Thread: Human oppression

There is another form of human oppression that persists in the world today that demands our urgent attention and should sting the conscience of every good person. Inexcusably, it is a crime that, while prevalent elsewhere, exists within our own borders as well. Human trafficking – slavery, by another name – exists not just in places like Thailand, Kuwait and Venezuela. It is a serious problem here in the United States.

MyFox Springfield | John McCain on Defending the Freedom of the World's Vulnerable

I will now escape from the issues area and watch the debate from a safe distance.

Hillbilly, good post. I'm not sure if you're targeting the Mexican illegal issue or the Asians stuffed into ocean containers?

A nicely written speech.

Abandoning high falutin' moral principles, and getting down to the nitty gritty, I think we need to address a politically incorrect fact that the various 'concerned' agencies do not seem to want known.

Most sex trafficking is with the knowledge and consent of the woman/ boy involved. The underlying reason is poverty. Most documented actual examples of women being rescued from sexual bondage in places like Cambodia has resulted in the woman concerned going back into the game. The reason is poverty. The Grim Truth.

The fact however that actual actual sexual slavery exists, against the consent of the person involved, is manifest. This is Evil personified- and the sort of people that do that would willingly sell arms to terrorists or gangbangers, drugs to kids, anything to turn a buck. The reason is Greed. The Cure is death, or permanent incarceration.

International trafficking (which is the minority of the trade) can be more effectively combatted than intranational trafficking, from which senior politicians and other figures of influence usually benefit.

Nice post Hillbilly. I think that Sabang has hit the nail on the head. Greed and poverty has been driving this thing for years. Some are willing but many more are not. It's a bit like the drug trade in that, if there is a market, there will always be a supply chain. If you catch one lot doing it, another will start up in it's place. It makes me feel sick every time I read about it.

^ I've heard many rumours about the trade here in Vancouver. Seems mainly Korean.

^ Says the libral wannathinkmonger.

A federal task force of the sort that McCain is proposing has already existed since 2000. I guess when you give a speech in a recession-ridden state such as Michigan and have no concrete economic solutions, diversionary speeches like this are what politicians do. We all hate human trafficking and we all like puppies and ice cream. I just didn't see anything new in McCain's speech.

Think Progress » McCain’s Big Idea: Create A Human Trafficking Task Force (That Already Exists)

My cynicism refers to McCain's speech, not the subject of the original post. It's a great topic, especially for those of us who have witnessed it in Thailand. During my bar-hopping days, no honest government agency existed if one wanted to report the most egregious forms of trafficking. Do any TD members know if things have changed in the past few years? I'm guessing that things are sadly the same as they were.

(p.s. I ran out of greens for Sabang and his insightful post on this thread)