tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-13605194501572395582024-02-21T00:11:18.373-05:0027 Million Revolutions for 27 Million SlavesAfter one man's mission to pedal 27 million revolutions across the country on behalf of the estimated 27 million slaves in the world today, this is the continuing story to end slavery.
Human Trafficking Hotline: (888)-3737-888John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.comBlogger116125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-69795849381177130412015-09-15T14:31:00.003-04:002015-09-15T14:31:39.388-04:00A little article on what I've been doing lately: <a href="http://www.neumc.org/newsdetail/2103981">New England Annual Conference UMC News</a>John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-2250401460950294352015-07-24T15:19:00.001-04:002015-07-24T15:19:25.500-04:00Slavery Footprint
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">Not long after my last presentation on my book and human
trafficking, one of my parishioners let me know how horrified she is that she
has around 100 slaves working for her.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>She figured this out by looking at slaveryfootprint.org, an excellent
website to learn more about how we can tangibly reduce our slavery footprint
(like a carbon footprint).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife said
the same thing when she discovered that she had over fifty.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of the questions are hard to answer
accurately or refer to one-time purchases and may skew the actual result, but
the conclusion remains the same: OH NO!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">The purpose of slaveryfootprint.org is not to alarm
you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The purpose is to inform you.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Of course, your alarm serves a purpose, too,
in that once you see how terrifying your slavery footprint is you’ll be more
likely to want to change.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The website
then gives you a bunch of detail on what goes into your slavery footprint so
that you can adjust your lifestyle and choices accordingly.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Even then the number will probably remain high.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I suppose that I am slightly more
simplicity-oriented in life and slightly more informed on slavery than the
average Westerner, and so I have made slight adjustments to reduce my slavery
footprint, and yet I still have thirty-seven or slaves working for me.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the end of the day, even if we entirely
remake our lives to limit our footprint, we probably won’t eliminate our
footprint until we also influence society to remake itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>That’s an unfortunate truth, but we know it’s
true looking at how we reduce our carbon footprint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we ride our bikes everywhere we go, don’t
use electricity or have solar panels that cover our electric usage, and have
geothermal systems to heat and cool our homes, we’d still have a carbon
footprint (which is sad, considering how expansive and demanding these changes
to our lives I’ve listed are).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>How?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Well, where do we buy our food?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Is it all local?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If not—and it’s almost surely not because in
most places it’s actually impossible to only buy local and still eat anywhere
near healthy—then we have a carbon footprint because our food had to be
transported.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Dangit!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’d then have to change the way our society
produces and distributes food to completely eliminate our footprint.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One example of at least a handful.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another example: do we use paper? If yes, is
it hemp paper?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If no, and it’s paper
made from wood, then we are contributing to the rise in carbon dioxide in the
environment because trees breathe on carbon dioxide.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moral of the story is simple: we must make
radical changes to our own lives and also make radical changes to how society
operates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Moral of the moral: go to slaveryfootprint.org and learn
how you can make a difference with, often, simple life changes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Find out how many slaves are working for you
and how exactly you can reduce that number.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;">
</span>Remember, a law of economics is that supply always seeks to meet
demand.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If we limit demand then we limit
supply.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And when we consider that the
supply consists of human beings, each and every one of whom deserve dignity and
respect, then we should get to work.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We
also see that sometimes a product can look so enticing that having a supply
creates demand, but that side of economics relates more to societal changes and
that comes later.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNoSpacing" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One quick lesson to take away with you, especially if you
don’t go to slaveryfootprint.org right after reading this: don’t upgrade your
cell phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or, at the very least, make
sure that you recycle your phone in a place that will properly reuse the parts
of the phone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All cell phones, the way
they are made today, require the use of a metal the mining of which, at the
moment, uses slave labor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Upgrade your
phone and don’t recycle the old one and you are using slave labor.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Unless your current phone is broken, why do
you need to upgrade it anyway?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What’s up
with that?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Take better care of your cell
phone in the first place, too.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Even if
we recycle our current phones, the rate at which we buy and upgrade our cell
phones is not sustainable using recycled product only.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If it works, keep using it; if you’re behind
the times, so what?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The “times” aren’t
so kind to 27 million slaves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-14788573917027373782015-07-16T14:59:00.003-04:002015-07-16T14:59:55.293-04:00Worst EvilRecently I've done a number of presentations on human trafficking and my bike trip. Human trafficking and my bike trip always go hand in hand when I do presentations because most of my unique contributions to the fight against slavery--my reflections to help ordinary folk change their lives to combat the evil--come directly from my bike trip. Anyway, during the presentation I always discuss how and why I think human trafficking is the worst evil imaginable. Well, at one of the presentations a community member posed the question: "Isn't child abuse the worst evil imaginable?" I was suddenly struck dumb. In many cases, child abuse is related to child slavery in one form or another, but is child abuse and child molestation that is not considered trafficking actually a worse evil?<br />
<br />
To be honest, I don't think the answer to the question matters. Perhaps child abuse not related to trafficking is a worse evil. That a parent could mentally or physically harm his or her own child on purpose blows my mind, especially he or she does so for some self-gratification. Yet, as I say with pornography, I don't think that we can say there is such a thing as child abuse not related to human trafficking. Any parent who does abuse/molest a child clearly does not view the child as a dignified human being. Any person who uses another person for gain, as a slave, clearly does not view the slave as a dignified human being. There's a reason why, during the African slave trade, slave owners did not want the slaves to become Christian: the owners would then have to view the slaves as dignified human beings. If we all were to perceive our brothers and sisters in this world as dignified then there wouldn't be slavery. So, in my book, anything that encourages someone to view another human being as not a human being is related to human trafficking.<br />
<br />
Really, the inability to perceive all other persons as dignified and worthy of respect is the worst evil in our world. It takes different forms but they are all related. And it's all horrifying. <br />
<br />
