Monday, November 7, 2011

Human Exploitation: A Personal Perspective

I can see how people can easily exploit other human beings. For almost nine years, I worked as a bank teller. Today, I work in food service. Both are customer service jobs. Here in the United States, people are so impatient. They want things in an instant. They think as soon as you order something it will be immediately in front of them.

Unfortunately, it is still a dog-eat-dog world. I don’t know why some people do not believe in Darwin’s theory of evolution when all the scientific evidence validate his theory. SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST! Inside each of us are still inherent animal instincts that we grow to learn to control somewhat. But if these animal instincts are manipulated by dogmatic ideologies, they literally become “weapons of mass destruction.”

Racism coupled with perverted animal instincts has led to the murder of millions. The Holocaust is the most famous case of genocide but we have very current grim examples. All over the modern African continent, tribal militias are systematically murdering the population and morally destabilizing the psyche of other tribes thought to be inferior.

The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade was rooted in the European imperialistic pride that the Caucasian race (the white race) is the most superior human race in the world. It is horrible to think that this was actually condoned by the western European colonial powers. Americans believe slavery the end of the US Civil War. But this is not the reality…

The United Nations (UN) has termed it as “trafficking in persons” but it is more known as “human trafficking,” which is defined as “…recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of threat or use of force or other form of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payment or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over on another person, for the purpose of exploitation.”

Like squirrels and ants, humans have a natural tendency to hoard. Human beings believe that having more material thins lead to invulnerability and even to immortality. Many great ancient cultures of the world entomb precious jewelry and other useful things along with their royal dead in their belief of an after-life. And the growing buying power of many developing countries are contributing to that belief…

As national economies develop, a huge door of opportunity to amass more breaks wide open for those who already have great material wealth and for those who wield great political power. The saying “The rich become richer and richer; the poor gets poorer and poorer” is becoming more prevalently true as the 21st Century unfolds. There is not one simple answer to what is causing the ever-growing economic divide of the haves and have-nots. Nor is there a quick, easy solution to the worsening poverty around the world.

What I am presenting in this paper is only a small part of the problem: human trafficking, exploitation of people with no direct benefit to the exploited. People do not have to cross national borders to be trafficked. In cities around the United States, American girls are verbally, psychologically and physically abused into sexual slavery. Many young children—sometimes even as young as three—are made to work long, unendurable hours in dangerous mines harvesting diamonds, precious metals and other raw commodities from the earth.

And lately especially in China, many unsuspecting victims unfortunately succumb to having one or several of their vital organs stolen from them to be sold into the black market. The weak and the powerless become mere commodities to be used by those with more power, and unfortunately who also have no compassion for the suffering of others.

Quite frequently, they are treated worse than animals. These human trafficking victims are made to work in dangerous, unsanitary conditions. Their living quarters are cramped or sometimes they don’t even have a bed to sleep in. Food ration from the exploiter or trafficker are sometimes scarce. With a lot of sex trafficking victims, they are rewarded with only one small meal a day. Their health is of no concern. If they get sick or injured, a lot of the exploited are left to die in some dark corner or at some remote, isolated area.

Supply and demand! In human trafficking, as long as there is a demand for it, the supply will always be there. I am not trying to be a moral expert here. But I pose these questions: Should we, human beings, allow these atrocities be brought upon our brothers and sisters? What makes you think that it does not impact you? What makes you believe that you do not contribute to the supply-demand chain of modern-day slavery?

As food prices inflate around the world, cheap labor is in huge demand. It is not just about more farm hands. The whole global labor market will also feel the effects of rapidly increasing food prices. Not just in decreasing buying power but also in an increase of free labor, not volunteer labor but forced labor.

As I stated in the beginning of this essay, human beings have retained the essence of their animal ancestors. Our need for nourishment and shelter is hyped up by modern civilization. Actions of avarice are becoming more accepted by society, even considered essential for survival. Hence, we will use any means to fulfill our selfish needs. I heard of mothers prostituting their daughters to fund their drug addictions and this happens in the United States…