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My slavery profile by geography
I have 66 slaves working for me. Or at least that’s what Slavery Footprint estimates based on my lifestyle and the size of my family.
For a quick snapshot, you answer 11 pages of questions, including your age, the number of children you have, whether you rent or own a home, what’s in your medicine cabinet, what you eat, the clothing you own, how much jewelry you own and what electronics you have. If you have time, you can fine tune your results by reporting specific number of items. Like how many computers, leather shoes or stuffed animals you have.
Survey questions are graphically based.
For me, the main contributors were my electronics — not a big surprise there, as slavery has a large footprint in mining of raw materials — and my children’s stuffed animals. Now I have a better idea of my impact on human trafficking, and I learned some interesting facts about forced labor while filling out the survey. For instance, did you know that “bonded labor is used in Southeast Asia’s shrimping industry, which supplies more shrimp to the U.S. than any other country?”
The website — which was created by Call + Response, a non-profit dedicated to ending slavery, in collaboration with the U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons — estimates the number of slaves by taking a look at more than 450 products, and breaking them down from the sourcing of raw materials through the manufacturing. And the data is taken from legitimate sources such as the Department of Labor’s List of Goods Produced by Child Labor or Forced Labor 2010, International Labor Organization’s Committee of Experts Reports and Transparency International‘s Corruption Index 2010. Check the site’s Methodology page for a complete explanation and list of sources.
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Leave a Comment:
Wow, 45 slaves for me...I should start a plantation! Or build a pyramid...the potential is limitless! Why am I wasting my slaves on simple accessories and electronics when I could impress the Gods and become immortal?!
That was the point of this right?
^_^
This is nonsense. As previously pointed out, slavery exists only in sections of Africa. If one is redisposed towards socialism, one might attempt to argue that these people are being exploited, but they’re not slaves by any definition.
This article is nothing but one more bit of class warfare diatribe.
Not funny, Lab.
A rose by any other name..............
Slavery only in parts of Africa? I'm afraid you might not be fully informed. Check out International Justice Mission's website.
Funny how this article measurements lead to African countries having less "slaves" than the US.
When we know whole countries there live on children power. Oh well, maybe the authors of this research just thought African women bred some many children just to watch them die in the desert. (Let's send more money, right).
The one thing that people who recommend that we boycott products made using what we call exploited labor (like sweatshops) is that the work they do is actually their first choice for work. If we stop buying from their employers, the women and children will be forced to take the second of few choices available, which might be prostitution or harder work in the fields for half the wages. (I'm not talking about actual 'slave labor', where they are physically prevented from quitting.)
We might feel good about not buying goods made using 'exploited' people, but the effect could be far more devastating for the 'victims' that we are forcing into their 'second choice' jobs.
Think about it.
the point was you just answered 11 pages of info that big brother (and big sis) will be using to decide if you're a home-grown terrorist ;)
Seems to me that some are saying there is good slavery and bad slavery. and as long as they support good slavery it is OK.
Hypocrisy...
It's funny how we have a set of principals in the United States when it comes to jobs and how people are treated but if the products are made off our shores they can make them by any means necessary.
This slave labor is the reason the US can't compete in manufacturing and why we have no jobs here anymore.
ROY WILSON---using your logic we should reopen manufacturing facilities and make the jobs less than minimum wage and use it as the first choice instead of public assistance. I mean, there must be some moral slavery going on based on your comment. I would rather have that instead of working my butt off to get part of my pay while a chunk of it goes to the freeloaders in this country that have one skill which is scamming the system. No reason to put them to work by any means necessary. Right?
I have asked the question several times, if it's not right to do it in this country why is it right to import the products being made using methods we despise? I believe we do need more of this information and we do need to boycott these companies. If it hurts people in these other countries find something else. If there is nothing else WHY ARE YOU REPOPULATING THE AREA???
World population of 7 billion people and we have the resources to take care of about 4 billion. Then we make people like Octomom and Kate Plus Eight famous.
Does anyone else see anything wrong with this picture?