Friends, if we want to combat human trafficking, we need to start treating one another better. That starts with how we talk about our fellow persons. We can't go on-line and post at the end of articles and call people creepy, idiots, ****heads, or otherwise people who don't deserve to breathe and then say, "I can't believe there are people out there who use slaves." Well, simply by talking like we reject the rules of decency demotes culture's perception of humanity. I mention posts at the end of on-line articles because I see that often and it's disgusting. Indeed, on my other blog an anonymous person posted some rather demeaning statements about me. Now, I'm not saying that we need to be nice to everyone. Sometimes we need to have some difficult conversations with one another. Dialogue often needs to happen so that one or more people can start acting better. But we should always be polite and respectable because the people we are talking to and about are human beings. In all seriousness, this simple change in cultural attitude will make a serious difference.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-19462723427507071812015-05-11T16:41:00.002-04:002015-05-12T07:45:36.562-04:00Sen. McAllisterI haven't written in a while. Unfortunately the motivation for writing now is a local case of trafficking. Since I moved to Swanton, Vermont, away from the city (by Vermont standards, anyway) of South Burlington a few months ago, I thought that I had moved away from the high-danger zone for trafficking. Of course, I knew better: trafficking can happen anywhere at any time. The contributing factors of human trafficking exist everywhere: poverty, desperation, humans--who have the potential to be monsters.<br />
<br />
Last week, a Vermont news story broke here in Franklin County, Vermont. A state senator named Norm McAllister, a resident of the town over from Swanton, was taken from the statehouse in Montpelier into custody on charges of sexual assault and prohibited acts, aka human trafficking. McAllister is accused of taking advantage of his tenants and women who worked for him. Some might classify what McAllister did as a "light" form of human trafficking. He did not physically enslave anyone nor did he threaten anyone's life. Yet that doesn't lighten the monstrosity of what McAllister did: coercing women to perform unwanted sexual acts so that they wouldn't be kicked out onto the streets. I have spent a lot of time thinking and reflecting on what pushes someone to do what McAllister did and so on some level I understand it, no matter how disgusting and appalling it is. What I cannot understand, however, is that in public McAllister was an advocate for the poor, saying earlier in his legislative career that he is concerned for the poor because he sees how difficult it is for his tenants to pay the rent. Essentially what he was saying, then, is that his reason for caring for the poor is that he takes sexual advantage of his tenants because they struggle to pay the rent.<br />
<br />
No matter how often I have written and said that people who use and abuse slaves are humans just like the rest of us, meaning mostly that we should reflect inward on ourselves rather than only lash out at perpetrators, and no matter how often I have said that users and abusers will publicly look and act like the rest of us, I have come to a point where I give up. I don't give up in trying to fight human trafficking but I give up in trying to understand. I do not understand how a person can publicly say, "I see my tenants struggle to pay the rent and I care for them," and then privately take advantage of them, forcefully invade their bodies, and perhaps irreparably harm their mental and emotional space. I have been going around saying the last few days, "I understand a lot of things, but I don't understand how he could do that." I do not understand. Many times I have written that we humans often create a Jekyll/Mr. Hyde scenario in which our public and private lives are vastly different and our public mind almost doesn't know what the private self is doing. I can almost guarantee you that to some extent you do the same. I certainly do. In that sense, I understand; I understand McAllister's motivation; but I do not understand how he could publicly express concern for his tenants while actively abusing them and trying to prostitute them.<br />
<br />
I suppose what this should teach us is that we can never know when we might encounter an abuser. So many times I have said that trafficking can and probably does exist right around the corner from where we live (even if we need to define "corner" as forty minutes away), but today I want to focus on the persons involved. Often we think of trafficking as an object: some <i>thing</i> that exists. When we think that way, it's easier for us to believe that we and our loved ones will never become a victim. Certainly, I don't want to scare us into thinking we'll become a victim, but the likelihood of our becoming a victim probably increases when we think, "If I only avoid that dangerous neighborhood, that spa, that place..." Human trafficking is not a thing and it is not a place. Human trafficking involves persons and is perpetrated by persons. Many of the 27 million slaves--trafficked persons--in the world were lured in by a person (I would say all except that some are still born into slavery like on U.S. plantations in the old days and some are kidnapped without any warning signs). And because the perpetrators will publicly look and act like the rest of us, we should be aware of how prevalent human trafficking is and should be aware of our resources. Victims are no longer treated as criminals. Victims shouldn't be embarrassed to seek help, even when the perpetrator seems powerful, like Sen. McAllister. We should feel confident to call 9-1-1 and, better, we should know these phone numbers: 888-3737-888 (National Human Trafficking Hotline); 888-984-8626 (Vermont Human Trafficking Hotline); and 2-1-1 (United Way of Vermont). We should also review this website: <a href="http://www.traffickingresourcecenter.org/">Polaris Trafficking Resources.</a> If we find ourselves coerced or duped into a violating situation by someone that we thought we could trust or someone who has power over us, then we should know where to go. Thank God that the victims of Sen. McAllister eventually sought help in the right places.<br />
<br />
While my main theme usually is that we need to look inward to make sure that we don't ever use or abuse, or somehow contribute to human trafficking, and thereby eliminate trafficking one person at a time, I'm now thinking that there may be some people who are so far gone that such a tactic won't work. If that's true, then the rest of us need to be aware of our resources to help ourselves and help others from "a crime so monstrous."<br />
<br />(It is, of course, important to note that Sen. McAllister has not been proven guilty. He has plead not guilty. A charge or accusation does not equal guilt, no matter how strong the evidence. A court of law must decide guilt. However, in this case, a determination of guilt should not be necessary for us to realize how important it is to know our resources as we grow aware that trafficking can and does occur in all places and at the hands of all sorts of people.)John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-35318971685824575322014-10-31T15:40:00.000-04:002014-10-31T15:40:36.592-04:00Jian Ghomeshi: Public or Private? His Word or Hers?If you listen to public radio, you probably know the name and voice of Jian Ghomeshi, the host of the Canadian radio show <i>Q</i>. Personally, I love the show because it makes my drive home late on Wednesday evenings more interesting. So I was absolutely shocked to hear on Monday afternoon (I think that's when I first heard it) that Ghomeshi had been fired by the CBC based on allegations of sexual violence. Very disheartening. If you haven't heard the news yourself, here's an article: <a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2014/10/29/jian_ghomeshi_8_women_accuse_former_cbc_host_of_violence_sexual_abuse_or_harassment.html">Toronto Star</a>. <br />
<br />
What added to my displeasure in hearing the news is that most of the allegations concern events from years ago and that Ghomeshi claims that whatever happened was consensual. He admits that he's not a saint and prefers certain rough and demeaning activities in the bedroom but that he always uses safe words and acts with mutual assent. Perhaps it's because I like the man's radio show, but I felt bad for the guy as I asked the following questions: Why would these ladies wait until now to bring these allegations against him? Is it because they felt that the social climate is more receptive to victims of domestic/sexual violence? Or because after all this time they knew they wouldn't have to prove a false claim and they wanted fame? Why, if some of the ladies didn't want to reveal the facts because they were afraid of Ghomeshi's image and power, why are they coming out now when Ghomeshi is even more recognized and celebrated than a few years ago? Or is his greater fame exactly what the women wanted to gain something from the exposure? Is it fair that Ghomeshi has to pit his word against the word of these ladies, when we know the female will always win? How will anything ever be proved? Is it fair for Ghomeshi to be fired with no actual proof and with no corresponding police reports? And isn't Ghomeshi right, that what he wants to do in the bedroom is private and shouldn't have any public significance?<br />
