There are enslaved persons in the US now. Human trafficking is huge. You have likely interacted with people living this terrible life without knowing it (do you get your nails done?).

Anonymous wrote:There are an estimated 1 million people living in forced marriage or forced labor in the USA as we speak. Chattel slavery may be gone, but there are more people at this time in history living under human trafficking conditions than there were in pre-Civil War America.

I don't think chattel slavery will return, but I do think the problem of human trafficking will only get worse as conditions of inequality continue to escalate here.

I misstated; there are more people living in human trafficking conditions globally now than at the time of pre-Civil War America - but not more in the USA as there were 4 million + enslaved at the height of chattel slavery here.

There are an estimated 1 million people living in forced marriage or forced labor in the USA as we speak. Chattel slavery may be gone, but there are more people at this time in history living under human trafficking conditions than there were in pre-Civil War America.

I don't think chattel slavery will return, but I do think the problem of human trafficking will only get worse as conditions of inequality continue to escalate here.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:None of you remembers the story about the lady who was held here by her "employers?" They stole her passport, used her as a maid and nanny and didn't pay her. I'm sure that happens way more than you think.

I'm sure it does.

I'm sure there are many, many undocumented people in the US who are being exploited and abused in similar ways.

That was me at the end of 90s. There was no information on how to get help. There was no google. I also didn't know anyone from my own country. Now we have Facebook group.
My embassy was no help. They just wanted to know if I had a visa. I did.They apologized years later for asking, because they had no right to do so (their words). It took years for them to change.
The businesses/people who took advantage on me are all out of business. They would have never made it if opened now. They made money back then, because they paid below minimum. Getting a new job was not easy. I was turned down handing out fliers for $7 an hour.

If you would have asked this a decade ago I would have laughed at the absurdity of this question.

However seeing the direction the tide has turned due to Trump’s administration(s), nothing surprises me now. 😡😡😡

You again, with the AI doomsday posts.
Done think slavery and indentured servants never left - 13th amendment.
First, AI isn’t that capable.
Second, this administration will end and we will enjoy years of freedom and democracy. We just have to use our savings to get through the next few years.

Spend time on a farm…..

Anonymous wrote:No for the simple reason we have this thing called Human Rights.

Have you heard of Project 2025?

Anonymous wrote:None of you remembers the story about the lady who was held here by her "employers?" They stole her passport, used her as a maid and nanny and didn't pay her. I'm sure that happens way more than you think.

I'm sure it does.

I'm sure there are many, many undocumented people in the US who are being exploited and abused in similar ways.

None of you remembers the story about the lady who was held here by her "employers?" They stole her passport, used her as a maid and nanny and didn't pay her. I'm sure that happens way more than you think.

Anonymous wrote:No for the simple reason we have this thing called Human Rights.

Do we, though?

These days, I can't tell.

Whose human rights are protected, specifically? I know some are, but this doesn't apply to every group in the US for sure.

No for the simple reason we have this thing called Human Rights.

Maybe.

I spent a few years in a developing country in South Asia for work. One thing that shocked me to the core was how utterly medieval the system of maids/servants/domestic help was: they were essentially slaves. There is a HUGE swathe of the culture who are so impoverished that they have no choice but to scrabble for the very, VERY low "wages" they can get so that they can continue to live on in their rubbish-strewn slums, with no peace or hope or even basic sanitation. And the minority of people who depend on these staff of slaves/servants happily keep this system going: they know that the wages they pay are only enough to keep their help at barely sustenance levels. The abuse and exploitation is hideous and I do not understand why this isn't widely known and discussed out of that country (it isn't just one country in that region, either).

Sure, I can see that happening in the US. Standards of living are going down, it is harder and harder for the middle class to maintain what their previous generations had, and young people are weighted with crushing debt and rising housing prices, combined with uncertain employment prospects, like never before.

It won't happen in a generation or two, but eventually? Sure.

What a dumb post. Have you heard of techno feudalism?

With the rise of AI and no clear path for most people to make a living in the face of inflation do you with slavery or indentured servitude will eventually come back? That people will actually need to be slaves so they can be housed and feed themselves?