This morning I read a disturbing report by Michael Smith and David Voreacos on slavery in the Amazon. I can’t begin to tell you how upset or angry I was, or at how overwhelmed I felt at the immensity of the problem.
The two journalists chronicle a raid by a Brazilian labor inspector and police on one of an estimated 1,000 slave labor camps in the Brazilian Amazon. These slaves were working kilns to make charcoal that in turn will be trucked to a blast furnace used to make pig iron, a basic ingredient of steel. The pig iron is then purchased by brokers who sell it to steelmakers who then sell to some of the world’s largest companies to make cars, trucks, refrigerators, sinks, and bathtubs. Ford, GM, Nissan, Toyota, DaimlerChrysler, Whirlpool, Nucor, and Kohler are among the companies that ended up using this steel. Many of these companies have suspended purchases from brokers known to sell steel produced by slaves. Some of these companies have started probes to examine their global supply chains. But eradication of slavery seems a remote hope.
The growing world economy seems to fuel slavery. The pig iron industry is driven by slave labor and fueled by global demand for pig iron. Brazilian pig iron is part of almost any product containing steel in the U.S. Slaves toil in mining and logging industries as well. In Peru, for example, 25,000 people work in gold-panning sites. The gold makes it way to some of the largest banks in the world. It’s estimated that 40% of all mahogany is illegally exported. Mahogany and other hardwoods go into windows and guitars. Anderson Windows and C.F. Martin guitars were cited as purchasers of these hardwoods.
So when we commute in our cars, drive over a bridge, raid the refrigerator, gaze out our windows, strum our guitars, or soak in our tubs we could well be enjoying the fruits of slave labor.
The companies and brokers involved deny that they knowingly purchased slave produced pig iron while suppliers deny that their pig iron is produced by slaves. However, Marcelo Campos who runs the Brazilian labor ministry’s enforcement group says, “Slavery is endemic to the charcoal camps that supply the pig iron industry.” His group has freed more than 20,000 slaves in the past ten years.
The Brazilian and Peruvian governments have had limited success stopping slavery. They have closed down camps, only to return finding them open with new slaves.
The Global Industry
By conservative estimates there are 27 million slaves in the world today (Slavery Is Not Dead, Just Less Recognizable, Christian Science Monitor), more than at any time in human history. The majority are in India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, and Nepal. About 15-20 million are enslaved due to entrapment in loan agreements that they can never pay off. Slaves are also cheaper than ever before. In 1850, slaves would cost around $40,000 in today’s dollars. Today you can buy a slave for $30 in the Ivory Coast. This makes the plight of slaves even worse than ever. In 1850 a slave owner had to maintain and care for his “investment.” Today, since slaves are so cheap, they are disposable.
Human trafficking is the fastest growing form of slavery. 600,000-800,000 people are transported across national borders annually. Eighty percent are women and children. The UN’s Human Trafficking Report 2006 details this “industry” complete with 127 originating countries, transit countries, and 137 destination countries including the U.S. Human trafficking is a $9.5 billion dollar global industry.
God’s View
How it must break the heart of God to see people made in His image treated this way. And God will judge. In Revelation 18, an intense description is given of the judgment that will fall upon the global political and commercial systems that have collaborated to exploit and oppress people for their own greed and satisfaction.
God sees and He will judge:
…for her sins are piled up to heaven,
and God has remembered her crimes.
Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done.
Mix her a double portion from her own cup.
Give her as much torture and grief
as the glory and luxury she gave herself.
In her heart she boasts,
‘I sit as queen; I am not a widow,
and I will never mourn.’
Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her:
death, mourning and famine.
She will be consumed by fire,
for mighty is the Lord God who judges her.
The political leaders who enjoyed the power that commerce gave them will wail:
When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry:
Woe! Woe, O great city,
O Babylon, city of power!
In one hour your doom has come!
The business leaders will weep at their loss:
The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more — cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men.
They will say, ‘The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered.’ The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out:
Woe! Woe, O great city,
dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet,
and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls!
In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!
- Note the “fruit you longed for” is fueled by relentless consumerism.
- And note the list of their cargoes: gold, wood, iron, carriages (cars?), bodies and souls of men.
And the distributors, brokers, and shippers will lament:
Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, ‘Was there ever a city like this great city?’ They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out:
Woe! Woe, O great city,
where all who had ships on the sea
became rich through her wealth!
In one hour she has been brought to ruin!
What should we do? Frankly, I feel anything I suggest is inadequate, but let me give what readily comes to mind as a start.
- Become informed and aware about the issue. It’s not as far away as you think. Be alert, even disturbed that this is happening. Don’t let this become an “over there” problem. Don’t let these people become invisible in your heart and mind. Remember our own consumption fuels the demand.
- Be relentless in probing and insuring that your supplies and suppliers do not use slave labor. Examine your global supply chain and lead the way in instituting standards and expectations about how the chain functions.
- Cultivate industry practices that lift people out of global poverty and slavery. The environmental movement has created good businesses out of being “green”. Now how about good businesses out of being human? I think that there is great room for innovation here in our business models and practices. Being good is good business.
- If you are an industry leader, convene a meeting of all the players in your industry, even all your competitors. This is bigger than business. Discuss and agree on how you will tackle this problem as a unified industry.
- Stay engaged with organizations that fight slavery and human trafficking. Many churches, nonprofits, and government agencies are taking up the fight.
- Pray for the practice to be eliminated.
- In all our business practices, eliminate oppression and whatever puts people into bondage. Be even more sensitive to practices that use and abuse people.
What are your thoughts and ideas on how we can fight this?
