Everybody: I'm hereby making it known that if i'm ever abducted, taken forcibly into slavery, I want to be freed. Thank you.
Me, too.
E, the problem in Sudan was way below my radar. Thank you for posting your research.
Shifting back into the abstract, the Sudan scenario illustrates the difficulty in dispassionately discussing slavery as a societal construct. Of the atrocities in Sudan--murder, genocide, torture, kidnapping, etc.--the slavery element is relatively benign. Yes, slavery is often/usually accompanied by terrible atrocities, but it is at least theoretically possible for slavery to be no more than the absence of the freedom to leave. It is also possible for slaves to be valued and protected and be better off than the alternative, which could be homelessness, deprivation, physical danger, etc.
I understand that it's hard to think of slavery as simply the ownership by one person of another, but surely everyone understands that I'm not condoning the Holocaust or the scenario in Sudan.
Karen |
