Topic: Making Changes
One of my good friends told me recently that she is burdened by the polarity she sees in the western world more than any other thing that disturbs her. Well, I'll be seeing her tonight; and I can't wait to share with her what I learned this week, while attending a conference on slavery and human trafficking at the University of Kansas. http://www.ipsr.ku.edu/CIPA/HumanTrafficking/program.shtml
It seems that people on the extreme right AND the extreme left have been agreeing for years that human trafficking must end. In fact, Chuck Colson and Gloria Steinem were two of the leaders in getting anti-trafficking legislation passed! So was the governor of KS, Sam Brownback, who kicked this conference off, in fact.
The most likely reason for any person to be roped into slavery today is the offer of a job. No, most of these kids and adults (the average age to begin is 13) don't have to be coerced. Being at economic disadvantage makes them vulnerable, whether they are in the United States or India, the country that leads the world in the number of victims.
Compared to slavery in the pre-Civil War days, people are very cheap commodities! In the mid-19th century, a Southern slaveholder would expect to pay as much as $1800 for a single slave. That's the cost of building a house back then! Today, the price averages $90!!! While the population has soared, the number of slaves now exceeds all of those who were ever enslaved in the Deep South in pre-Civil War days! Supply is up; demand is up since there is still plenty of corruption and more crooks in our world due to the soaring population, as well; yet price is down.
I kept wondering, during the keynote speech, just what you and I can do as ordinary citizens. Turns out, the most important thing is to keep our eyes open. Ask: "Where is the human trafficking in our community?" Cause it exists in every state in the United States, as well as every country in this world! More to come......