<br />
My wife can confirm to you that indeed I have been struggling with these questions. I will continue to struggle with these questions. And I'm sure that a whole lot of other people are asking the same questions, probably in defense of Ghomeshi. Yet there are two realizations that have made my questions irrelevant, inspired by my last question: 1) These women probably weren't aspiring to be recognized as one of the ladies who brought allegations of sexual violence against Jian Ghomeshi. If that is the height of their ambition, then they are beyond desperate. This isn't like the Tiger Woods situation. With Tiger, some women may have thought, "Hey, I can become a local celebrity by saying I've slept with Tiger Woods, even though it will ruin his image and marriage." I don't see anyone's thinking, "Hey, I can become a local celebrity by claiming that I've been sexually abused and violated." So we can't question the women as possible fame-seekers. The only motivation they could possibly have is revenge, which after all this time seems ridiculous, or that the allegations are actually true, and after all this time they've finally built up the courage to say something.<br />
<br />
And, 2) Most importantly, it <i>doesn't matter</i> whether these sexual actions were consensual or not. To me, it really doesn't matter. I've said again and again that the trend toward more and more aggressive and power-hungry sexual behavior blurs the line between acceptable behavior and slavery. Seriously. I know that some women like being controlled and dominated in the bedroom, and many men obviously do, but that doesn't mean that we should accept, and thereby encourage, the nastiness of pride and power-greed seeking to exert itself in the most intimate of forms: sex. If we do accept, and thereby encourage, such behavior, and the men in the world who prefer such activity cannot find a self-respecting woman to demean, then where will those men turn to? What outlet will they have? I think we know the answer to that question and it's not a good one. <br />
<br />
If we want to end slavery in the world today, I think we should take heed of Ghomeshi's own admission that he's not a saint. How many of us are saints? Not many. That doesn't mean, however, that we should ignore the spiritual emptiness that much of the world feels. Ghomeshi, whether he intended to or not, pointed to a spiritual emptiness and spiritual longing that has gone unmet in his own life. Many of us, too, experience the same emptiness and longing. I suspect, though, that the answer isn't in finding the next girl to dominate and rough up sexually--or to find the next man to abuse us sexually, if we're a woman, a path that will only lead us to the brink of and indirectly in support of slavery. Rather, the answer to our emptiness and longing, which create the impulse to dominate and abuse or to be abused and dominated, is to care for our emptiness and longing. <br />
<br />
We don't need to condemn Ghomeshi, because so many of us are secretly or publicly suffering in the same way, but we also don't need to defend him because his actions, public or private, consensual or not, are truly dangerous.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-32889871191299952132014-08-30T11:20:00.002-04:002014-08-30T11:20:25.343-04:00Civilized CivilizationRecently on VPR I heard a story about human trafficking that occurred in the heart of civilized civilization, Great Britain, in Rotherham. Around 1400 kids, many boys, disappeared and were then pressed into service as sex slaves. This went on for years--obviously, 1400 kids don't go missing all of a sudden without anyone's noticing, and yet people <i>did know about it </i>AND <i>told authorities</i>. Why, then, was nothing done until recently? Ignorance and stupidity.<br />
<br />
Look, ignorance--meaning, lack of awareness--and stupidity are common among authorities and law enforcement. Sure, I may be mostly libertarian, but still, I have no qualms with authority in general <i>as long as it does what authority is supposed to do</i>: protect and serve the public from harm, physically and financially. It absolutely astounds me when people in authority purposely shun their duty because they are ignorant or not thinking straight. <br />
<br />
Last week I had a conversation with someone in a small town of Vermont where many kids have been accused and charged by the police for under-age drinking... without anyone's ever asking the kids where they got the alcohol. Isn't the illegal, willful distribution of alcohol to under-age kids a worse crime than the a 15-year old accepting the alcohol? Whether we agree with our country's laws or not, there is a reason why we have established the drinking age at twenty-one and the voting age at eighteen: we believe, as a country, that human minds and souls are not developed enough until eighteen to vote intelligently; we believe, as a country, that human minds and souls are not developed enough until twenty-one to handle alcohol, <i>not</i> because there's something inherently wrong about under-age drinking. It's not the same as stealing or murder. Why, then, would a person in authority crack down on a kid when the kid is simply proving the law worthwhile, rather than cracking down on the actual violator of the crime? We've deemed the kid, in our laws, as unable to properly make decisions concerning alcohol, so why blame the kid for that? We should blame and crack down on the distributor, because the distributor is basically saying, "Screw the law, I think kids should drink alcohol." Only recently have some areas of the country started to realize how poor the logic of our law enforcement has been and begun campaigns to investigate the distribution of alcohol to minors. Isn't it amazing, though, that it's taken us so long to realize that, considering the reason <i>why</i> we have the under-age drinking law established as it is, the drunk minor is not the cause or source of the real problem?<br />
<br />
It's the same with human trafficking. On one hand, we're idiots and have believed that prostitutes and others who sell their bodies for sex are the real problem, rather than the behind-the-scenes pimps and producers and consumers that create and facilitate the on-going distribution of slavery; and on the other hand, we're ignorant and don't believe that human trafficknig or sex trafficking are serious issues perpetrated in our own back yards. In this particular news story, the authorities didn't do anything because they couldn't believe the reports. They were, apparently, also afraid of a PR nightmare: the brains behind the trafficking scheme were Pakistani, and nobody wants to appear racist. I do not belittle the harsh reality that racism still exists in this world and the very real possibility that Ferguson and other circumstances may be examples of that, but the fear of appearing racist has gone a bit far. When ignorance and a fear of that kind combine, then we do our neighbors a serious disservice.<br />
<br />
The ultimate lesson here is that, while we might not be able to do much about the sometimes absence of logic in the authorities, we can at least ensure that our neighborhoods and our elected representatives are free from ignorance. Awareness really does go a long way. That's why I talk about it so much. Simply being aware can stop news stories of this kind from popping up. Indeed, awareness is also the first step in re-enforcing logic in our law enforcement agencies: if those with power know that trafficking is a real, wide-spread problem, then maybe they will accusing and arresting the victims, the helpless souls, and begin to crack down on the distributors, the producers, and the consumers.<br />
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Here's the news story, though I warn you that it might be tough to read. I'm getting tired and mentally and spiritually exhausted from reading about these stories. The reality of all forms of trafficking is just too cruel for me to handle: <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-south-yorkshire-28939089">Rotherham Kids</a>.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-67240150931307449852014-05-28T12:20:00.002-04:002014-05-28T12:20:35.701-04:00Sex Trafficking, Sex Work, and Yes All WomenMy fiancee (if you've been paying attention to the promotion that I'm
offering, then you'll know she's only my fiancee for one month longer)
found this article and found it interesting: <a href="http://www.policymic.com/articles/89867/9-lies-we-have-to-stop-telling-about-sex-workers" target="_blank">9 Lies We Have to Stop Telling About Sex Workers</a>. I find it interesting, too, and so am commenting on it a little.<br />
<br />
First
of all, this article is about prostitutes. The author, as far as I can
tell, is what I call a high-end prostitute, and therefore doesn't
really deserve the term of prostitute. We generally think of
prostitutes as people who stand out on the corner of a street and wait
for clients. Many prostitutes do that, but many prostitutes do not.
