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- joculator, on 09/23/2009, -14/+152If you include wage-slaves the numbers would run into the billions.
- spriggig, on 09/23/2009, -4/+139"TM: Is that raw numbers or as a percentage of the population?
BS: I want to be very clear what I mean when I say the word slavery..."
Why can't people answer the questions they are asked?
One slave is too many, but the question is still valid. - meloon, on 09/23/2009, -6/+99And it's not even a surprise to me... it only seems to get worse as the time goes by. It's funny how we keep trying so hard to change things and how, at the same time, gangsters make money on the poor through slavery and women trafficking. What the hell is wrong with people?
- inactive, on 09/23/2009, -18/+94More slaves than EVER? Damn, white folks are EVIL! ...oh, wait. It's not white people that are the problem. I'm not excusing white ownership of slaves. That was certainly wrong. But even back when it was occurring, white ownership of slaves was a tiny, TINY percentage of the slavery problem. And yet, whenever slavery is mentioned, it's always white ownership of slaves in America that gets mentioned. Nobody bothers to bring up BLACK ownership of slaves, which still occurs to this day, or Asian ownership of slaves, which is ten times more common than any other type of slavery.
Again, I'm not excusing slavery in America, which, as I recall, was made illegal back in 1819. All I'm saying is: maybe people need to worry more about slavery that's occurring RIGHT NOW, instead of slavery from 180 years ago. - inactive, on 09/23/2009, -20/+80There are also more people on earth than ever. What a surprise, the United Nations efforts not only failed to stop slavery, they actually increased it! What else is new.
- hauntedchippy, on 09/23/2009, -7/+57Only because the human population has exploded. What PERCENTAGE of people are slaves these days compared to yesterday?
- Haptick, on 09/23/2009, -2/+47Honestly, the description of "concentrated in Latin America and [South East Asia]" doesn't do justice to the extend of slavery in the modern world. Here is a map which although poor in quality (sorry), better illustrates the problem: http://sevencolors.org/images/photo/slavery.jpg
Slavery is a huge issue in China, Indonesia, and much of Africa and South America, in addition to the places mentioned in the article. Also, the article erroneously labels the northern militias who raided Southern Sudanese villages for slaves as rebels, when in fact the "northern militias" were the Sudanese government military raiding the rebellious Southern Sudanese villages to get slaves; tactics which the Sudanese government under al-Bashir recycled when dealing with the conflict in Darfur. - Frankyfan3, on 09/23/2009, -12/+54Great piece, but it was on the FP about a month ago:
http://digg.com/d311v04 - duncan202, on 09/23/2009, -2/+33To all the people who simply equate ***** (quality and/or wage) jobs with slavery need to get a clue. Just because someone has to work a crappy job to survive does not make them a slave. All humans, and animals for that matter, have to work to survive (or have someone else work for them). It's just how things are in the real world. Not everyone, or even most people, can be fortunate to have a job that they find enjoyable and lucrative.
Being forced to do something to sustain yourself isn't slavery if you do it by choice, no matter what it is. Being forced to do something, by someone else, is. - biffta, on 09/23/2009, -0/+29You must have missed this when you READ THE ARTICLE:
"slaves are those forced to work, held through fraud, under threat of violence, for no pay beyond subsistence." - rkthoadan, on 09/23/2009, -2/+30This is a topic that I don't mind seeing an occasional repost. It's important.
- digdug135, on 09/23/2009, -4/+32This was already posted on Digg so I buried. But to repeat what I said last time: please present on a per capita basis.
- missinglink, on 09/23/2009, -2/+29Are we counting unpaid interns or graduate students?
- damack, on 09/23/2009, -1/+26It's not only that but think about how many people have to do something to make a living.
Even in developed parts of the world there are people without jobs who are having to do ***** like whore themselves out or sell drugs to make a living.
Fact of the matter is people have a very simple definition of slavery but that slavery still goes on today in many parts of the world its just smarter.
Rather than having slaves working in fields in the 21st century those people are not given jobs so they make money by any means they can and die in their chosen professions.
