Category Archives: Wage Slavery

Designer Raf Simons was best man at the CFDA fashion award in New York last week. Photograph: Prandoni/BFA/Rex/Shutterstock

A highlight of the $3tn fashion industry took place last week: the CFDA (Council of Fashion Designers of America) awards. These arent just a pat on the back, theyre career-defining. But youre more likely to get one if youre a man.

Research by American academic and sociologist Allyson Stokes found that between 19812013, 98 men received a CFDA award, but only 29 women. This year the only female nominees were celebrity fashion designers, the Olsen twins. One man, Raf Simons, won for both menswear and womenswear. He is the first (man) to win the double since another (man) Calvin Klein. His victory was somewhat eclipsed by the furore over the glass runway. Does the fashion industry have a gender equality issue, asked Fashionista.com.

Well yes, Fashionista.com, it does. Its not so much a gender equality problem but the type of mass exploitation of women that future generations will look at as we do slavery. To find it, though, youll need to look beyond the rarefied world of the glass runway. Theres a global supply chain that produces most of the worlds fashion, and 85 per cent of the 75 million garment workers toiling in this chain sewing seams, sequins and adding zippers to our everyday clothes are young women.

Here, female representation is not the problem. Physical abuse, unsafe factories and poverty wages are. In a recent report from womens rights NGO the Circle, founded by Annie Lennox (disclaimer: Im a member), human rights barrister Jessica Simor QC looked at female garment workers wages in 14 hotspots, from Bangladesh to Romania producing for high-street brands. The report shows how brands and states are riding roughshod over the right of these women to earn a living wage. To add further injury, these slave-wage jobs are consistently presented as being empowering for women in fashion.

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Fashion doesn't empower all women - The Guardian

The Massachusetts Attorney General's Office is cracking down on modern-day slavery, and a Cambridge couple is paying more than $35,000 following allegations they failed to pay a live-in domestic worker who cared for their children.

The story seems to be ripped straight from the cover of a recent Atlantic magazine detailing a family who emigrated (legally) from Southeast Asia, bringing with them a domestic worker who was expected to care for the children and cover basic household duties. The problem? The family never paid the domestic worker.

In Cambridge, married couple Shiou Voon Kayse Foo and Kay Jinn Wong failed to pay minimum wage, overtime and vacation pay, and they failed to comply with the states Domestic Workers Law in connection with their former live-in employee, Attorney General Maura Healey said in a statement.

These individuals exploited their live-in employee by forcing her to work without proper pay, Healey said. Massachusetts has strong laws to protect all workers and ensure they are treated fairly. This should send a message that this conduct is not acceptable, and we will go after those who do not pay their workers properly.

The Attorney Generals Office began investigating Foo and Wong based on a referral from Boston University Law Schools Human Trafficking Clinic in March. The couple, originally from Malaysia, was living in Cambridge and brought their domestic worker with them, whom they had previously employed, to help care for their children and to provide other domestic services.

The investigation revealed that once in Cambridge, Foo and Wong made only sporadic payments and failed to pay their employee for weeks at a time. Foo and Wong have denied any wrongdoing.

Massachusetts law for domestic workers regulates working and rest time, charges for food and lodging and circumstances of termination. The law also requires employers to make and keep records of the hours worked by any domestic worker and provides guidelines for work evaluations and written employment agreements. These protections apply regardless of a domestic worker's immigration status.

Originally posted here:

Cambridge Couple Accused of Modern Day Slavery | Metro US - Metro US

Whistle-blower: director Ava DuVernay, whose Neflix documentary 13th explores the prison industry. Photograph: Vera Anderson/WireImage

We are all, at heart, ethical consumers. Ive never met anyone actively looking for a dose of slave labour with their teabags, window frames or underwear.

71% of companies surveyed in 2015 believed their supply chains might contain some form of slavery

But the supply chain for everyday products is in a parlous state. An incredible 71% of companies surveyed by the Ethical Trading Initiative (ETI) in 2015 believed their supply chains might contain some form of slavery.

