Blue Star Plantation

[Ktulu]

"To my regret, when such matters are discussed in the press one never reads of the possible *benefits* of slavery to society. "
[...]
"Slave labour underpins the economies of many developing countries in Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. Without such labour, costs would increase and the economic viability of many regions would be seriously threatened.
[...]
If all the slaves were freed, there would be widespread unemployment and chaos."
[...]
"It’s a shame no-one ever talks about the positive aspects of slavery, but that is life."


Wow... I don't know what to say.

I can't decide if the guy writing the blog is serious or just a troll. Hopefully the slaves on that farm remeber that their basic rights can't be taken away.

[Nezhul]

You should view those words calmly. All he sais is that slavery is widespread in the world. I may mix the numbers, but if you don't know, 80% of world's goods are consumed by 20% of world's population. That said, Europe, USA, Russia and Japan (+ a few big cities over the world) live and feed and have things BECAUSE other countries don't have them. For developed countries meet and food and even water are no longer any kind of treasure. We are talking about big houses and cars as the sign of our personal sucess. But if you think of that, there are just Billions of people in this world who don't EVER have meat on their table and who eat 200 gramms of some grub in a day and that's a GOOD day at that.
Basically, you are sitting near your PC right now because you alone consume more world's product than about 10 other people somwhere far away. You, that is WE ALL live good because there is slavery, or workers getting 5 bucks a day, and so on.

And that's what I see behind the words above.

[les]

The Blue Star Plantation
is not the same as
The slave Labour
Intimated by the edited and unattributed quote from Ktulu

[Ktulu]

You should view those words calmly. All he sais is that slavery is widespread in the world. I may mix the numbers, but if you don't know, 80% of world's goods are consumed by 20% of world's population. That said, Europe, USA, Russia and Japan (+ a few big cities over the world) live and feed and have things BECAUSE other countries don't have them. For developed countries meet and food and even water are no longer any kind of treasure. We are talking about big houses and cars as the sign of our personal sucess. But if you think of that, there are just Billions of people in this world who don't EVER have meat on their table and who eat 200 gramms of some grub in a day and that's a GOOD day at that.
Basically, you are sitting near your PC right now because you alone consume more world's product than about 10 other people somwhere far away. You, that is WE ALL live good because there is slavery, or workers getting 5 bucks a day, and so on.

And that's what I see behind the words above.

The problem I'm having with the writers opinion is the fact, that he seems to be thinking that these kinds of practices should be encouraged. It's almost like he's saying, that slave labour should be used more to create more luxury for the developed countries. In my opinion, the direction should be towards the other way. Through international cooperation governments and workers unions (for example) should make way for a more equal world. I have to admit, that buying "green" electronics is pretty difficult. But I can buy green clothes, eat less meat (actually, I can't afford to eat it daily), use bicycle instead of car etc. We can't just be apathetic and say: "Oh well, it's sure wrong to use these goods made by slaves, but I that's how the world is".

The Blue Star Plantation
is not the same as
The slave Labour

I know that they are consenting adults. But these kind of extreme arrangements can turn into a disaster. For example, read what happened Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple cult. Free adults committed mass suicide, because they were told to. I'm not saying that Blue Star Plantation is even near that, but Jonestown is just an example what can happen when a bunch of people forget that they are actually free to do what they want.

That won't probably happen since the slave members of the farm have still their normal lifes outside the farm. Oh, and I think there was a doctor doing examinations to the slaves.

Intimated by the edited and unattributed quote from Ktulu

I couldn't find a link the writing itself, but you can currently find it on the fifth page of the blog http://bluestarplantation.tumblr.com/page/5


EDIT: Some corrections

[Nezhul]

that is really a good thing to say to you. But it's ideolistic and humankind just does not work like that. As an author states - it is life. If you be a realist for a moment, then think of it that way.
Countries can't agree even with themselves inside the borders. People can't agree. How many people do you think are ready to work for everyone's better future? How many can forsake the goods they own for the better future of some distant African children? Really? Americans just love sweet-talking about human rights, piece and joy for everyone, although many don't know that USA is the biggest usurper on our planet. When it needs money it wages war on some distant small country. It's been like that since the beginning. While there is war, USA has the moving power to pump the economy. Noone cares what it actually does to the less protected countries. Noone cares what happens to the worlds economy when America just prints more dollars when they need them.
Sweet-talking is all nice, but if you want all humanity a better future then you shoul support something like Communism, and kick to hell Democracy, Capitalism and Liberalism. Why? Because those are only possible in the developed countries. If you want to help your undeveloped neighbours, the very first thing you should do is stop buying their resources for almost nothing. If you do that, there goes full shelves in your local market. A common household won't support it, so you need to cross out democracy. And you should give the entire world the means to develop the best things and technology to achieve better production rates as fast as you can. There goes Capitalism, because you have to cross out all the rights of ownership for all the inventions. Now you can't let different groups of people to clash, and you take their liberty from them.
Not to mention the complete change of society mechanisms. We have so much people now and have so good industry, that we simply DON"T HAVE enough working places to supply work for everyone. That is a fact we are facing now, and in 20 years it would be worce. Right now a few technicians can fully support a factory that will make a product for MILLIONS dayly. That's why we invent burocracy, and spend tons of resources there. Why do we do it? Because Capitalism makes it better to pay small fees to 10 workers, and Liberalism make it impossible to have 1 working man that feeds 10. Noone would be that man, because those would be like slaves.

Ah well, it's too much explaining. Humanity could colonise Mars 10 years ago if we worked together. If not for the prescious Capitalism and Liberalism. So from my point of view, from the point of a man that has a good PC in a good apartment and eats steak every evening, we need slave labour now. We need it to live our good lives in a good houces.

It's not that simple to make everyone happy.

[les]

              
“You can please some of the people all of the time,

You can please all of the people some of the time,

But You can’t please all of the people all of the time”.

[Nezhul]

pretty much what I was trying to say. The current state of the world can't make everyone happy, and we, people of developed countries can't live in prosperity without there beeing some slave or horribly cheap labour somwhere far away. I actually believe that mankind COULD make everyone at least as happy as middle class in US now, but that
1) won't be for long, because the overpopulation will probably kick in one time after another
2) people would have to discard SO much cultural stuff, starting with religion, authority, rights of ownership and ending up in native language, and most people just aren't ready even for the slightest step in that direction, even if it meant better living conditions.

This point can be speculated upon. What I was trying to say, is that in order for you to eat meat you should bear with the idea that in our times 10 children shall starve somwhere else. Just for you to have a dayly meat, or other good food. Just so you can wear clean clothes and live in a fancy warm house someonw somewhere works his hands to blood for a piece of bread with water. A cruel thought, but, well, it's a cruel world. Idealism is OK as long as it doesn't block realism.