Fact of the matter is there has never been such a big gulf between the rich and the poor and the poor may as well be slaves to society because they get ***** everytime something goes wrong while the rich fat cats who cause those issues lose a few million here and there but hardly struggle to make ends meet like those that are really affected. - novenator, on 09/23/2009, -6/+30Damnit! That's the second time in a week that this has happened to me. I normally double check the digg dupe check with a direct search, but didn't this time. Apologies everyone, go digg the first submit.
- RTFMA, on 09/23/2009, -0/+22Percentage comes into play because the article compares numbers. If the title of the article was something like "Slavery Still Exists", then calling for percentages would be callous. Since the article's title makes it look like slavery is a growing phenomenon, it is valid to ask for a percentage to see if it is growing, shrinking, or staying the same on a per capita basis. This, in turn, tells us whether current efforts to oppose slavery are on the right track or need to be revised.
- TVarmy, on 09/23/2009, -1/+23I agree, and I hate to play Devil's Advocate, but the number that really matters is how the per-capita number of slaves has changed.
However, I think emancipation is a totally worthy cause so long as there's even one slave on Earth. I'm only curious about the per capita numbers because I want to know the relevant statistics. - inactive, on 09/23/2009, -8/+29Yeah and just never mind all the parts of the bible that instruct people on how to buy and sell and beat and rape slaves.
- McNerd, on 09/23/2009, -5/+25Really duncan? Taking the US as an example, Wikipedia tells us that 10% of the US population holds 80% of its wealth (every statistic I've seen elsewhere was this bad or worse).
So do you think, say, 70% of the wealth of the entire United States could make "a lick of difference"? That's a bit under $40 trillion. The UN estimates that $200bn/year (pennies next to the Iraq war budget) could end world hunger. Thus, "every rich person in the world" giving up their wealth could eradicate world hunger for about 200 years. Or forever, really, if the money were managed properly.
And that's just one possibility. - Samurai77, on 09/23/2009, -4/+24Should be on FP everyday.
- GriffCo, on 09/23/2009, -1/+19Isn't the percentage of people who are slaves a good thing? I don't see how it's pessimistic to hope that the percentage is going down, which would indicate that jobs that previously were using slaves either have stopped or are using less slaves...
- sRees00, on 09/23/2009, -3/+20But is the ratio of people to slaves higher?
- keletobi, on 09/23/2009, -3/+19That was my first thought when I read this. He totally avoids the question when asked whether it's a percentage or raw numbers. I hate it when people use statistics improperly to make things sound way worse (or better).
- bdbr, on 09/23/2009, -4/+19Having the "right" to choose between quitting and eating isn't a huge degree of freedom.
- achansen121, on 09/23/2009, -1/+15The figure probably doesn't help his case to make it an issue. Classic lying with statistics. It's a noble cause, but how can we prioritize without truth.
I hate how there are millions of people that avoid using percentages to make their problem sound more dramatic. - BoneheadFarker, on 09/23/2009, -3/+17@jsffive
Nice. "We don't condone slavery, but if you're going to have slaves then here's how to do it..."
What kinda of ***** cop-out is that? Either it's wrong and you don't do it at all, or you condone it by doing it. You can't just say "I don't like owning slaves, but I need them to do my work for me. Oh, and I'd really like to sleep with that one over there....maybe that one too. And that one over there hasn't been following my instructions properly, so I guess I'm going to have to beat him." And yes...even Jesus condoned beating slaves.
Luke 12:47-48
47"That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows.
48But the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows. From everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded; and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked."
You can't have your cake and eat it too...you either condone slavery, or you don't. Even if you're a really good slave-owner and don't beat your slaves, you still own slaves and condone the practice. Stop trying to sugarcoat it with some ***** rules on how to treat your slaves... - Choplifter, on 09/23/2009, -5/+18You make an excellent point. It is telling that the term slavery has practically become synonymous with whites enslaving blacks 180 years ago while most people remain ignorant to the fact that slavery still exists on a massive scale and that American slavery constituted a fraction of the world wide problem. Despite this, whites are often casually assigned collective guilt for slavery despite the fact that millions of white Americans like myself never had an ancestor that owned a slave. I have no interest what so ever in minimising the horrors of the American slave trade. I do, however, believe that the notion that whites invented slavery or were any where near the most egregious practitioners of slavery needs to be challenged.