So the Modern Slavery Act (ratified in 2015) deserves a cheer, requiring a raft of companies doing business in the UK and Ireland to eradicate child, bonded, forced prison and human-trafficked labour.

But this excludes voluntary prison labour, which is on the rise. The UKs rehabilitation revolution plans to double the number of employed offenders in the UKs prison population to 20,000 by 2020.

And thats nothing compared to the US where inmate labour is enshrined by the 13th amendment, which ended slavery except as a punishment for crime. The biggest brands in the world from Starbucks to Victorias Secret have used prisoners to bolster their businesses. Ava DuVernays Netflix documentary 13th explores this huge prison industry.

Inmate labour is often dressed up as an ethical intervention, the idea being that inmates working for multinationals in prison factories or loaned out as crews to call centres are learning important skills and paying their way. Except that its not altogether clear how these skills are transferable. Certainly the minimum wage does not apply.

The US state Viriginia was more upfront when its department of corrections took to promoting prison factories using the enticement inmate labour: the best- kept secret in outsourcing. Oops. Never buy the idea of prison products as ethical labour.

Londoners looking for respite from the capitals atrocious air pollution can take a deep breath at one of three new bus stops cited in pollution hot spots. The system from technology company Airlabs has been incorporated into Body Shop advertising boards, and works by trapping harmful particles (PM2.5) via a filtration system before gas pollutants, such as N02, are absorbed, delivering clean air to bus stop users.

At the risk of wishing the summer away, I can hardly wait for next month and the launch of the first People Tree collection with the Victoria & Albert Museum.

Its a small but perfectly formed eight-piece capsule collection which was inspired by the 1930s and based on dress fabrics originally produced by the Calico Printers Association in Manchester, now held in the V&As archive.

Its great to see an ethical fashion pioneer like People Tree continue to evolve. This is a brand that supports around 4,500 farmers, producers and artisans through 34 Fair Trade producer groups in 13 countries. This collection is sewn by a group working with female producers in Mumbai.

Clothes will be available from People Tree, with some styles on sale in the V&A shop. Available in sizes 8-16 online at peopletree.co.uk from July.

Email Lucy at lucy.siegle@observer.co.uk or follow her on Twitter @lucysiegle

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The eco guide to prison labour - The Guardian

The Wolverhampton Private Hire Drivers Association (WPHDA), which also represents drivers from Walsall, Sandwell and Dudley, claim they have had to drastically drop prices to hold on to customers in the face of increasing competition from rival firms.

Fares between Wolverhampton to Birmingham had fallen by a quarter - from 25 to around 17- 18 following the arrival of taxi-hailing firms such as Uber on the scene, they claim.

Ebrahim Suleman, WPHDA chairman, said drivers were effectively earning 3.50 an hour after taking out expenses. "I may as well pack up and work in a factory, or Sainsbury's - at least then I will get the minimum wage.

"This is 21st century slavery. We have bills to pay and families to look after like everyone else."

He warned that Black Country private hire drivers would liaise with colleagues in Manchester and London to 'put the pressure on' politicians at both local and national level.

At a meeting last week they urged Wolverhampton's three Labour MPs Emma Reynolds, Pat McFadden and Eleanor Smith to lobby Parliament on their behalf.

Many members and elders of the local Muslim community also attended the meeting to given their support. One said Uber was 'killing the taxi industry all over the country.'

The move was the latest action by WPHDA which in October brought the city to a near standstill with a 'go slow' by around 200 drivers, causing delays for motorists in evening rush-hour traffic.

They were highlighting what the association sees as lenient tests for new taxi drivers and too many licences being given out by the Wolverhampton Council, which has taken advantage of new government deregulation allowing drivers to shop around for their licences.

The council is planning to reduce the cost of a taxi licence by between 1215 per cent. Councillor Bolshaw, licensing chairman, has said the authority simply acted quicker than its neighbours to ditch red tape that was holding up the service.

The WPHDA also launched a petition, signed by 800 people, to reintroduce harder tests which they said was in the interests of public safety, to raise standards and raise the profile of the trade.