I think they should define slavery. Does that mean working for no wages or low wages? Also, you must compare the wage to the local cost of living. Real slavery does exist and it exists in Africa. No not Arabs or Englishmen grabbing people and chaining them but other Africans. Many places people become bonded servents which means they are slaves and cannot move or leave their owners until their debt is paid. Since they are charge interest, that means the debt is never paid. There is also the trafficing of people,mostly young girls but some boys for the to be used as prostitutes. The first world countries simply do not enforce laws against this trafficing.
I think it was worth a few minutes of my time ( barely) My biggest complaint is the article didn't give suggestions for how to lower my "slave footprint" . I buy local produce and dont wear jewlery and we don't buy un-needed toys or clothes. BUT OF COURSE we have computers and cell phones and sports equipment. We own a home and have to drive a car to work/school. I have to feed and clothe my children. I donate yearly to NGO's . but seriously, what else can a hard working mom do? I get up go to work, try to live as environmentally and morally conscious life as possible and according to this article I still have 40 some slaves. sorry dude, doing the best I can over here with little help, no energy, and almost no sleep. I can't keep my kids in a dark house with no toys, no sports equipment, no soap......
Kallie,
From the sounds of it, you've been sold a bill of goods. Trust me, the world isn't in as desperate shape as the NGOs, environmentalists, and others would have us believe. I worked for a very large NGO in Kandahar, Afghanistan. I've seen what their game is about. The people running NGOs are neither more nor less virtuous or selfish than the executives of corporations. The organization's structure might be non-profit, but the individuals running it sure aren't. So, you can take what they say with a heavy dose of skepticism.
On a different job, I built the economies of a dozen rural villages outside Kandahar. That was an incredible laboratory for seeing what it takes to make it all work. If you want to live your life in a way that does right by the world, then adhere to justice. That's all you need to to. Be just in all your transactions, and you need not worry about the distant effects of what you do; those effects will all be good, all the way down the line. It's pretty cool when you see how it all fits together.
Alamanach
Kallie et als:
Of course the website will not give you an inkling on how to lower your slave footprint. Slavery from the sweatshop perspective is not slavery at all but a means provided to the "enslaved" of making more monies than when participating in traditional regional labour/economic transactions such as farming, fishing, sex trade, et als.
You should be wary of these sites as you are willingly giving out a detailed profile of your purchasing habits and family composition. These are bits of information that marketers worldwide are willing to pay mayor monies for to the providers or compilers of these types of information. I wonder what the NGO behind this questionnaire is going to do with the aforementioned profile...
Wake up world, do not give out information unceccessarily under the false guise of societal good...
This is absolutely spot on! Some people may need to be shocked by what their consumption means to people in some other countries (and NOT just African countries!), but those of us who recognize the evil of slavery need alternatives. You are right -- we can't reasonably give up shoes, or computers or cell phones. Give us some help in avoiding products made with slaves.
How could we not give up cell phones? It isn't as if the world never existed and functioned properly without them.
The best way to lower our "slave footprints" is:
A). Stop shopping at Walmart (the company which does more than any other in the world to effectively transfer living wage American jobs to slave labor in China and East Asia). This company has recently announced it will be dropping all health insurance coverage for its employees who work 30 hours or less per week (and the employees are given no say in the number of hours they are able to work). Interestingly 12 members of the Walton Family, who hold controlling ownership of the company, are Multi-Billionaires listed near the top of the Forbes "400 Richest Americans" 2011 list; http://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/ But if Walmart's less-than-full-time employees get seriously ill, they are just out of luck and on their own! They don't earn a living wage from Walmart adequate to buy their own medical insurance. I guess Billionaires see the responsibility to humanity differently.
B). Do not buy ANY products labeled "product of China", "made in China" or "PRC" (People's Republic of China).
Not only will we all reduce our slave footprint with just these two simple changes in out buying habits, but we will stimulate our own economy and create jobs in America.
The solution is really quite simple. "Buy American products and services". And do not do business with American companies that outsource jobs from America.
I do not buy any product now from any foreign country unless I do not have a choice. I do research companies before I make any major purchase . I stopped buying from Target because they outsourced their customer service jobs. I found that out after experiencing it first hand man that was a lesson in frustration. It is more work but I think worth it.
The poor and starving, desperate for work, are easily exploited--forced to work long hours for little pay. Quitting is equivalent to suicide--not an option. They may not be slaves, but their lives are not much better. Doing tedious work for hours on end is like a prison sentence with hard labor.