- ljohnblaze, on 09/23/2009, -0/+13surgeongg,
Instead of telling people to look up the law of supply and demand (which is kind of insulting to McNerd, considering he likely knows basic economics), you might try looking up how Supply & Demand can be artificially manipulated in order to control a country, a nation and it's consumers rather than efficiently manage a market.
In my honest opinion, your best kept slave is one who not only thinks that they are truly free and headed towards a better future, but would go so far as to ridicule then reference supply and demand to someone competent enough to identify both as smaller components of a much larger problem.
I personally find it hard to believe that we do not have the current resources necessary to collectively rid the world of hunger (you prefer to start with the US first?) and poor-health issues provided we had some real data on supply and demand.
It's an abundance of the things that we need that would spur the kind of change I'm talking about.
Have you heard of artificial supply and demand?
Have you researched the history of money in your country or the world?
Just sayin'... - surgeongg, on 09/23/2009, -0/+12LET'S MAKE THEM OUR SLAVES!
- inactive, on 09/23/2009, -1/+13A certain percentage of people are scumbags. Always will be. The only way we'll ever be able to fix it is if we finally grow up enough to realize that stupid, evil people do NOT deserve the same treatment as decent people.
- Mnementh2230, on 09/23/2009, -2/+13"Those gods and deities don't exist."
That's your opinion.
"Yes, God as described in the Bible exists. The others are false."
That is also your opinion. That you can continue to hold it despite so much of the bible being proven historically or scientifically false shows how capable you are at self delusion (or willful ignorance, I suppose).
"start with analyzing how the universe came about"
Here's the thing: we don't know. Just because science doesn't know doesn't automatically mean it is a magic man in the sky.
"then move to the odds that DNA could have been created randomly through natural processes"
Well, if you're looking for fully formed modern DNA, you're an idiot. Otherwise, if you're looking for the precursors to modern DNA, the odds are pretty good, actually:
http://www.genmay.com/frontpage/index.php?p=vB8143 ...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U6QYDdgP9eg
"then study the Bible and see what it says about calling out to God for yourself."
And now we come to the confirmation bias part. I'll leave it to you to look it up.
I've got a better suggestion: Study the evidence. Study the world around us. Draw your conclusions from evidence, and don't make illogical, irrational leaps based on your personal incredulity. - Rudegar, on 09/23/2009, -2/+13"I know I don't. I have enough problems of my own."
is your slave acting up again ? :P - joculator, on 09/23/2009, -1/+12Or "state-slave" for that matter.
- tdj114, on 09/23/2009, -0/+11It's not that hard people...
Population of the world*: 6,781,243,583
Number of slaves in the world: 27,000,000
Number of slaves / World population = 0.398 %
One step further...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery
Ctrl + F > type % > keep pressing find next - percentage of slave population for all major empires throughout history.
* - http://www.census.gov/ipc/www/popclockworld.html - twiztidsinz, on 09/23/2009, -1/+12"The Hebrew people 3,000 years ago didn't have the zoology classification system that we use today. The whole deal with kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, and species would have been lost on them. 3,000 Years ago, people classified animals by function, not genetics. Therefore, all small flying animals were lumped together. All crawling things were lumped together."
Still doesn't change the fact that they were wrong.
And if they were wrong about one thing, they could be wrong about others.
Since being wrong and adapting as new information is learned/found is acceptable in science, science becomes flexible... it EVOLVES.
Religion on the other hand is rigid and infallible and if you don't believe what is written, then you're wrong!!! - tsotha, on 09/23/2009, -7/+17If you can quit, you're not a slave. Actual slavery is terrible. The fact that you don't get paid as much as you think you ought is normal.