The association, which also has members in the wider West Midlands, in Solihull and Coventry, is campaigning on a number of fronts, including cross-border hiring and holiday and sickness pay rights.

Last Tuesday thousands of Spanish taxis went on strike in Madrid and Barcelona to protest against ride-hailing companies such as US company Uber and Spanish-owned Cabify.

Uber does not employ drivers or own vehicles, instead relying on private contractors with their own cars, allowing them to run their own businesses. Critics say this allows it to dodge costly regulations such as stringent licensing requirements for taxi drivers, who undergo hundreds of hours of training.

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Taxi drivers are hit by '21st century slavery' in Uber row over fares - expressandstar.com

There's new evidence to back up what we always knew to be true.

A new report, entitled The Status of Black Women in America, confirms what your mama has been telling you all these years: as a Black woman you will have to be twice as good to get half of what they have.

The report, which was conducted by the nonprofit Institute for Womens Policy Research and funded by the National Domestic Workers Alliance, found that more than sixty percent of Black women are in the workforce, making them one of the two racial/ethnic groups of women with the highest labor force participation rate, but their earnings lag behind most womens and mens earnings in the U.S.

RELATED: 5 Things Black Women In Human Resources Want You to Know About Winning At Work

To get its findings, the report analyzed data by gender, race and ethnicity for all 50 states and the District of Columbia across six topical areas: political participation, employment and earnings, work and family, poverty and opportunity, health and well-being, and violence and safety. But it did not just find the problems, it included policy recommendations for each category.

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In the reports foreword, Alicia Garza, co-founder of the Black Lives Matter movement, writes, Though slavery was legally abolished in the United States in 1865, the conditions that existed under slavery continue to persist today. Black women continue to be at a severe disadvantage in many aspects of our democracy and our economy.

Whether one examines Black womens access to health care, Black womens earnings, or Black womens access to much needed social supports like childcare and eldercare, Black women are getting the short end of the stick--despite having contributed so much to the building of this nation. The result is a racialized economy where Black women are losing ground.

RELATED: Confronting Racial Bias At Work: What It Looks Like And How To Handle It

More Black women participate in the workforce than women of other races and the rate of Black women with a college degree has increased by nearly24 percent since the early 2000.Yet, we are among the most likely to live in poverty.

The only other group poorer than us is indigenous women.

Part of the reason for this poverty cycle is that despite all the advancement we have made, Black women still remain in the worst-paying sectors of the economy care taking and service jobs. Even college-educated Black women earn less than White women who went to college, with the median income for Black women in that category being $50,000 a year to a White womans $56,000.

More than 80 percent of Black mothers are breadwinners.

To bridge the wage gap and reduce poverty, the report recommends raising the minimum wage.

The researchers also said Black women had a higher voter turnout than all other groups of men and women during the last two presidential elections, but remain underrepresented at every level of federal and state political office. We hold only 3.4 percent of U.S. Congress seats, 3.5 percent seats in state legislature and only have Senator Kamala Harris representing us in the Senate.

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It's True: Black Women Are Working Harder And Getting Less In Return - Essence.com

The inquiry into establishing a Modern Slavery Act modeled on the UK Modern Slavery Act is a unique opportunity to also address corporate human rights due diligence in global supply chains. It creates room to develop binding legislation governing companies based on international standards including the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the OECD Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Conventions, especially the 2014 Forced Labor Protocol. We present information here regarding two areas of ongoing Human Rights Watch research: labor abuses in global apparel supply chains, and trafficking and forced labor in Thailands seafood industry (products exported to Australia).