As factories become more mechanized, more workers get displaced. At the same time, more technicians are needed--people with math, science and communication skills; higher-order thinking skills; problem-solving skills. Like engineers from China, India and the middle-east.
Both assembly-line jobs and technical jobs requires hard work--one physical and one mental. Mental acuity is a relatively rare and gifted talent, and it will always pay more. The world will always have a surplus of laborers--poor, uneducated and desperate--until a global union exercises its power to demand living wages, a fair work-distribution and safety conditions for all.
This is what happens when you vote Republican. The wealthy continue to gain on the backs of the middle and lower class folks. Remember this at the voting stations.
don`t by any GE products
31 and the main area was electronics. Food allergies, it turns out, is beneficial to the people who won't be planting, picking or processing most of my food, but it's a bigger garden next year for sure and meats from local growers.
This is just one more example of the failure of a market based economic system. When GOODS and profit surrounding these goods are of primary focus, issues, such as slavery, become inevitable (finding the cheapest way of doing business). A better economic system would be based on individual service and that service to society itself. There are alternative economic system ideas out there, try googling 22nd Century Economics. This system enables higher salaries for people who choose to work in ethical industries. It also helps solves issues such a money creation/debt repayment, social security and high insurance cost.
With the 22nd Century Economics concept, I might add, companies in "ethical" industries and choose a more ethical business model actually have higher potential revenue. It would be too long to explain how this concept functions, that is why a web site is developed.
By the way, I'm at 45 slaves.
I wonder how many slaves the US government has? 329 million is my guess since a child born today is already in debt, which would make he or she a debt slave from birth He or she will be required to pay it off as soon as he or she becomes a productive member of society. Productive meaning paying off the debt which is impossible since it is too large to ever pay off. Nice country BANKASTAN, formally known as United States of America.
We have bigger problems in the slavery dept than the national debt. Min wage is around $7 right now. Thirty years ago, min wage was worth about $10. Our wages are stagnant while the top tier is growing at a phenomenal rate. This is the product of an upside down tax system, as developed by the GOP.
The banks systematically made credit more available to individuals as wages stagnated, so the growth of the last 30 years is a house of cards, because we have now reached the point where most Americans are maxed out. Now the only way to dig out is to allow wages to increase enough to support economic growth. That means the ratio of CEO pay to worker pay cannot be 400:1.
The national debt will only go down when we fix the tax system which is rigged to benefit the rich, and get people back to work.
Mr. Cain has no solutions, and he can tell the Occupy movement to go and get a job, but the ratio of bodies to jobs is 4:1. Self employment is pretty tough when you have no money to work with, and borrowing is impossible because of student loans.
Our young people are being kicked to the curb, and I am glad they are not sitting still for it. No one should be willing to sit still for what is going on.
Every year we allow to go by without investing substantially in infrastructure we damage our ability to compete, and the cost of making the repairs goes up. They will have to be done. Will every bridge have to become too dangerous to drive before we start repairs? That's where we're going right now. Ask the folks in Missouri.
They lost me at " How many times have you paid for sex ?". Grr. You pay every time. It requires defining the currency.
How many slaves are working for the Occupy Wall Street protesters? It's not hard to find hundreds of pictures of them drinking Starbucks, using tons of personal electronics, trying to stay warm in Wal-Mart sleeping bags and tents, etc.
While they are so busy reveling in their 99 Percent-ness, they seem to have forgotten what real deprivation is.
DOWN WITH THE OWS PROTESTERS! THE LOUSY SLAVE DRIVERS!
(Seriously...the bleeding hearts need to get a new tactic!)
...46 slaves and I am a single male ...how many for a family of 4 or 5? yikes!
Of all the stupid articles on msnbc, this one take the top prize.
RetiredSmoker.
Why do you blog on a site you disagree with so much? Fake news would love to have you on their site.
bush democrat: Seriously? This is the fake news site. I read it for entertainment, and to keep an eye on what the lefties are coming up with.
Charles, did you ever ask yourself why you think every news source but Fox News is "fake?" I guarantee you the answer is looking you right in the face.
