Exploitation For Financial Gain: Does Slavery Still Exist?
We think of the slave trade as a thing of the distant past.
We hear the word 'slavery' and we picture African men in chains, herded off of ships and onto old Antebellum plantations. We know how horrific that system was, and we breathe a sigh of relief that it ended.
We tell ourselves that things are better now, and nobody must toil away in bondage that way for the sake of our economic prosperity.
The thing is, the system of slavery never ended at all; it just changed. It no longer looks exactly the same as it did back then, but the reality is no less horrific. People are still trapped in awful conditions, forced to work under threat of abuse, starvation and death.
The chains are often invisible, but they're still there.
Slavery used to be defined as the literal, legal ownership of another human being. These days, it's more accurate to describe slavery as the systematic and intentional exploitation of others for financial gain.
The slave has their freedom stolen from them, and they are controlled by leveraging everything from physical abuse, legal threats or the crushing weight of debt.
If you need food to live, and your ability to afford food depends on your boss giving you money, you're not free to refuse to work for them. People in extreme poverty are, therefore, at high risk of being exploited in this way.
If you're financially stable, you can at least choose to look for other places to work if you aren't being treated well. If you're living paycheck to paycheck, you have far fewer options.
Does that mean every working class person is a slave? No, not necessarily.
But it does mean that under our current system, the threat of being enslaved is quite real. In fact, it's happening under our noses, and most of us directly contribute to the modern-day slave trade through our regular shopping trips.
Sweatshop labor is a familiar concept to most of us, at least as an abstract idea.
To some degree, we all know that the clothing we buy could have been made in a sweatshop. We know that if we do some digging, we'll probably find out that the stores we frequent have scandals attached to their names.
The garment industry is notorious for the use of sweatshop labor, especially if they cater to the Fast Fashion craze.
Sweatshops take a variety of different forms, but the main characteristics are exploitation and a loss of freedom. Most of them prey on individuals who are particularly vulnerable, like single women, children, and undocumented immigrants who have no legal recourse.
While many people assume that sweatshop labor only exists in so-called 'Third World Countries', this could not be further from the truth. Here in Canada, we have discovered active sweatshops in major cities like Montreal and Vancouver.
Here's a great blog post on the topic by a small, ethical fabric business in Quebec.
It goes without saying that if the abuses are happening here in Canada, they're definitely happening in the far more populous, far more ruggedly capitalistic United States. Los Angeles and New York are hotspots for garment production, after all.
The average pay for those workers is abysmal, especially because the reported wages don't take into account the wage theft and lack of overtime pay that garment workers have to deal with.
So, going back to our definition of modern-day slavery, it's obvious that sweatshops fit the bill.
Now, there's another kind of slavery that I hinted at above; the presence of children in sweatshops is practically a given. But did you know that illegal child labor exists across multiple industries?
Child labor is especially common now that certain governments are working their asses off to try and loosen the laws that protect them from being abused.
I wrote about this topic about a year ago, and the issue continues to persist. One of my early Unfiltered episodes tackled specific laws being pushed by Red States in the U.S. It's an issue I'm particularly passionate about.
And it's an ongoing struggle that stands to get markedly worse if a certain orange gentleman were to be sent back to the Oval Office, given that it's largely the conservative side of the aisle that's pushing for kids to join the workforce.
The party of 'protect the children' only cares when it's convenient for their narrative.
Here in Canada, I'm sorry to say, our situation is equally rough. I'm not thrilled by the fact that some of our Provinces allow for children as young as 12 or 13 to have jobs. Heavy restrictions on job type and hours-worked during the school week is not enough to set me at ease, to be perfectly frank.
There are many reasons why child labor is a problem. Mental and physical health is often compromised, for example– think of how rough retail is on adults, then imagine a 14-year-old kid dealing with abusive customers.
Kids who work can struggle to keep a social life, a healthy sleep schedule, and their grades often take a hit because they lack the time or energy to keep up with their studies.
Their growing bodies are at risk of serious injury, and they may not be physically capable of carrying heavy loads or performing tasks alongside their adult coworkers.
And for kids working at shady businesses, the opportunity for them to be exploited by their employer is huge. What kid has a thorough understanding of their rights as a worker, or knows who to contact if they have a complaint?
For some employers, it's remarkably easy to skirt around the existing safety laws, hire the children of impoverished families who may need their kids to work in order to get by, and then drastically underpay them for the ridiculous hours they force them to work.
Check out the 2023 statistics of illegal child labor provided by the U.S. Department of Labor. It's pretty stomach-churning, and it proves that the situation is getting worse, not better.
I feel fairly confident in saying that illegal child labor certainly qualifies as exploitation for financial gain.
We live in a capitalistic society that places more value on the number in your bank account than the lives of human beings.
In the world we currently live in, we need to earn money in order to survive. And yes, I'm well within my rights to complain about this system and continue to actively engage with it.
I don't have any choice. Opting out means death, especially for people with chronic illnesses like me. I need my medication, I need a roof over my head, and I need to eat.
This is why modern-day slavery exists. Exploiting workers, abusing them, and taking advantage of the vulnerable few who don't have any other way to survive– that's a feature of the capitalist system, not a bug.
The behavior of the slavers is rewarded with success. Just look at Walmart, which is still one of the largest corporations in the world. How many times have they been caught using slave labor, or failing to give their workers the pay they're owed?
Why do you think they haven't been shut down? They've got enough money to make the problems go away, and keep on keeping on.
As long as there are no true consequences to using and profiting off of slave labor, companies are going to keep doing it. There's no ifs, ands or buts about it.
So, yes. Modern-day slavery exists, it's a huge problem, and we're all contributing to it one way or another. Every major corporation uses it, whether their offices are based in North America or not.
If you buy clothing, or toys and appliances- I'm sorry, but you've paid slavers. I have, too. If you buy food from anything other than a local, small organic farm, I'm sorry. You're paying slavers. I am, too.
There's no way to get around it. Check out this list of industries and goods for proof.
I'm not even touching on human trafficking and the exploitation of sex workers– that's a topic for another day. This is not an exhaustive list, it's just a small handful of examples.
And the worst part is: there's no easy, simple way to fix this because the problem is a global one. I wish we could wave a magic wand and write the perfect law that would end the global slave trade. Sadly, it just doesn't work like that.
All we can do is research, and do our best. We can protest, we can write to our representatives, and we can try to be cautious about where we spend our money.
I'm just hoping that someday, we'll live in a world where this form of slavery is as hated and reviled as the chattel slavery of days past.
Solidarity wins.
If you want to add to your library, consider checking out the World-Weary Reading List. If you purchase a book through one of the affiliate links on this list, I will be paid a small commission at no extra cost to you.
Sam WoodsIf you enjoy the Weary Missive, consider becoming a paid supporter! Keeping World-Weary going is hard work, and I'm incredibly grateful to all those who offer a few dollars a month to help me keep the lights on.
All paid subscribers gain access to Unfiltered, my bi-weekly podcast, where I let my hair down and let my rage flag fly about current events. Be prepared to hear me curse like a sailor.
If you want to help in another way, you could spread the word by sharing my posts on your social media and telling your friends about World-Weary. Word of mouth is the only way that this community grows.
Member discussion