Labor Abuses in Global Apparel Supply Chains

We note the terms of reference of this inquiry covers modern slavery (including slavery, forced labor and wage exploitation, involuntary servitude, debt bondage, human trafficking, forced marriage and other slavery-like exploitation) both in Australia and globally. Human Rights Watch research on garment workers rights in Cambodia and Bangladesh found many labor abuses in factories which form a part of the global supply chains of apparel companies.[1]

We found that transparency and reporting in global apparel supply chains, that is, publishing the names, street addresses and other key information about factories, is critical to worker rights. When brands are transparent and report about their supply chains, it allows workers and their advocates to more quickly alert brands to labor abuses and seek remedies.[2]

Labor abuses in garment supply chains are rampant. Forced overtime was a common worker grievance in Bangladesh and Cambodia. Workers told Human Rights Watch that they were pressured by employers to undertake overtime work. Many workers repeatedly complained that factories set high production targets, sometimes even threatening not to pay overtime wages if workers did not meet the targets within regular working hours. Brands contribute to problems of forced overtime in factories through their purchasing practices. For example, brands may place or alter orders last minute without changing the turnaround time for production, indirectly putting pressure on workers.

Workers often choose to form unions at the factory level and collectively bargain for their labor rights. Independent unions are an important vehicle for labor rights. Unions can raise labor and complaints, including those related to the use of underage child workers, forced overtime, non-payment of wages and negotiate for their rights to be better protected. Factory retaliation against union organizers in factories is a common labor rights abuse, and a barrier to advancing other labor rights in apparel supply chains.

Forced Labor and Trafficking in Thailands Seafood Industry

Australiais a major importer of Thai seafood, including pond-grown prawns and fish, both of which have major problems with human trafficking, forced labor, and other abuses in their supply chains. According to the Australian Department of Agriculture:

Fresh and frozen imports make up around half of all Australias edible seafood products imports. More than half of all fresh and frozen imports are frozen fillets (61 per cent) and frozen prawns (18 per cent). These products, predominantly from Thailand, China, New Zealand and Vietnam, meet consumer demand for low-cost seafood products.[3]

A major expose by the Guardian found that so-called trash fish, any sort of low-value or juvenile fish that could be swept up by trawlers operating with trafficked migrant laborers from Burma and Cambodia, were a key part of the shrimp feed being used to raise prawns in aquaculture ponds that are exported to countries around the world.[4] Trash fish of slightly higher value are also used to produce surimi, a ground fish paste made with mixed types of fish and other additives that is frequently made into artificial crab sticks and other similar low-cost seafood products.

Trafficked men on these fishing boats are deceived or simply forced to work on the fishing boats, where they endure 20 hours or more workdays, physical abuse by captains and boatswains, dirty and dangerous working conditions that result in injuries or sickness for which they get no time off, inadequate nutritious food and potable water, and little or no pay.

Migrant workers, predominantly from Burma and Cambodia, who voluntarily decide to work on fishing boats still face systematic and pervasive abuses, including forced labor characterized by a mix of debt bondage, seizure of worker identification documents, unlawful payment systems that require completion of six months to two years of work before the worker gets paid in a lump sum, inability to change employers, excessive working hours and menace of physical abuse if the work is deemed to fall short of expectation.

Despite revisions to Thailands Labor Protection Act in December 2014 to limit working hours and improve conditions on fishing boats, these provisions of law are widely disregarded at sea where working regimens and punishments are meted out by captains and their officers with impunity. In 2014 the European Union yellow carded Thailand for its Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing practices[5] and determined that exploitative labor conditions played an important facilitating role for IUU. The US also downgraded Thailand to Tier 3, the lowest level, in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report. In response Thailands military government took action to impose order on the fishing sector, which had grown well beyond existing legal and regulatory systems.

Over the last three years, the Thai government has overhauled fisheries monitoring, control and management regimes. New inter-agency inspection frameworks have been established across the country and teams of officials now check fishing boats each time they depart or arrive in port. Laws have been strengthened and penalties for fisheries infringements have substantially increased. But the pace of change for fishing boat workers has not been as profound as it has been for fishing boats.

Human Rights Watch research to be published later this year, based on interviews with more than 250 current and former fishing workers, found that forced labor remains pervasive on Thai fishing vessels, while networks of underground brokers, traffickers, and corrupt Thai police and other officials continue to deceive and traffic men onto fishing vessels. Given the low pay, abusive captains, and dangerous conditions of work, its not surprising that the Thai fishing fleets are constantly short of the labor needed to effectively operate. Recent estimates presented by the National Fishing Association of Thailand to the Department of Employment at the Ministry of Labor estimated that the fishing industry has a shortage of 60,000 workers who are needed urgently.[6] Migrant workers from Burma and Cambodia who are on these boats do not have the right to take steps to empower themselves, such as forming a trade union, because of discriminatory provisions in the Labor Relations Act 1975 that limit to Thai nationals the right to formally register a union and to be elected a union committee member, which is the only legal path to becoming a union leader.

