicago Sun-Times 22 Apr. 2001, late sports final ed. : 30.
"Trafficking in Children." The New York Times 04 May. 2001, late (east coast) ed. : A24.
Zavis, Alexandra. "Cocoa, Coffee, Children Some See Trafficking in African Youngsters as Modern-Day Slave Trading." The Seattle Times 06 May. 2001, Sunday ed. : A3.
Zavis, Alexandra. "In African Fields, Modern Version of Slave Trade." The Star Tribune 08 May. 2001, metro ed. : 33A.
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