You'd think this thread would get more attention, given the subject matter. But maybe it's just too painful for most people to acknowledge in any real way? I mean, this shit is happening right now, in what's supposed to be one of the greatest countries on Earth. This is no bullshit slavery. The weight of that needs to sink in somehow.
It would appear that the state prosecutor is making a very serious effort to combat it, it appears to involve a very small number of people (say, less than 50,000), and we're still light on actionable facts. When I skimmed the provided link, there wasn't a mention of which companies the farms where selling their product through. So ... yes, it sucks (a truly impressive amount), but there's not much to do about it beyond give the prosecutor money that he doesn't need unless someone can find some company names. A bunch of us liming some other poster saying that this is terrible means there's no basis for a thread.
You'd think this thread would get more attention, given the subject matter. But maybe it's just too painful for most people to acknowledge in any real way? I mean, this shit is happening right now, in what's supposed to be one of the greatest countries on Earth. This is no bullshit slavery. The weight of that needs to sink in somehow.
Sadly there isn't much we can do, except try for ethical consumerism. Which is...difficult. We're used to our luxury goods, but when say out of season tomatoes (the problem is not restricted to tomatoes) are so likely to have had slave labor involved, opting out is one of the few things I can do personally. Farmer's markets, Fair Trade stickers, those are also other solutions.
Hershey is another group I don't like to give money to given the prevalence of slave labor involvement in cocoa beans.
Oh and as for specific farms, it seems Mr. Frank Johns runs Tater Farms. So there's one example!
I doubt that all out of season tomatoes are grown using slavery, which means that you don't need to avoid them, you just need to make sure that they're ethically sourced. What I can't find anywhere is a way to prove that to any degree. For example, there's a greenhouse around here that grows tomatoes year round. They couldn't care less about fair trade, they just know they can make a bundle selling fresh tomatoes in January. There's no reason to avoid them at all.
Presumably, this particular outfit is not unique, so how can one differentiate these sorts of places (and farms not using slave labor in more temperate regions) from the folks that do use slave labor? Because asking people to give something up because it might be connected to unethical practice 47 (but that you don't really have any substantial way to prove that it is) is a lost cause, and not worth the effort. Asking people to avoid a specific company until they at least change their practices, on the other hand, is relatively effective.
You'd think this thread would get more attention, given the subject matter. But maybe it's just too painful for most people to acknowledge in any real way? I mean, this shit is happening right now, in what's supposed to be one of the greatest countries on Earth. This is no bullshit slavery. The weight of that needs to sink in somehow.
Or maybe they just don't care.
I think it falls more long the lines of easily dismissible. Humans have an incredible knack for overlooking or selectively ignoring things which may be more horrible than they want to think about. Look at the Holocaust.
Granted, this is no Holocaust (not even close) but it's still something that, if true, says something about present day America which current generations believe is relegated to the history books. If nothing else, it hits really close to home.
You'd think this thread would get more attention, given the subject matter. But maybe it's just too painful for most people to acknowledge in any real way? I mean, this shit is happening right now, in what's supposed to be one of the greatest countries on Earth. This is no bullshit slavery. The weight of that needs to sink in somehow.
Or maybe they just don't care.
I think it falls more long the lines of easily dismissible. Humans have an incredible knack for overlooking or selectively ignoring things which may be more horrible than they want to think about. Look at the Holocaust.
Granted, this is no Holocaust (not even close) but it's still something that, if true, says something about present day America which current generations believe is relegated to the history books. If nothing else, it hits really close to home.
Well, the current generation(s) in America is (are) quite frankly, stupid. "History books"? America's living in a new Gilded Age, a Gilded Age which they pretty much consented to have imposed on them. The results are plain to see. Present day America is closer to the 1890's to the 1950's.
How odd apparently companies willing to employ people here illegally with no documentation for illegal wages have no problem abusing them to increase profits by making the conditions they work in illegal as well.
Eh, what? This is completely off the wall. You think that people who hire and pay Mexicans are the cause of slavery... or that they are somehow also the ones enslaving them? That doesn't make anything close to sense.
More like: how odd that continuing to enforce a lower class of humans, and denying them any rights or recourse, leads to them being carelessly enslaved.
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Or maybe they just don't care.
Hershey is another group I don't like to give money to given the prevalence of slave labor involvement in cocoa beans.
Oh and as for specific farms, it seems Mr. Frank Johns runs Tater Farms. So there's one example!
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Presumably, this particular outfit is not unique, so how can one differentiate these sorts of places (and farms not using slave labor in more temperate regions) from the folks that do use slave labor? Because asking people to give something up because it might be connected to unethical practice 47 (but that you don't really have any substantial way to prove that it is) is a lost cause, and not worth the effort. Asking people to avoid a specific company until they at least change their practices, on the other hand, is relatively effective.
-Groucho Marx
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I think it falls more long the lines of easily dismissible. Humans have an incredible knack for overlooking or selectively ignoring things which may be more horrible than they want to think about. Look at the Holocaust.
Granted, this is no Holocaust (not even close) but it's still something that, if true, says something about present day America which current generations believe is relegated to the history books. If nothing else, it hits really close to home.
Well, the current generation(s) in America is (are) quite frankly, stupid. "History books"? America's living in a new Gilded Age, a Gilded Age which they pretty much consented to have imposed on them. The results are plain to see. Present day America is closer to the 1890's to the 1950's.
More like: how odd that continuing to enforce a lower class of humans, and denying them any rights or recourse, leads to them being carelessly enslaved.