The Thai government and the Thai fishing industry have a record of only making substantive reforms in laws and enforcement when they must respond to external pressure brought by other governments and by private sector corporations. Australia should adopt stringent measures to ensure that Thai seafood exported to Australia is sourced ethically, without violating workers rights to freely engage or withdraw from labor, to be paid according to law, and to be free of coercion, intimidation and abuse of all kinds.

Recommendations:

The Australian government should:

Any Australian legislation to address modern slavery, forced labor, and wage exploitation should address corporate human rights due diligence in their global supply chains, with the following elements:

[5] A yellow card puts a country on notice that if it fails to end practices that the EU considers to contribute to IUU fishing, trade action may be taken under a red card to bar all seafood imported from that country to EU states.

[7] The United States has enacted similar legislation though enforcement was weak. In 2016, the US government closed a significant loophole that impeded enforcement and officials have expressed a new willingness to enforce this law.

Continue reading here:

Australia: Submission to the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Inquiry into ... - Human Rights Watch (press release)

The Atlantic magazine published an article in the June 2017 issue entitled, My Familys Slave, by journalist Alex Tizon. His article regarding the story of Eudocia Pulido, known as Lola, and her forced migration and exploitation as a modern-day slave in the United States highlights the current conditions facing Filipino women.

Eudocia Pulidos story cannot be understood outside the context of Philippine society and history which is rooted in U.S. imperialism and neoliberal economic policies that have caused the systemic suffering of many underpaid domestic helpers like Lola.

The Philippines is one of the largest labor exporters in the world with 6,000 Filipinos, 60 percent of them women, leaving the country every single day in order to work. This is because of rampant poverty, joblessness, and landlessness inside the country.

The women are lured to apply for positions that do not exist, with promises of legal status and decent wages. Instead, they become undocumented, and are drowning in debt and isolated in a foreign country. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) end up working in virtual slavery.

Recruiters and employment agencies take advantage of these women by charging them exorbitant fees, demanding loan repayments and threatening them or their families with deportation or physical violence. Living in fear and with no place to go, many OFWs endure the discrimination, abuse, and exploitation in order to survive.

It is important that we not whitewash the writers parents and familys crimes of slavery, imprisonment, and trafficking. Tizons account of Eudocia Pulidos story does not exonerate him from his familys complicity in the abuse and exploitation of another human being. Also, it is critical to recognize that this particular experience is not an isolated one and it stems from the Philippines feudal, patriarchal, and imperialist structure.

The commodification and exploitation of generations of Filipina women continue to be an inherent effect of the countrys ever-worsening conditions. These will persist and generate many more stories like Eudocia Pulidos until comprehensive and fundamental socioeconomic and political changes are made to address the root causes of the countrys poverty.

Members of GABRIELA USA continue to take action and call for an end to the exploitative system in the Philippines. We denounce the Philippine government for neglecting its own people inside the country and lack of protections for OFWs abroad. In addition, we uplift the voices of Filipino migrant women and encourage them to tell their own stories.

GABRIELA USA seeks to empower migrant women to know and understand their rights, to fight back against oppression and exploitation, and to participate in the movement for national democracy in the Philippines. If you are moved by Lolas story, we encourage you to join a chapter of GABRIELA USA and join the fight against feudal-patriarchy and the systems of power that allow women like Lola to be forced into exploitation.

GABRIELA USA is a grass-roots-based alliance of progressive Filipino women organized in the United States which seeks to wage a struggle for the liberation of all oppressed Filipino women and the rest of our people. While we vigorously campaign on women-specific issues, such as womens rights, gender discrimination, violence against women, and womens health and reproductive rights, GABRIELA USA also addresses national and international economic and political issues that affect Filipino women. GABRIELA USA is an overseas chapter of GABRIELA Philippines, and is a member organization of BAYAN-USA and the International Womens Alliance. See GABRIELAUSA.org.

