Modern day American slavery
Filed in archive CSR on October 29, 2007
John Bowe was recently on a book tour for his newest publication Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy
about - as you might have guessed - modern day slavery in the United States.
In an audio recording of said book tour, he mentions some seriously heavy facts. Such as, "the top 1% of American households have acquired more wealth than the bottom 95%." Nowadays the wealth divide between poor and rich is 60 to 1, whereas about a hundred years ago, it was just 10 to 1.
And if I remember microeconomics correctly, I do believe his hypothesis to be right - when you abolish slavery, you threaten to return to slavery in one form or another. To make a long story short, such a large population of sub-par persons (and I mean in the sense of education and experience) entering the economy brings down overall income and increases overall demand for products. Such a shift drives wages even lower for those who can't outsmart the system, thus causing a greater canyon between the rich and the poor.
Bowe also points out to the really poor, it's not some evil corporation screwing them over - it's the guy keeping the nickel to themselves. The rich can't see how the poor suffer, and the poor can't see how the rich cause their suffering. They just can't understand it - much like the layman can't understand how electricity is generated and subsequently travels to their home.
Bowe gives several specific examples of slavery in the U.S. which has been all but ignored by the government. I recommend you listen to it - if only the first half.
Permalink: Modern day American slavery
Tags: slaver csr labor social 2007 social+enterprise modern+american american+slavery
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Response from:
john
(11/01/07 1:01pm)
Response from:
laptop battery
(11/30/08 11:11pm)
a good read.
Response from:
neon tabela
(10/02/09 9:57am)
but to better understand and interesting topics and information about the necessary details thanks
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It's actually surprising things have marched along upwards and onwards for as long as they have, equality-wise, but that should also offer hope that things don't have to go downhill forevermore. I keep trying to push this issue, though, because i didn't see it as clearly as i do now: rising inequality (both domestically and globally, in tandem) is the scariest issue we all face right now. without it, we become undemocratic. without democracy, we get no action on global warming, oil policy, Middle East mayhem, or all the other stuff that regular people feel strongly about. scary. anyway, thanks again.