Those who do stand out on the street offering themselves up for sale are
the definition of a prostitute: from the Latin for exposing and
offering up for sale. That is what the word means and it sums up what
is going on quite well. There are others, though, who put themselves
out there, advertise and sell themselves with far more agency. What the
author of the article says applies to these sex workers more readily
than it does to the stereotypical prostitute. A high-end sex worker
does have freedom, agency, and can earn a significant amount of money
(shouldn't be surprising considering how desperately our cultures are
wrapped up in sex). With that said, this article is not about sex
workers who are not working, who are forced into what they do. What
this author says about human trafficking in the article is
understandable, but a little misguided: if you are not in the world of
human trafficking, how can you properly use your experience as a
measure? Can I truly say, "Human trafficking isn't a problem where I
live because I haven't met a single slave"? No, I can't; I <i>know</i>
human trafficking is out there, and I will find it if I look hard
enough. Indeed, my fiancee and I found it just a few weeks ago and we
weren't even looking very intently. This author's experience with a
certain form of sex work should not suddenly derail all the hard work
people are putting into making us aware of how massive human trafficking
is. <br />
<br />
Before going any further, I do want to say
that the general tone of this article is appropriate and much needed.
Sex workers, pornographic actors, and of course sex slaves, are all
human beings. Sex workers have lives with meaning, the same as all of
us. Sex workers have the right to choose and make a living how they see
fit, the same as all of us. This is a good and necessary reminder.
Often we get so caught up in talk of human trafficking and forget that
we are talking about human beings; often we make philosophical decisions
on pornography and prostitution and forget that we are talking about
human beings. At the heart of what we are doing is, or should be, the
concept of full living: we are working to provide a full life to all
people everywhere; not a life that is diminished or degraded by slavery
or by the lack of appropriate choices. <br />
<br />
While I
appreciate this article (especially No. 9, since the same could be true
for slavery), it's my last phrase that catches me up: we do not want
anyone having to live a life diminished or degraded by the <i>lack of appropriate choices</i>.
Yes, sex work can be work, but then what does that mean? Can we really
separate out "good" sex work from "bad" sex work that is degrading or
under the umbrella of slavery? Should we be okay with sex work, knowing
that <i>for at least some</i> it is a choice of last resort, of only resort? Should we be okay with sex work, knowing that <i>for at least some </i>it
will be degrading and will mean that they can never find work that they
feel is meaningful? Or, perhaps more importantly, should we be okay
with sex work, knowing that it's very existence and propagation are
signs that our society is desperate for sex, meaning that our society
survives without a center, without meaning, without sustained
confidence, and without hope? If we respond "yes" to this last
question, or respond to this last question by saying, "hey, your
question is misleading!" then we must also be okay with the fact that
sex work leads to slavery, for it is in our cultural blood to want what
we want at the cheapest cost, at the least effort; and if pornography or
high-end sex workers are out there offering us more and more of what we
want, then eventually we will find what we want for less, for the
cheapest: slavery. <br />
<br />
At the beginning of the cycle that
takes us to slavery is the lack of appropriate choices. We must be able
to create a world where people can find meaning and joy and hope
without having to turn to sex. The Isla Vista killer, Elliot Rodger,
could not do that and so turned his rage on those that he perceived to
be robbing him of his destiny. Well, how great would it have been if he
could see that women are not his playthings, that women are not around
for his enjoyment? How great would it have been if he could have found
meaning without sex? How great would it have been if he could have
found meaning on his own? Not all men are like Rodger, yes, but our
culture breeds men (and women) like Rodger, who are incapable of finding
meaning without sex, without power, without money. There must be more
opportunities out there, there must be a greater standard of living for
all people so that we can spend more time on ourselves and being okay
with ourselves. Until that happens, the reality of Rodger and other men
like him--indeed, the reality of slavery will haunt us.<br />
<br />
Folks,
we live in a world where slavery, in this case particularly sex
trafficking, and fools like Elliot Rodger exist because we cannot come
to grips with one simple fact: we are lost. The #YesAllWomen hashtag is
necessary because we are lost; I'd even go so far as to say the unique
perspective in my book, <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</i>,
is necessary because we are lost. And those who are so-called good
people refuse to see how they are contributing to our cultural lost-ness
by <i>not doing anything</i>. Our very attitudes must change. Sex
should not be such a desperate goal, whether we are inclined to
pornography, prostitutes, high-end sex workers, or murderous
intentions. Sex will not save us, no matter how much Rodger may have
thought so, no matter how much those who knowingly and unknowingly
contribute to slavery may think so; only God can save us. And if we
don't believe in God, then only we can save ourselves. <br />
<br />
Changing our attitudes toward sex and love (and power) while simultaneously putting an end to slavery <i>and all related activities</i>
are urgent tasks. There are human beings out there who are crying out
for our help, and there are many women and men that we can preemptively
save from bewildered idiots like Rodger.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-23943167970071252592014-05-17T13:37:00.000-04:002014-05-17T13:37:50.144-04:00Nigerian School Girls<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$0:0"> A couple of weeks ago a friend of mine posted an article on Facebook. The article is written by a Nigerian-American named Jumoke. My friend headlined the post by saying, "</span></span></span></span><span class="userContent">Pushing the question of American involvement
in Nigeria. Worth the read and discernment. What am I even doing about
human trafficking in my own community?" I read the <a href="http://www.compareafrique.com/dear-americans-hashtags-wont-bringbackourgirls-might-actually-making-things-worse/">article</a> and then wrote the following comment:</span><br />
<span class="userContent"><br /></span>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.0.$end:0:$0:0">'Jen,
your question is a good one and I thank you. The rest of what I'm
about to say is not directed at you but at the American people who have
looked at this story all wrong. A good rule of thumb is to assume that
human trafficking is going on in our</span></span><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">
own communities. My fiancee and I just called the Human Trafficking
Hotline the other day about a suspicion that is more than a suspicion. I
ask, also; if the U.S. government were to get involved in every country
where trafficking abuses are occurring, then, a) the U.S. government
would be involved in EVERY country, which clearly oversteps our
boundaries and possibly also oversteps the resources we have that we'd
need to be effective; and b) we'd be more involved in trafficking abuses
in our own country. The news from Nigeria really sucks, but, at the
risk of sounding inhuman, I question why it has become news. I don't
mean to say that this is not news. But how do some pieces of news about
abduction and slavery become major attractions and others do not?