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Filipino Women Against Modern Day Slavery - Workers World

Ed-u-ca-tion.

Ah, the sound of the word alone evokes feelings of hope, prosperity, success andwhats that?money, you say? Ah, yes. And money.

We grow up believing that education can defeat all circumstance, transcend social classes, and pave a 24 carat, solid gold nugget path to upward mobility blissdom. Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhh! (No, that was not a scream, people, those were the angels harmonizing. Clearly.)

And, isnt that the case?

Dont we go to school and get an education to learn, think independently, develop our interests and become all-around badasses? Dont we praise, worship and promote education as the be-all, end-all solution to the worlds worries? Dont we embark on philanthropic missions to spread the good word of education to those that dont have access? Doesnt education equal opportunity? Dont I ask a lot of rhetorical questions?

Were constantly talking about what education can do for us.

Sure, theres plenty that education can do for all of us. But in our flurry of excitement, we fail to recognize that tiny little detail called the law of reciprocity. What, exactly, are we doing for education in return?

The answer: A hell of a lot more than we realize.

Why do you suppose presidents go out of their way to make education a priority? And I quote, from President Obamas website:

Preparing our children to compete in the global economy is one of the most urgent challenges we face.

Sounds noble enough, doesnt it? (Note: This is not a political statement for or against President Obama. Just an example.) As much as wed like to believe that those in power are petitioning for education because theyre good people, or because theyre looking out for our personal well-being, or because they want social equality, or maybe just so we dont look like big, fumbling, sloppy idiots next to the Chineseits a happy little love story, but it isnt the real reason. The real reason is tucked nicely right into that quote up there. See it there? Look closely. See it now?

Economy.

Economy is a fun little word, especially right now. Our economy happens to be based on capitalism. This means that goods, or capital, is traded for profit, and profit is the name of the game. The term capital can encompass many things, but theres one form of capital in particular thats the most important form of all, and guess what?

That capital is YOU.

You probably think of yourself as far more than a mere factor of production,but human beings in a capitalist society are exactly thathuman capital. (Worse, what really stings is that economists refer to human capital as a fungible resource, which basically means that youre interchangeable. Ouch.) Basically, your knowledge contributes to your ability to perform labor, in order to produce economic value. Therefore, more knowledge = more labor = more economic value.

And how do you get more knowledge? Ed-u-ca-tion. (Cue angels.)

This is why education is promoted. And Im sure it comes as no surprise, the link between education and economic value. Weve always grasped that concept on on the surface, but the question is, do we understand what that means? For example, what if its the case that the only education youre receiving is that which contributes to your economic value? Some might argue that it is.

We educate people to perform the functions that are needed, so that they can be productive members of society. Youve heard that phrase before, right? In this sense, within the education system we are essentially a bunch of giant pawns that are manipulated, shaped and formed into what is needed in order to produce, AKA, what is needed in order to make a profit. We arent gaining knowledge for the sake of knowledge; we are gaining specific knowledgethat which is dictated by the elite, with their goals in mind, since they run the education system in the first placein order to perform certain functions later in life. Were being prepared for the work force. Were being primed to produce.

Were being used, in the deepest sense.

From this perspective, the economy doesnt exist to support its people; its people exist to support the economy. The term wage slave has never held more truth.

Lets say a school curriculum emphasizes mathematics over history. (It isnt too often you hear of AP History, do you?) Its highly probable that the students that attend that school will rank mathematics as more important than history. In turn, those people are going to regard jobs that require specialized skills in mathematics as more important than those that require specialized skills in history.

Students are told that jobs in mathematics will mean greater economic opportunities, which may be partly true, but what society gets out of promoting mathematics through the education system is a greater supply of math geniuses. A greater supply of math genius human capital. And a greater supply of math genius human capital translates into a more competitive society. And a more competitive society translates into a more profitable society. And a more profitable societyyou guessed ittranslates into a better economy.