Definition of POWER. Getting the whole world to go along with something that in your heart you know is not True. aka Fake News and The GOPher party.
The Truth is That Fake News along with corporate America, Wall Street, and the Republicans are in league to trash any and all articles on MSNBC website to make democrats think they have no chance of winning thereby supressing voter turnout
When one bothers to click on the names of the people who Trash MSNBC website you find that all of their comments are negative and follow the same Republican line.
The Truth is That Fake News along with corporate America, Wall Street, and the Republicans are in league to trash any article on MSNBC website to make democrats think they have no chance of winning thereby supressing voter turnout They are here to stay and there is nothing we can do about that except VOTE
I'm not sure, but I think I'm a slave. I've worked for the same business for twenty-three years. I'm making less in real dollars than I was years ago, even a few years ago (I don't know much about economics except that I'm poorer and poorer every year, having dropped below church mouse level years ago), but can't possibly quit my job to make decent money because I have too many years invested to start over elsewhere at my age. And there aren't other many other jobs out there any way, especially jobs that pay more and especially not for a specialized skill like mine. I hardly have enough years left for retraining and starting over. On top of that, they dumped a ton more work on us this year, using us grunt laborers for higher level jobs without paying us any more because they know we can't afford to quit even though they should be paying us more money now. I don't have the mobility to move elsewhere for various reasons, one of which is that I simply can't afford to move across the street, much less move across the state or the country. All of us former-low-but-now-middle people at my place of business have an invisible ball and chain around our ankles. We may as well be tied to a stake. My new responsibilities leave me too stressed and exhausted to enjoy whatever time I have left outside my job because for one thing we are working many hours a week that we aren't getting paid for and will never be paid for. Our position now is that we can't possibly do our jobs well without giving the unpaid extra hours to get it all done, but if we don't work extra hours because we will get fired for not doing our job well.
And all of this is right here in the north of the good old U.S. of A.
Big truths, Karlie. Not to mention the people who are tied to their jobs because of insurance... because there's some health issue: high blood pressure, cholesterol, diabetes, etc. in their family. They can't leave because they wouldn't be able to get health insurance on their own for less than $1000 a month or there's a gap for 6 months or a year at their new employer.... whatever their current employer dishes out, as yours has, they are forced to take it. It's only going to get worse for regular people. The rich are so heavily funding our brainwashing at Faux news....
What a load of communist Bull crap! Having a job is slavery! hell, if so we all in this country should have some of it! But, oh i forgot, it is the communist manifesto to take it from those who produce it, and then kill them for having it. That is what the OWS er's are thinking and will do next year under Obamanomics.
utter nonsense,as slavery defined by black america,lasted a mere,though miserable,250 yrs,while ee irish still
suffer immensly from over 800 yrs of slavery;both reces blue eyed white,exeptioately bright,were seen by the brits as being no better than meremonkeys. wth,jaysus sake.!!
slime on you limeys slime on,as your imperialistic ways have wrought but havoc,slime on limeys slime on,
oirish n' damn proud nuf' t' die fromit,slime on limeys slime on. the queen is fake,slime on.
take notice dear people,that slavery of all peoples has become the norm,as profits by corp.thugs dictate
just how long an india woman,daughterin tow,are locked up behind guarded gates until wal mart & their kind
are filled. rebel dear daughters & mothers,rebel.! die if you must yet do what is right,,,,rebel..!! r mck
This site doesn't take into account the number of products I buy Made in USA.
Slavery has existed for tens of thousands of years. Of course, the white man gets the blame for exploiting it commercially but I guess it was ok that Asian, African and North and South American tribes enslaved their conquered foes, not to mention the Egyptians and Israelites. Funny though, you never hear a thing from Rev. Al or the black community about the 200, 000 white heroes who died to free them and correct this travesty. Yes, they served the ultimate price to free the black slaves, people they never met and a worthy ideal to die for. The word hero is thrown around pretty liberally now so why can't they be considered? Or why aren't thye?
Wow, I'm so poor that I'm a slave. I'm enslaved to the federal government. Actually I'm on loan to China at the moment and will be for some time. I think my kids will be born into this slavery too. Darn shame the U.S. is back in the slavery game again.
Some what of a cool thing to look at and see how the things you use are really coming from.