Jumoke, the writer of the article, is on to something: maybe we want to
get involved more in Nigeria, and so, heyo, we jump on news like this.
That may or may not be the case. In my opinion, though, the big news
should be that no country anywhere, including our own, is doing enough
to prevent or combat slavery. American outrage should be pointed not at
Nigeria, and not at our military for not flying in there and dropping
bombs, but when news like this breaks our outrage should be pointed at
ourselves: oh, woops, there's a slave right down the street that I'm
blind to because I want justice (read: people killed) in Nigeria. We
first should make sure that we ourselves aren't somehow contributing to
slavery around the world and in our own communities, and then take care
of our own backyards, and then, maybe, we can start thinking about other
ways to end slavery.'</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">Another friend of mine sent me a message on Facebook asking me how the situation in Nigeria could continue. Her question being, if awareness should consequently lead to the elimination of slavery, then how can the world be aware of the captured schoolgirls that Boko Haram claims to be throwing into slavery and not put an end to the whole deal? Well, my above response is part of the answer. Combating slavery is complicated and, unfortunately, bringing governmental forces into play is probably not the answer right now. The military, and even the government in general, is tricky. Moral capital, genuine and valid moral capital, is the answer, because it is the only force powerful enough. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">I first encountered this term, "moral capital," in a book of the same name: <i>Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism</i>, by Christopher Leslie Brown. At risk of boiling the book down into too simple formulations that are then incorrect, I will say that the book essentially argues that the abolitionist work of the great William Wilberforce, one of my heroes, and his friends, like Prime Minister William Pitt, were not necessarily, or at least not only, aimed at doing good in the world. Brown argues that in the wake of the American Revolution, or what we from the States call the Revolutionary War, the British Empire needed some way to reinstate its validity and virtue across the globe. How do you do that if you cannot win a war? You accumulate moral capital. And how do you accumulate moral capital? You eradicate the worst crime known to humanity; you also eradicate other evils, as Wilberforce took aim at gambling and alcoholism after ending the slave trade. Being the first country invested in the slave trade to end the trade and end slavery gave Great Britain the continued leverage it needed. Then Britain could say to the world, "Look, we are still the greatest nation on this planet. We ended slavery, for goodness sakes! We might have lost a war to those rebels, but they're not the holders of morality--we are! They still hold slaves! And they're a bunch of drunks! Their government is corrupt! Not convinced? Well, can we say again that we ended slavery??" The reason that the British Empire did not fall apart following the American Revolution, according to Brown, is that the Empire rightly (rightly in terms of its preservation, anyway) turned its sights on moral capital. That way the Empire could legitimately say, and mean it with all honesty, "Let us into your country. Because of all we've done for good in the world, can't you see that letting us rule you will be mutually beneficial?" I do not mean to enter into a conversation about colonialism here. I only mean to point out that the British Empire stood as long and as powerful as it did because people could actually believe in its promise.</span></span></span></span></span><br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0"><br /></span></span></span></span></span>
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">Now we are faced with the horrible truth of slavery abroad in places like Nigeria. Boko Haram flaunts it in our face. Our government will, if our citizens continue to push for it, take advantage of an awareness capital to assist in eliminating the threat of Boko Haram and return the kidnapped girls to their families. But will such action be invited? Will it actually be helpful? Without question our assistance, even if it's not military assistance, will increase our dominance in the region. And without the surety of morality on our side, dominance in any region is scary. While avoiding a colonial spirit we should take a page out of the British Empire's playbook: increase moral capital at home. We cannot share capital if we do not have capital. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">Recap: moral capital, which is seeded in the soil of awareness, will overwhelm the evil of slavery. A corrupt society, even if our (I mean, the society's) intentions are good, cannot defeat slavery through force... or any other means. We must maintain our integrity first. If we do not, then the horrifying news stories that we hear about slavery in our world today, like that of the school girls in Nigeria, will only multiply with no one and nothing to stop the advance. How can the school girls not have been returned to their families by now? Because we have allowed our culture/society to wallow in arrogance, to wallow in the apathy of misguided pride (we ended slavery and other horrible crimes years and years ago!). As a whole we have done this to ourselves and to the world. When we ask why we can't stop the Nigerian madness--which probably shouldn't be the question anyway, since slavery is <i>everywhere</i>--then the only clue can be found in our history, in our recent history of blindness. </span></span></span></span></span><br />
<br />
<span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body"><span class="UFICommentBody" data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0"><span data-reactid=".2q.1:3:1:$comment10152390125811963_10152390296521963:0.0.$right.0.$left.0.0.0:$comment-body.0.3.0.$end:0:$0:0">Let's reverse our course so that we can compound real moral capital. Then we can do some good in our country and in the world. In the meantime, we need to support graceful political means rather than violent ones. </span></span></span></span></span>John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-73524055127511559602014-05-07T12:50:00.000-04:002014-05-07T12:50:04.597-04:00Massage Parlor in VermontA few days ago my fiancee did something truly great. My eyes may or may not be tearing up as I think about it and how proud I am of her. Without doubt, she found a front for human trafficking, called the Human Trafficking Hotline, and put Polaris Project on the hunt. On the one hand, I'm thinking to myself, "With all my talking about how we need to keep our eyes open, why couldn't I have found this place myself?" On the other hand, it's not about me at all. It's about awareness leading to action. It is because she knows me and has talked with me about human trafficking for countless hours, and therefore has grown immensely aware of trafficking, that my fiancee was able to realize that a certain massage parlor in Vermont is not really a legitimate massage parlor. Awareness does lead to greater action.<br />
<br />
I've decided that I have qualms about using names and real information of a place that hasn't yet been busted. A whole series of "what if" questions are running through my head. The major questions being, "What if the place happens to read my article, and they decide to pack up and move and continue enslaving elsewhere?" and, "What if some jerk-face reads this article and decides to go see what it's like being serviced by a slave at slave-rates?" No, thank you. As much as I would like to point out the good work that my fiancee did and show you how sketchy the place is, which hopefully would also inspire and help you to keep your eyes open for possible cases of trafficking, the conservatively reflective side of me figures it best to leave all the information in the hands of professional investigators. The professionals can investigate the shady location, the sketchy website and the very suspicious reviews. <br />