- Methusalah, on 09/23/2009, -3/+13Way to trivialize something like human slavery by comparing it to paying taxes. You're an idiot, plain and simple. Whaa! I have to pay taxes in order to support my government. WHAA! All the benefits of a government should come free without requiring any sacrifice from myself. Just shut up. I would agree if you claimed that taxes are far higher than they need to be, but would that be sensational enough for you? Most likely not. You're like an anti-government tabloid trying to get people riled up with half-truths mixed with stupidity.
- twiztidsinz, on 09/23/2009, -3/+13Deuteronomy 21:10-14 "When thou goest forth to war against thine enemies, and the Lord thy God hath delivered them into thine hands, and thou hast taken them captive, And seest among the captives a beautiful woman, and hast a desire unto her, that thou wouldest have her to thy wife; Then thou shalt bring her home to thine house; and she shall shave her head, and pare her nails; And she shall put the raiment of her captivity from off her, and shall remain in thine house, and bewail her father and her mother a full month: and after that thou shalt go in unto her, and be her husband, and she shall be thy wife. And it shall be, if thou have no delight in her, then thou shalt let her go whither she will; but thou shalt not sell her at all for money, thou shalt not make merchandise of her, because thou hast humbled her."
http://etori.tripod.com/slave-verses.html - Heiminator, on 09/23/2009, -0/+10you are correct surgeong,but the law of supply and demand goes out the window as soon as entities like the european union start stockpiling stuff like dried milk powder,coming from highly overfunded farmers in europe,and then flood african markets with it,thus making it impossible for local formers to compete with their domestic products
and a good example for the mentioned mismanagement is the documentary darwins nightmare,scary stuff - IcyStorm, on 09/23/2009, -3/+13It's really disappointing that people make jokes about themselves being enslaved when they actually have a job, the freedom to do whatever they'd like, the freedom to own property, the freedom to vote, etc. Ratio? Why does that matter? It may be a naive view, but it definitely doesn't mean it's a good thing to simply let this go by.
Then again, it's Digg, so what can I expect? - VigRoco, on 09/23/2009, -2/+12Did you take Economics 101 back in college?
- 45superman, on 09/24/2009, -1/+11Well, at least there's some good news--ACORN's attempts (at least the ones we know about) to facilitate the SEXUAL slavery of CHILDREN aren't going to succeed.
- PowderedToasty, on 09/23/2009, -2/+11I'm pretty sure a real slave would trade places with a "wage slave" in about half a second.
- cryinlion85, on 09/24/2009, -0/+9rabies kills 4 people in this country every year. is that an issue that needs to be addressed? hm, it seems numbers do matter.
- twiztidsinz, on 09/23/2009, -3/+12"Those gods and deities don't exist."
Oh but yours does? - PopcornDave, on 09/23/2009, -0/+9No, most of them are seeking political office for the gain of more power - regardless of party ideology.
There, fixed that for you. - twiztidsinz, on 09/23/2009, -2/+11"Doesn't mean that God condoned it, just like divorce. If humans were still going to do that in defiance of God's will, then at least do such things in this manner."
Except that the bible says it's OK to have slaves.
You don't provide rules and regulations for things that aren't acceptable.
"It's like teaching your kids not to have sex when they're teenagers. You can tell them the best way is abstinence. Are they going to listen? Most will not. Therefore, you bring up the whole condom thing. Right?"
Right... unless you're someone who believes in God and teach your kids abstinence only education like so many do. In which case you'll either omit information or lie... like saying porn turns you gay. - whatthefu, on 09/23/2009, -4/+12Um, I think the fact of the matter is that slavery in America has had a fundamental effect on American society even to this day. And in terms of "slavery" always referring to slavery in America, I think that's only the case to Americans. We say the "Civil War" as opposed to the "American Civil War." Obviously there is slavery elsewhere in the world.
- Uaedaien, on 09/23/2009, -4/+12Does that mean as a white male I can feel less guilty about my countries past?
- evilawesome, on 09/23/2009, -5/+13way to make this about your conservative whining, douche!
i'm sure if you go down to south east asia they'll take a lot of pity on your for your horrible situation where you have to contribute to a free society. -
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