Was the connection clear there?

So lets skip past all the wordy explanations and get down to itbasically, youre busting your ass to learn math so someone at the top can get even richer. Its a hidden curriculum, if you will. Its a case of those in power manipulating schooling to serve their own agenda. The opinions of the majority are formed mainly through education, and the government decides whats taught in an educational setting.

Coincidence? I think not.

The education system is the perfect way to transmit fundamental values necessary for capitalism to be successfulcompetition, individualism, consumerismbecause it has access to children right from the beginning, and for a really, really (really) long time. Its socialization by education. Education is a tool to wield power.

If you need more proof, think back to when schooling first became widespread, when Western nations tried to colonize indigenous peoples, providing them with moral guidance in an attempt to convert them to Western values and norms.

Why?

So Westerners could exploit them by extracting taxes and getting cheap labor, as well as encourage the spread of Western culture and language. Doesnt sound so much like an institution with your best interests in mind, does it? It was about power and money then, and its about power and money now.

But, its pretty hard to reject a piece of the status quo when youve spent your whole life unconsciously perpetuating it.

In school, too often we are taught what to think, not how to think, and theres a fundamental difference. Its crucial to acquire the latter if you want to do big things. Critical thinking skills are lacking, and thats why I blogto encourage it.

Sometimes it makes people uncomfortable, but thats the point. By inspiring critical thought, the hope is to nudge the human race forward, if only just a little bit. Critical thinking leads to action. And if we ever want to shake up the status quo, were going to have to act.

Am I rebelling against capitalism? No. But I am calling for a more conscious awareness of how the world works around usand how it affects us, in turn? Yes.

Am I rebelling against education? No. But am I calling for a broader base of knowledge within the education system? Hell yes.

I get capitalism, but heres the thing:

I dont like being someone elses capitalI want to be my own.

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Education & Wage Slavery | The Middle Finger Project

BY SOFO ARCHON

Get a job. Go to work. Get married. Have children. Follow fashion. Act normal. Walk on the pavement. Watch TV. Obey the law. Save for your old age. Now repeat after me: I am free. ~Unknown

Most of us understand how horrible the practice of literal slavery is. But theres another form of slavery that we dont seem to notice and are barely concerned about wage slavery.

We have the technologicalcapacity to feed, shelter, and provide for the basic needs and wants of all humanity. However, oureconomic system prevents us from livingin a world of abundance that we could easily create, if we wanted to, for the simple reason that money is scarce and hence not all people can afford to live a decent life.

In thissystem, mostpeople have to submit to wage slavery, whether they like it or not,competingwith one anotherfor jobs that will allow them to merely survive, and always feeling financially insecure,which is causing them tremendous stress.

If youve been wondering whether you are a slave to your job, these 5 signswill reveal you the truth:

1. You feel compelled towork.Work is immensely beautiful when done out of love to contribute to the well-being of the world. However, the majority of people dont work because they love what they are doing orout of their desire to share their gifts to the world. On the contrary, they hate their job, and they do it only because they feel compelled to do it. They submit to their job, just so they canearn money, something that they would never choose to do, if given the chance to live wellwithout having to doso.

2. Youhave a boss.Since most peoples wagedepends on their employers, they have to see them as bosses and yieldto their will. A clear sign that most peopleare slaves to theirjobis that they cannot have a say and express themselves creatively when carrying out a task. They just have obey tothe orders given to them by thoseabove them in the work hierarchy.

3. Your job wastes your time. The standard working hours of countries worldwide are around 8hours per day,which means that about ahalfof most peopleswaking lifeis owned by their employers, and they waste it doing things they hate doing! If by freedom we meanthe choiceto spend ourtime the way weenjoy spending it, then this clearlymeans that everyone who has a normal job is nothing but a slave.

4. Your job wastes your energy.Other than wasting your time, a job is also veryenergy consuming. After having worked for about 8 hours in conditions of stress, most people return to their home feeling utterly exhausted, not having the energy anymore to do anything creative that gives them joy and improves the quality of their life. All their energy has been wasted during their work, leaving them physically, emotionally and mentally drained.