<br />
Still, I can tell you, and tell you proudly, that indeed ordinary people like you and me can be greatly involved in ending trafficking. There are bills and petitions we can sign, there are changes we can make in our own life, and if we keep our eyes open, we can help Polaris Project and other organizations do the dirty work of putting an end to human trafficking. Your community is not free of slavery, if only because there are people living in your community who hold attitudes that might open doors for traffickers, and it is up to you to change that. I am proud of my fiancee for performing such a great deed, and I'm sure there are many ways that I can be proud of all of you, too.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-82550787993037451572014-05-03T21:31:00.000-04:002014-05-03T21:31:10.246-04:00The United Methodist Book of DisciplineHuman trafficking/slavery can be stopped without the help of religion or religious organizations. Indeed, many might argue that religious organizations have contributed to the propagation of slavery, not only throughout history (which is definitely true) but even today.<br />
<br />
I would argue that religious organizations do not contribute to slavery today but that religion does. Being religious myself, about to be appointed as a pastor in the United Methodist Church, how can I say that? Well, religion does accord a person the opportunity for hypocrisy: "If I believe this and do these things, then I am good; it doesn't matter what I do in my personal life." The concept of religion opens the door for a person to have two separate beings: to structure an external life around the principles of the religion, feel good and justified for having done so; and then to ignore, because of the external image, what is going on inside the person's mind and heart. Ignoring what's going on inside one's head and heart leads even the best of people to live a secret life, without ever feeling guilty about that secret life <i>as long as it remains a secret</i>. For as long as the secret life remains a secret, the person's better half <i>literally</i> won't be able to comment on the secret personal life. It may sound like I'm describing a mental illness, but I'm not--this is a natural occurrence that <i>all</i> people deal with on some level. Religious people may be more susceptible to the phenomenon of tearing ourselves in two, but the vast majority of people of all faith backgrounds perform the same binary fission. Religion may play a different role, but all people will have to deal with themselves at some point in the pursuit of ending human trafficking. <br />
<br />
Of course, on the other hand, all religions that I know of ask for a person's heart and mind. While some people may use religion to split into two halves--the half that is devoted to a god or belief system, and the screwed-up half that the first half can't see--faith and religion are meant to reconcile the two halves of our being into one. The first half of our being must acknowledge that the second half exists, and the second half of our being must declare that it wants to begin the arduous journey to hook up with the first half. The vast majority of us love the idea of power and lust and greed, so bringing the two halves together is not an easy task. Faith and religion, and philosophy, are the tools by which bringing the two halves of our being together becomes easier.<br />
<br />
As anyone who reads this blog or has read my book should know, I truly believe that changing our attitudes, thoughts, and everyday actions can change the world--specifically, put an end to human trafficking. The last few posts should make this rather clear: men are particularly good at tuning in to exploiting little girls in other countries and then shutting off the computer to go off to their "normal" lives without ever thinking about what they just did; we laugh at or condemn pornographic actors without ever thinking about how we are jealous, envious, lustful, degraded ourselves. So, pulling together our two halves is, I think, of the utmost importance. And yes, one can reconcile oneself without religion if that person has a great passion for human equality, freedom, and dignity, and at the same time recognizes their own humanness. Yet I do think that religion gives us the proper tools for this task. At the very least, religion gives us the language for the task of acknowledging who we are and how we might end slavery.<br />
<br />
With that said, let me share with you the "Sexual Abuse" and "Sexual Harassment" sections of <i>The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church</i> Social Principles. I'll write the "Sexual Harassment" section first, though it is listed second. Notice in both of these principles how sexual misconduct, according to the UMC, is related to power, as I have argued long and hard in my book. Notice also, particularly in the "Sexual Abuse" principle, that personal sexual behaviors, that we might otherwise overlook as personal, are directly linked to and escalate quickly into the worst form of sexual behavior: the use of sex slavery. As I have said again and again, our attitudes can lead to bigger and more dangerous behaviors, and while we may think that we would never watch pornography or never use sex slaves, we shouldn't be so sure. Our second half may have a small beginning, but once the separation occurs in our being, the second half can run rampant without our ever chastising it. The language and theology and philosophy to deal with these problems has always existed, as we see in <i>The Book of Discipline</i>, we just haven't been thinking about it properly or using it.<br />
<br />
<br />John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-89576442986731524192014-04-11T09:33:00.000-04:002014-04-11T09:33:18.195-04:00David MitchellDavid Mitchell, author of <i>Cloud Atlas</i>, has quickly catapulted into my top five favorite authors, of any genre. He rocks. Anyway, in one of his novels, <i>Number9Dream</i>, one of Mitchell's characters writes a poignant history of her enslavement that I want to share with you. The novel is set in Japan, but it might as well be set in any so-called civilized country. I'm going to italicize the part that I think is most important, because I have to remind people of the phenomenon of blissful, hopeful ignorance all the time. Because we think we have made the world such a better place than fifty, a hundred, two hundred years ago, we ignore the realities that our own attitudes and ignorance create, and so we then vehemently reject the truth that there are 27 million slaves in the world today. I hear so many voices ringing in my head arguing with me, "There can't possibly be that many! I would know about it. And in the United States? No. At least, no more than a few thousand." What? Are you serious? That's more than ignorance; that's a harmful arrogance.<br />
<br />
Without further ado, I will quote Kazue Yamaya's account with no further commentary.<br />
<br />
