The Slavery of Modern Society

The Slavery of Modern Society

People tend to think of slavery as a thing of the past, something that would happen in a “colonial” time period. We fail to recognize and understand that slavery, in the truest definition, is quickly and secretly flourishing like never before in the history of mankind. Our society tends to falsely stereotype slavery as an African American issue in the past. However, this generalization does not match up with the facts. So what is the reason for this big misconception that would affect the entire world and our way of thinking? The simple truth is that modern day slavery is well hidden, even though it affects various peoples around the world. In Disposable People, Brian Woods and Kate Bewelett explored five continents and some of the modern-day slaves who work on them.

Despite the fact that values vary from culture to culture, or way of living, around the world, this documentary show three different areas of the world with very different values, yet share the belief that slavery is not acceptable. For example, in low income areas of India, 4,000 to 5,000 children disappear from their villages, easily drawn away with bribes such as sweets and promises of money, to become slaves for the carpet industry subculture. Even though many children have to work to provide for their families in the form of child labor, their society has made it illegal hold children as slaves. When a child disappears, many people consider it a norm in their society. In many cases, it is just assumed that they have been taken as slaves to work in the carpet looms. These children work for no pay, twenty hour workdays, isolation, and are held against their will by violence and fear. Sometimes the families spend weeks trying to locate their children, but are most of the time unsuccessful. There are even some organizations that try to assist these families such as S.A.C.S (South Asian Coalition of Servitude). Those children that are recovered successfully, many times end up at a rehabilitation...

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