Perspectives on Social Issues
(January 2004)
Slavery Persists
"Far from being a travesty of the past, slavery persists and is growing. An estimated 27 million people worldwide are bought, sold, held captive, and often victimized by violence. From sugar-cane fields in Myanmar to diamond mines in Sierra Leone; brothels in Bosnia to garment factories in India and tomato fields in Florida, illegal forced labor is valued at $13 billion globally. Unlike slavery of the past, which was usually legal and often based on ethnic differences, the slavery of today is entirely illegal throughout the globe. Nonetheless, in the last year alone, more than 115 countries had documented cases of human trafficking that involved one hundred persons or more. And modern-day slaves are cheaper. In 2003 dollars, the average slave in the U.S. South in 1850 cost the equivalent of $40,000; today a slave costs an average of $90. Roughly two-thirds of the world's captive laborers are victims of debt bondage.
A typical scenario is that a poor person or family accepts a loan from a moneylender. Unable to pay back the artificially inflated debt, the person ends up working for little or no pay. In South Asia especially, many families have been trapped in debt bondage for generations. In other cases, desperate people, seeking escape from poverty or war, fall prey to human traffickers who offer a false promise of a better life. Anti-slavery advocates say that the resurgence of slavery has been facilitated by economic globalization."
"Set the Captives Free: Human Bondage," The Other Side, Nov/Dec 2003.
Movement for Clean Elections
"The movement for clean elections, covered in the Fall 2003 issue of YES!, continues to grow:
- In Maryland, a high-level government commission, appointed by the previous governor after a spate of money-inpolitics scandals, is expected soon to recommend full public financing for all legislative offices. Progressive Maryland, a multi-issue coalition of over 45 organizations and 10,000 individuals, is leading an effort to turn those recommendations into policy.
- In Illinois, the state senate, under pressure from clean elections activists, passed a bill calling for full public financing of judicial elections. The coalition Justice at Stake is working to overcome opposition from the powerful speaker of the state house of representatives.
- In Wyoming, the Equality State Policy Center, a coalition of 23 organizations working on government accountability and public access issues, moving a democracy reform agenda through the legislature, and publishing a compilation of each legislator's campaign contributions and voting record, is working toward full public financing of Wyoming elections. "
"Clean Elections Efforts Build," Yes! A Journal of Positive Futures, Winter 2004.
Fair Trade Chocolate: Success!
"Fortunately, the market for fair trade chocolate bars and cocoa is booming, making them more available than ever before. In 2002, Equal Exchange brought the first organic, shadegrown, Fair Trade Certified hot cocoa mix to market, and several businesses soon followed suit. When you shop, look for chocolate bearing the Fair Trade Certified label. This label appears on coffee, tea, and chocolate independently certified by TransFair USA. This nonprofit certifying agency travels to producer sites at least once per year to ensure that farmers receive a fair price for their goods and work in healthy and environmentally sustainable conditions. TransFair also ensures that the farms it certifies have no child slaves working their fields. Also, farmers in the fair trade system are guaranteed the financial and educational support they need to not only meet their basic living needs, but to improve their communities, develop their businesses, and improve their economic positions. Fair trade cocoa farmers work in cooperatives, such as the Kuapa Kokoo Cooperative in Ghana, where workers farm organically and sustainably."
"Fair Trade Chocolate: Sweet!," Real Money, Nov/Dec 2003.
"The federal government now officially recognizes prison rape as a problem. In September, Congress and President Bush ordered the Justice Department to create a national commission to research prison rape across the nation, propose prevention programs, and potentially penalize state prisons for lack of compliance. 'No crime, no matter how terrible, carries a sentence of rape,' said Pat Nolan, vice president of the Christian ministry Prison Fellowship. The move by the Bush administration came after intense organizing from a broad spectrum of church and civil society organizations, including the Southern Baptist Convention, the NAACP, the Christian Coalition, Human Rights Watch, the National Association of Evangelicals, and the Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. An estimated 13 percent of the nation's 2 million inmates have been victims of prison rape."
"Barring Prison Rape," Sojourners, Jan 2004.
Facts about Use of Coal
"Number of late-model cars it takes to generate 10,000 tons of nitrogen oxide (NOx)' the principal constituent of lung-inflaming smog, in one year ....500,000. Number of average-sized coal-burning power plants it takes to generate the same amount of NO x ....1.
Number of coal-burning electric power plants it took to release 17.5 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2), the principal global-warming gas, in the town of Monroe, Michigan in 1 year ....1. Number of trees you'd have to cut down or burn to add that amount of CO2 to the atmosphere ....761 ,000,000.
Approximate number of Americans who had died in the aftermath of the Iraq War, with these deaths becoming a major national political issue, as of late 2003 ....300. Number likely to die each year, according to widely accepted statistical models, as a result of diseases caused by the Monroe, Michigan coal-burning plant-the plant where George Bush chose to give a speech touting his new energy policy giving high priority to building new coal-burning power plants ....300.
Population of Cheshire, Ohio, in 2000 ....2,500. Population of Cheshire in 2003, after a protracted dispute between the citizens and the American Electric Power Co. (AEP) over pollution from the company's coal-burning plant, which resulted in the company's decision to just buy the town rather than try to stop the pollution ....12. ...
Tons of sulfur dioxide (5°2)' the principal cause of acid rain, emitted per year by a typical 1,000 Mwe thermal gas or oil power plant ....44. Tons of 5°2 emitted per year by a coal-burning power plant of equal capacity.... 30,000."
"Coal Facts," WorldWatch, Jan/Feb 2004.
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Gratitude to the Institute for Peace and Justice
for use of their Pope Paul VIth graphic. |
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