"The doorbell rang. I answered it, and three men barged in the door and snapped the chain my husband had trained me to use. They demanded to know where my husband was hiding. I demanded to know who they were. One slapped me hard enough to dislodge a tooth. "Your husband's case officers," he snarled, "and <i>we </i>[not my italics] ask the questions." He and another searched the house while the third watched me to try to reassure my screaming son. He threatened to maim my son if I didn't tell him where my husband was. I called my husband at work and discovered he had phoned in sick that morning. I called my husband's cell phone and discovered the number had been disconnected. I called his pager--dead... My son watched with big scared eyes. The two other thugs returned with a box of my husband's personal effects and all of my jewelry. Then the bad news really began. I learned that my husband had run up debts of over fifty million yen with a yakuza-backed credit organization. Our life insurance policy had been doctored to name this organization as sole beneficiary in the event of his suicide. The house and contents were their property if my husband defaulted on repayments. "And that," said the most violent of the three, "includes you." My son was taken into the next room. I was told I was now responsible for my husband's debts. I was then beaten and raped. Photographs were taken "to guarantee my obedience." I had to endure this torment in silence, for the sake of my son. If I failed to obey their orders, the photographs would be sent to every name in my address book.<br />
<br />
A month later I was living in a single windowless room in a <i>buraku</i> [not my italics] area of Osaka. I was indentured to a brothel, and I was not allowed to leave the building or have any contact with the outside world, beyond sex with my customers. <i>You may doubt that sexual enslavement is practiced in twenty-first-century Japan. Your ignorance is enviable, but your disbelief is precisely why such enslavement can prosper unchecked. It happens; it happened to me. </i>I myself would have doubted "respectable" women could be forced into the sex industry, but the owners are masters of control. I was dispossessed of every item from my old life that could have reminded me of who I was--except my son. I was allowed to keep my son--this prevented me from escaping by suicide. My customers not only knew about my imprisonment, they derived pleasure from it, and would have been implicated in the crime had it become public. The final wall between me and the real world was perhaps the strongest: a phenomenon psychologists label "hostage syndrome"--the conviction that my fate was deserved and that no "crime" was being perpetrated. After all, I was a prostitute. What right did I have to bring shame to my old friends or even to my mother by appealing for help? Better that they carry on believing I had disappeared overseas with my bankrupt husband. Six other women, three with babies younger than my son, shared my floor. The man who raped me was our pimp--it was him we had to beg for food, medicine, even diapers for our children. He also supplied narcotics, in careful quantities. He administered them personally to ensure we couldn't overdose... In time our old lives became detached from what we had become."<br />
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The account continues, but this is enough to capture, despite its being fiction, the reality of the cruelty that sex slavery is. And, of course, this story could have easily been about some other form of slavery. It's all equally unexpected and horrible.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-88696306982279362122014-04-05T09:37:00.003-04:002014-04-05T09:37:53.511-04:00Unknowingly Supporting TraffickingOne of my major arguments in this blog and in my book is that we all unknowingly support human trafficking in some way. The uniqueness of my argument is that I say it is not only the things that we do that support human trafficking, but the way that we think and talk, too; our very attitudes contribute to slavery, whether we like it or not. <br />
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There are more tangible ways that we contribute to slavery, too, of course. I don't focus on the tangible so much as I should, though that's partly because I truly believe that if we can change our very beings to be aware and compassionate of the humanness of others then tangible acts would become unnecessary. In helping think about the tangible, my fiancee pointed out this article to me: <a href="http://goodfeed.com/2014/03/15/are-you-unknowingly-supporting-human-trafficking/">Unknowingly Supporting Trafficking</a>. <br />
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If you have been concerned about slavery for awhile now, you may have thought about how buying clothes, chocolate (or coffee and other goods) that's not fair trade, and fruit can contribute to trafficking. You've probably also given thought to the massage parlor industry, especially considering that this blog and my book have talked a good deal about some of those. Still, it's worth the reminder that slaves are working in various industries that produce what we consume. The article is a quick read so I hope you'll read it. I don't have anything in particular to add to it except that I hope you will think long and hard about how you consume products: just because consuming products does not bring us face-to-face with another human being does not mean that we can stop being aware and compassionate of the humanness of others.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-50960737922045390772014-04-04T09:51:00.002-04:002014-04-04T09:51:46.406-04:00Belle KnoxIf you have not heard of Belle Knox, then you can Google her and learn a whole lot very quickly. Be careful when you do so, though, because she is what most people term a "porn star." In my book, I did my best to refer to those working in pornography as "pornographic actors," trying to return some of their human dignity back to them. Pornographic actors are human beings just like you and me, and yet the problem with pornography is that we are able to degrade what we view through a medium--usually a computer or TV screen--to less than human; and once we do that, it's not a far jump to degrading people that we actually encounter in life to less than human. This is why I talk about pornography in my book and on this blog: the relationship between pornography and slavery is not a thin one. We like to think that it is so that we can go on viewing pornography whenever we have the urge, or at least accepting its presence in our society; and all the while not confront the reality that we are also contributing to the attitudes that create and sustain slavery.<br />
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Belle Knox is an interesting figure. By now you may have paused to look her up and read some about her, so my telling you who she is might be unnecessary. But anyway. She is a young student at Duke University, using pornography to pay her way through school. If you spent a lot of time looking up Belle Knox, you might have realized that there's a lot of speculative writing about her that's not based in fact. Worse, there's a lot of negatively biased writing about her, suggesting and implying that she is a scourge. Worse, she has become a target for hate. Pornographic actors are victims, through and through; just as slaves are victims.<br />
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Look, does anyone really think that Belle Knox is the first or only college student paying her way through school with sex? And why is she not the only one? Because pornography pays! And why does pornography pay? Because we are a society of hypocrites! We put up a front to the world saying that we are a good person, trustworthy and an upholder of the universal moral code, and then in private we like to degrade and demonize others in a misguided attempt to feel power, love, and self-worth. Pornography is a major business because of our hypocrisy. <br />
