Slavery Today

Don't know if this is the right forum.

For people who are very versed in the legacy of African slavery. How do you reconcile your lifestyle knowing that a majority of the products you use are made by slave labor. We all know they are. We all use them. We all buy them.

You know the products. Whether coffee, cocoa, diamonds, rugs, balls, sneakers or Barbie dolls. If it is cheap, it is likely made by slaves. I mean-forced labor.

Do you consider the pain of the person who made the product. Or the people exploited.

I have fleeting moments but never enough to make me change the way I live.

I admire the people who make it a point to live in a way that tries not to hurt others. So far, from my experience , they have all been older white lesbians. And that is just my experience.

When I look at the love of my life I can't imagine that his perfect flesh could have been torn open for making a mistake. When I look at his girls smiling with their gorgeous little ringlets and knotted hair, I can't imagine anyone could have thought they were ugly. And when they still cry for their mother who has passed from cancer, I can't imagine that they would have cried 150 yrs ago.

And then I hand them a princess costume I know was made by someone who suffers the same way they might have

 

One word.......EBAY...!!!

:lol:

 

Barbies are not made by slave or mean-forced labor. The employees are treated very well. Especially compared to the other jobs in the areas where the plants are. The people are thrilled to have a job working for Mattel. I've been to some of their plants and met some of the people. Watched the production line personally.

 

How does anyone reconcile anything? with ignorance.

 

Who is ignorant?

 

not that people are ignorant-low IQ- but that people live in ignorance meaning they ignore upseting or troubling news or facts that may harm their idealic script of the world.

Ignorance is bliss as it were.

There a lot of things going in thh world that would upset/damage/destroy ones idea of what they believe is going on.

For example: there is a line that is applied to food service and processing that has taken and applied to various situations relating to it: If you know how they made hot dogs, you wouldn't want one or if you knew what the kitchen at your local Micky D's looked like behind the counter you wouldn't order that fish filet.

That's what i mean.

 

I've heard stories about the finest restaurant kitchens as well...

I think we were talking more slave labor though..

I did want to clarify about Mattel. I work for them, have seen some of the plants and realize that while they may not get paid the highest wage, it is better than what others in their area would get. We also bus them to and from home (such as in Mexico) since many of them do not have transportation. There are a lot of pluses that they get working on our factory line and their family fed, that if they did not have the job, they would be in more dire straits working elsewhere.

Sometimes not only are we ignorant about things, but also sometimes we assume things that are not necessarily true.

 

you know what i do when someone is not paying me enough? i leave.
you know what i do when someone is not paying enough and I'm broke?
i stay and take what ever they give me.does that make me a slave? no.
what it is ,is the world isn't fair.when ever someone is working a job on
their own will, they are not a slave. just shit out of luck.

 

So on point.

 

I saw how hot dogs are made and how Mcdonalds looks. I don't eat hot dogs or Mcdonalds. The only place I will eat out is pretty much subway. You can see what they're doing. Kfc chicken strips is leftover meat. Taco bell leftover meat. Most retaurants have leftover crap and the cooks don't wash their hands. Also butter in restaurants is usually mixed from other used butter. But they cook it enough that it destroys any germs.

 

Don't know how hot dogs are made, but I DID see how McDonalds makes their food behind the counters, and let me just say that it's no wonder anyone can sue their asses and win, even if they continuously fatten themselves up at their food chains like irresponsible gluttons.

There was a time when I ate one of those 39 cent hamburgers McDonalds sells, and the VERY NEXT MORNING, I got motion sickness, and was hunched over on a toilet puking up the shit for 30 minutes.

You're right about KFC. I think they got in trouble with the FDA before.

Taco Bell freaked me out.

Another time I ate out was at a Burger King, and I tired that Double Stack Meat Burger thing they have out now, and the thing was so greasy and dry until it actually dehydrated me. I spent nearly a week replenishing my natural body fluids.



So, this is where I'm at now. If I can get my food cooked SLOW, and have time to wait, then I will.

 

You guys do realize this wasn't what Daphne made this thread about at all. She was talking about People being paid very little and equating it to something similar to slave labor in the modern world.

 

Thanks for support Sassy...but what I meant was REAL slavery. As in blood diamonds. Cocoa bean from the ivory coast. Things that say made in China. They call a lot of that "forced labor" these days. Sometimes "exploited labor". Whatever the word. It is work against your will in inhumane work conditions and death should you choose not to do the work.

And I did not mean Barbie directly. I actually was trying to just use that as an example. Though obviously a poor example. I did not realize that mattell toys were made in the USA . BUT I AM GLAD I DO!!!!

 

The talk about restaurants may seem off subject but it all back to the point of selective ignorance.

I've heard stories and seen Docs about blood Diamonds since 96 i think. 60 minutes did a story about around about that time and UN and other international laws regarding Blood diamonds have been a long time. Yet we have celebrities and average people flossing diamonds every chance they get.

They are willing to accept the lie that the diamonds they purchase are "legit" because they don't want to believe they are contributing to slavery.

There are tons of reports done on female forced sexual slavery. Girls as young as 10 are stolen from their homes or sold by their parents. Men and yes women spend alot of money going to Europe, specifically eastern even today for vacations.
I'm someone in their life is curious about it but selective edit this from the whole picture of the person.

These issues have been around since the begin of man as Social animal. As soon as man realized that someone else can do their work either by trade, social currency or force it has been on.

but we don't have to look to the third world for examples of forced servitude or servitude by circumstance. Those fruits and vegetables you purchase at the store were picked by either an illegal or some US citizen who are well below the poverty line. Their wage is below standard. They are forced to work from first light to dark or they won't get the buck five a day wage that they were promised. There are still plantations in this country that work like war labor camps that keep workers captive till quotas are met.

Pimps and prostitutes is another form of forced servitude that is now glamorized.

 

Most of Mattel toys are not made in the US. Many of them are made either in Mexico or Hong Kong. But we do take are of our employees.

 

I know what the thread was made for, and wasn't trying to hi-jack it. I was just replying to what jxsilicon said...



anyway, most slavery these days may not be on the outside, but in many cases here in the states, the same can't be said for the inside. We are internal slaves to several things in this nation, such as racism, the government, the media, junk food, etc...