Our contribution to Slavery as Consumers

Introduction

In today's world, it can be tough to determine whether products have or have not been produced through slavery. A specific component of a product - the cotton used to make a T-shirt, for example - may be the result of human trafficking.

Common consuming

In bygone years these questions could be easily answered. Produce likely came from a nearby farm, and crafts from a regional maker. Buyers may have been frugal, but durability and craftsmanship were valued. Though sad to be divorced from this quaint intimacy, we would not turn back the clock if we could. Today's population couldn't be sustained without many of the advances of the modern age. But that cannot excuse our being party to the extreme abuse suffered daily, by so many, as a result of our race to the bottom. (Bales: 120) Like magicians skillfully using misdirection, the corporate giants of discount retail are happy to tell us the price, but loath to let us see the real costs. Beside labor abuse and environmental degradation, we incur a host of down-stream costs from our discount culture. Jobs are lost as entire industries relocate. Wages are depressed, health and safety are compromised. The toxic waste stream is compounded by endless goods that barely last as long as their warranty. We are left alienated and ignorant of where and how our things are produced. Though oddly unsatisfied we return for more of the same. There is another way.

Countries has large slavery

The five worst countries for human trafficking and slavery... it's an interesting approach because you have to in a sense define "worst." But or course there's more than a billion people in India so it's about what's the proportion.  And then if you want to think about some concept of severity when you say "worse," ...