Imagine this, you are doing your best to raise and provide a good life for your children but each day is a struggle. One day you hear that you can provide a better life for them in a different country. Great right? The only problem is; how are you going to get into that other country? From a source you hear that there is a man who is from this different country and he can get you and your family over there! So you seek out this man and he tells you that he will do the job, so you put your trust in him and once your family is in this new country the man tells you that it took a lot of money to get you into the country and that he wants it back. The only option he gives you is to work for him and repay your debt or he will call the immigration services.
Slavery is wrong in all aspects, but still some forms of slavery may be avoided. Although for some people it is hard to avoid being exploited, many have the option of choosing a different lifestyle. However the people who fall into the category of being in bonded labor may never escape. Debt bondage is considered by many to be a modern day form of slavery, and it affects many people as well as their families all over the world. A person becomes in bonded labor when they are being forced to pay off a loan through physical labor. The person in debt may be tricked or trapped into working for little to no money, and the value of their work is significantly greater than the original sum of money borrowed. Poverty, lack of education, and violence from their captors is what keeps most people in bonded labor. Governments in the area where this is prevalent make no effort to enforce laws even though this is illegal worldwide. It has gotten so bad that many children are born into the debt that their family owes, and these children end up living their lives trying to pay off a debt which in many cases have accumulated interest. Also due to a need for cheap labor, cases of debt bondage are increasing! According to the online antislavery organization “Today the international Labor organization estimates a minimum 9.3 million are in forced labor in the Asia pacific region, the majority of whom are in debt bondage.”
The question is why is slavery still going on in this modern day society? My argument is that this form of slavery is not fair to the many people who just wanted to provide a better life for their children. Also we need more organizations to help do something about this unnecessary form of exploitation. The fact that debt bondage is increasing is horrible and many people need to become aware of this. That is why it is important to educated people from all over the world. Maybe then will modern forms of slavery decrease or be gone forever.
People can try an educate as much as possible but the fact of the matter is that an issue as serious as debt bondage will never be abolished unless the government tries to enforce the law. It is the government's lack of aid towards this issue that makes it so difficult to resolve. Certain regulations concerning financial debts should be checked regularly so that slaveholders do not get a chance to trick potential slaves. I would have liked to read some more detailed solutions to this problem you might have perhaps thought of.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dynah, while I think education is an important factor I also think that government enforcement is more important. Between the two, the rate of debt bondage as well as modern day slavery will decrease drastically. Because the police in these countries have such nonchalant attitudes towards these issues, their people continue to suffer. I'd be willing to bet that less of the problem lies in the education than in the laziness of the government.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Dynah and Jessica in that government crackdown on such a horrible and exploitative custom must occur if debt bondage is to be abolished. Of course, education is the best tool to spread awareness that can ultimately apply pressure on government agencies to do something about this modern day form of slavery. In conclusion, the solutions to such a problem must be government crackdown and the creation of proper channels in which immigrants can work/apply for citizenship.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your argument whole heartedly Diamond. Are there any programs already helping to bring about awareness of debt bondage? Maybe if there was a program to uncover these type of operations, and hefty consequences, this would discourage the practice. Evil people will be evil, however, it should not be made to be so easy.
ReplyDeleteDebt bondage seems to be the crutch of modern day slavery. In other words, without debt bondage, the white man wouldn't profit nearly as much from the laborers' work, and the laborers wouldn't feel obligated to work for nothing. I think an extreme solution to this problem would be to open our borders to allow all immigrants legal citizenship. This way, they wouldn't be paid less then minimum wage, and immigrants in general would be even more inclined to come to the states, which would fix the need for cheap labor. Modern slaves aren't able to participate in the economy because they cant afford to be a consumer. I say, the more consumers there are, the more buyers there are, which means more money flowing throughout. Education and awareness is certainly the first step in this matter, so I agree with the first four posts.
ReplyDeleteI think you guys have hit on something that we haven't discussed a ton this term -- government responsibility for creating and enforcing viable laws that prohibit the multitude of forms of slavery that exist. Someone should take up this issue for their blog in the second half.
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