How in the hell could a man enjoy being awakened at 8:30 a.m. by an alarm clock, leap out of bed, dress, force-feed, shit, piss, brush teeth and hair, and fight traffic to get to a place where essentially you made lots of money for somebody else and were asked to be grateful for the opportunity to do so?~Charles Bukowski

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4 Signs You are a Slave to Your Job | The Unbounded Spirit

ERIK S. LESSER/EPA/NewscomU.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions told a gathering of more than 1,500 federal, state, and local law enforcement agents that he was ready to follow President Donald Trump's orders and "make our country safe again." For Sessions, that entails "mak[ing] the fight against child exploitation and human trafficking a top priority."

Both were major priorities for the Obama-era Department of Justice and FBI too, so Sessions' bluster is based on a bit of a false premise. But what difference does it makeprioritizing the protection of children and trafficking-victims can't be a bad thing, right?

Alas: When it's done by the likes of the Justice Department, it can be. Beyond all the big talk about saving kids, the agency actually allocates most of its anti-exploitation agenda to arresting adult sex workers and snagging people in stings that involve no actual victims. That is, when it's not aiding in the arrests of exploited children themselves. If Sessions' June 6 speechclosing the National Law Enforcement Training on Child Exploitation meeting in Atlantasignals greater federal investment in status-quo solutions, expect to see even more "human trafficking stings" targeting adults engaged in prostitution, immigrants eligible for deportation, and asset-heavy escort-advertising sites, as well as any broader civil liberties they can plausibly grab along the way.

In Atlanta, Sessions warned of the dangers of "emerging technologies," encrypted-communication platforms, social-networking sites, and "the so-called Darknet." These, he declared, are the tools of such "depraved people" as "child pornographers, sextortionists, and human traffickers."

"We need to help our fellow citizens know what to watch for, and encourage them to tell us when they see something troubling," Sessions urged. "Nothing less than a united effort will be enough to keep our children from becoming victims of exploitation."

Sessions finished his speech by presenting a video on "the importance of recognizing the signs of child sex-trafficking and reporting suspected crimes." It featured the tagline: "Modern day slavery exists. If you see it, report it." Even the aggressively neutral Politico couldn't avoid making drug war comparisons, describing the video as "hearkening back to the D.A.R.E era" with its "hyperbolic language" and its portrait of "a slippery slope of behavior leading to irrevocable consequences."

The idea that every American child is just one smartphone app away from being snatched into sex slavery is absurd, and it bears no relationship to what both anecdotes and data tell us about such matters. But it does make a nice narrative if you want to wage war on pesky encrypted technologies that thwart all sorts of investigators; or to insert more Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security, and FBI agents into community policing; or to get everyone from flight attendants to truck drivers telling federal agents about anyone "suspicious"; or to ensure the continued relevance of an agency whose drug-war glory days are behind it.

As Reason's Matt Welch pointed out in January, the Sessions confirmation hearing featured no lack of hysteria about human trafficking. Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-California) began her interrogation by asking about sex trafficking, which she called the second-largest criminal industry in Americaa "factually insane claim that will probably give [Sessions] more power," Welch noted:

In order for "human sex trafficking" to be the second largest criminal industry in the United States, it would at minimum need to supplant illegal narcotics (roughly $100 billion a year, according to a 2014 Rand Corp. estimate), or Medicare fraud (in the ballpark of $60 billion, according to the Government Accountability Office in 2015). So distant is reality from those numbers that even the commonly cited figure of $9.8 billion a year for all trafficking and keep in mind that human smuggling dwarfs sex trafficking was given "four Pinocchios" by Washington Post fact-checker Glenn Kessler.

Senators at the confirmation hearing also grilled Sessions on whether pornography is a public health crisis and how open he is to aggressive use of obscenity laws.

See more here:

Jeff Sessions Says Social Media, Encrypted Apps Hamper War on 'Modern Slavery' - Reason (blog)