Comments on: Modern slavery

By: msparber

msparber — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:28:20 +0000

Oh, I agree, Noodleman. I think I was being less self-righteous than self-absorbed, in that I suspect it’s pretty common for Americans to think about slavery only in terms of the United States, and to be unaware that it continues after it was outlawed here, and still continues.

By: noodleman

noodleman — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 14:11:03 +0000

But if people think it is seen as a universal evil and has been pretty well outlawed, then the fact that there aren't less slaves than when the U.S. outlawed slavery

Don't be self-righteous. Just because the US outlawed slavery didn't mean the rest of the world ever did. Slavery continued to exist around the world, especially in the area around the Horn of Africa, long after the Emancipation Proclamation. Both Britain and France outlawed slavery decades before Lincoln did; the US had to fight a civil war before the practice was abolished in this country.

Similar to slavery but in more wide-spread practice is the concept of indentured servitude. The only real differences are that the indentured servant gets paid (a trifle) and has a contract expiration.

By: aliecat

aliecat — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 03:12:57 +0000

Bix, yeah, that’s pretty much why I stopped watching it too. I could see why parts would be funny in a satirical way, but I just couldn’t laugh. Frankly, after watching it for about a half an hour I started to get a little freaked out.

By: msparber

msparber — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:46:48 +0000

Max has used up his weekly allotment of the word "disquieting" in one day.

Well, that's disquieting.

By: Bixby

Bixby — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 22:44:49 +0000

1. Max has used up his weekly allotment of the word "disquieting" in one day. Hope you've made arrangements to use other words for the rest of the week, Sparber.

2. @alie: I started watching CSA but I didn't finish it. It was really unsettling to me. So much so that I didn't find it as funny as I should have. I wasn't offended, just disturbed.

3. Did anyone ever see the news story about the diplomats in DC who enslaved their cleaning lady and how they pretty much got off scott-free because of diplomatic immunity?

4. Anyone who watches enough MSNBC hears all about all kinds of human trafficking and slavery.

By: icarrie

icarrie — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:55:33 +0000

DouglasG – That woman in the article – the one who was holding those women as slaves – yikes! I wonder where they found a jury of her peers who wouldn’t take one look at her and say, “Yup, she did it.”

By: miller

miller — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:50:06 +0000

That makes more sense. Although, much of Anderson's stuff is uncomfortably funny, some could be considered creepy, or even scary.

By: aliecat

aliecat — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:26:20 +0000

Miller, heh…no, it’s a movie that shows what the US may have been like if the South had won the Civil War and if slavery wasn’t abolished.

By: DouglasG

DouglasG — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 21:09:12 +0000

I remember this story from just last year, but they were in New York.

By: kc!

kc! — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 20:56:42 +0000

There was a story out of Rochester last year or the year before involving a rich woman who kept a poor immigrant as a slave and wouldn’t let her out of the house. She broke free and the woman was convicted of slavery, I think. If I had time, I’d look it up, maybe when I get home.

Also, the best law on the books regarding immigration is that if a person is brought to the US as a slave, including sex workers, and if they testify against their captors, they can stay in the country if they were here illegally.