‘Fundamentally evil’: Modern slavery reaps billions in illegal profits

Look to the chocolate industry as well.

Modern slavery has many forms. It's just the old fashioned slavery that people are conditioned to object to.

Because modern slavery is also where exotic crops like sugar, coffee, cocoa, pepper and cinnamon etc come from and we expect them to remain to remain irt-cheap commodities here in West. Were all for ending slavery, but not if it means a double-double will go up by 10 cents.

Because modern slavery is also where exotic crops like sugar, coffee, cocoa, pepper and cinnamon etc come from and we expect them to remain to remain irt-cheap commodities here in West. Were all for ending slavery, but not if it means a double-double will go up by 10 cents.

I think Bart means the usury type of slavery; working to pay the banks for stuff you couldn't pay cash for.

If that's what he meant, it's obscene to compare real slavery with that.

Why? Because one slave is treated better than the other? Slavery is slavery, whether it's voluntary or not - no matter the form.

Right. Some middle class American who wants more toys than he can afford, vs somebody forced to work in horrific conditions for no or minimal pay. You really think those are comparable in terms of suffering? Somebody's got their first world problem glasses on today.

When did I say they were comparable in terms of suffering? Quote me, or it never happened.

They are just different types of suffering; the third world girl who gets sold to a textile mill, or the first world single mother who has to feed her overweight kids cheap carbs every day because that's all she can afford. Someone should raise the minimum wage so she can afford vegetables!

Of course I agree. But the banks won't be looking at that woman twice - she's not in slavery to her greed, she can't afford to be. But earning a reasonable income, that gets credit at the bank, but can't afford every latest toy, that's just not in the ballpark.

On the contrary, that's exactly what banks do! They take the middle class guy, analyze how much he can pay monthly and not go bankrupt, then extend him enough credit to meet that as a minimum payment. They can't have their customers starving to death now, can they? Then they advertise their credit devices all over the media showing how much better a person's life is when they buy all these nice things!

If they can, they also trap the low income woman the same way, by telling her that she can have a middle class life too, if she just swipes her Visa card at the till! And God help her if she ever takes a cash advance on that card!

A voluntary slave is still a slave.

I could not have responded to Andy's comments any better than you have! And this comment of yours summarizes the issue succinctly.

Idiotic to compare the two.

No, Andy, it isn't.

Because one form of slavery being accepted leads to another being accepted and if you knew your history you'd know this.

In both of our countries a man can be ordered to pay child support to a child that is not his and if he refuses to work after his wages are attached he can be jailed and then forced to work in prison to pay.

If you worked for a living you'd see your pay stub with around 50% of it removed so your wages could be used to support someone else who doesn't work.

Bankruptcy laws are being rewritten to make it harder and harder to escape debts that are impossible to repay - forcing people to work to provide an income to the very capitalists you say you hate.

The term 'Life Debt' is being contemplated by European and American government agencies as a means of centralizing debts. The notion may well result in all of an individual's debts (school loans, credit cards, car loans, home loans) being placed under a central administration with no way out. The debt will be repaid or you'll be forced to pay it. That will likely include imprisoning people and making them work in prison industries...that kind of thing is called a 'labor camp'.

It's also called 'slave labor'.

You stick your ignorant nose up in the air at this idea all while ignoring the evidence all around you that exactly this kind of thing can come to pass in your lifetime.

And, weirdly, here's leftist Andy defending European and North American banking interests.

WTF is the world coming to?