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And we do not like to admit that we are not the good people that we portray, we do not like to admit that we are insecure, we do not like to admit that we do not love ourselves, we do not like to admit that we struggle to find worth, community, and an outlet for our desire for power, so we blame all of our inner struggles on others: the pornographic actors themselves. That way, we can degrade them all we want while we take advantage of them through a medium, then turn off the screen and walk away as if nothing happened. What happens, though, if we ever meet a pornographic actor? Well, then the crap hits the fan, because then we have to acknowledge that there is a part of ourselves that we do not love, and that is likewise unable to love--the part of ourselves that would rather blame others for our faults--the part of ourselves that would rather laugh at, insult, and attack Belle Knox and her family for her existence, than to ever look inward at our own darkness. Our negative reaction toward her and her family is indicative of just how desperate we should be to change who we are. <br />
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The reaction to Belle Knox's career choice is not surprising to me in the least, but it is extremely disappointing. Though Knox is not the first or only female or pornographic actor to be blamed for the sadness, badness, and madness of others, the fact that we still have so much room for improvement in ourselves frustrates me, and should frustrate you. I applaud Knox's bent toward social justice, but I pray that her motive will go beyond the rights of sex workers and instead focus on changing the hearts and minds of citizens everywhere so that one day there will be no need, no demand for pornographic actors or sex slaves: where there is no demand, there will be no supply.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-27297014546271649782014-03-22T18:27:00.000-04:002014-03-22T18:27:20.209-04:00Houston TraffickingI've decided that anyone who posts anything about human trafficking on my website, on my Facebook, or on the <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves </i>Facebook page, I will write about it here, because as I always say: more awareness leads to wider-open eyes, and wider-open eyes leads to changed lives that end slavery and, for those who can, more energetic, tangible combating of slavery. A friend posted this article to the <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</i> Facebook page:<br />
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<a href="http://news.msn.com/crime-justice/more-than-100-people-found-in-house-in-houston">Houston Trafficking</a><br />
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Parts of this article are amazing to me. Amazing in the sense that I, despite writing a book in which I try to understand people in regards to slavery, cannot understand people. Two things stand out to me.<br />
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First, the fact that most of the people found in the house, in the squalid conditions, are from Central America. I almost laughed a little. We self-dubbed Americans complain and complain about "dirty foreigners," usually referring to Mexicans or other Central/Southern Americans, coming to the U.S. and "stealing" our jobs... yet it is pretty clear that we are constantly taking advantage of those less privileged in the southern American climes. Taking people from their homes in Mexico, El Salvador, Honduras, and other countries, probably with the promise of better lives, and then traffic them into slavery in the apparently civilized United States, is absolutely cruel and terrible. More than that, it's also an indication of how we are taking advantage of them all the time: we shine a beacon of hope, then force Central/Southern Americans, and other down-on-their-luck foreigners, to do jobs <i>that many of us wouldn't dream about doing</i>. This is one reason why I am very proud of my in-laws: all of them are honest, hard-working citizens who will do anything it takes to support a family with the utmost integrity (not that my family isn't, but since I've been born I don't know anyone in my family who has worked in a factory or at McDonald's or anything like that). In general, though, we take advantage of those less lucky than we are, and then we complain about the very problem we create by taking advantage of them. We shouldn't be surprised that this attitude produces human trafficking in our country. The filth that the victims in this story had to endure is worse than awful, but there is a more disgusting filth: American attitudes that create and sustain human trafficking in this country and around the world. Our venom is pathetically misplaced and so terribly logically inconsistent that it's laughable.<br />
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If you've read my book, the following statement will seem like a repetition: attitudes are extremely serious, and changing our attitudes, what we say, and our lifestyles, we can change the world for the better. Even if we aren't directly involved in human trafficking, we could very well be involved in the worst evil known to humankind.<br />
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Secondly, the police that responded to the missing persons registered surprise that so many people would be at the house. It would seem that a native of Houston was the cause of uncovering the trafficking scheme, which should jar our conception--if we can read this blog and still hold this conception--that only non-Americans are trafficked. But anyway, why are the police surprised? I can imagine that any time you encounter a location of slavery you'd be dismayed beyond words. And you or I, certainly, would be surprised. But in 2012 86 people were found in a house in the Houston area. Five years ago an equal or greater number of people were found in a house in the Houston area. Clearly something is going on that you can't ignore. Yet surprise suggests that it is being ignored, at least more than it should be. I'm not trying to suggest that the enforcement agencies of Houston aren't aware of what's going on or aren't working hard to end human trafficking, but the tone of the article is wrong. Rather than surprise, which suggests, "I can't believe this is still going on," the tone should be, "Man, we're working hard, but we should be working harder." <br />
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We all need to work harder. I can't possibly say that without also giving you the following link, which, after you click on it, fill out a few lines, will be your letter to your political representative to help end modern slavery. The world will thank you.<br />
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<a href="http://hq.salsalabs.com/o/5417/p/dia/action3/common/public/index.sjs?action_KEY=16132">Polaris Project</a>John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-89959310278010358862014-03-13T15:05:00.000-04:002014-03-13T15:05:22.658-04:00Children of GodA friend of my brother's who has read my book has become my new best friend. She clearly has her eyes open more than I do. I doubt reading my book had much to do with that, but I'm glad that she has read my book and begun to direct me to certain things because I have a blog that some people read and so her passion can have a greater range. That's how awareness works: one person's awareness can make a second person aware, and then those two people might lead to four person's being aware, and then eight, and then sixteen, and so on; soon we have an army.<br />
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Anyway, this post isn't about how awareness works (technically, all my posts are about how important simple awareness is, since I really believe that simply being aware is indeed half the battle). This post is about the following video that Pamela, my new best friend and hero, pointed out to me:<br />
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<a href="http://www.upworthy.com/watch-what-this-make-believe-girl-means-to-1000-sexual-predators">Child Sex Tourism</a><br />
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Please watch the video. The video was enough to convince me to sign up for upworthy.com's daily e-mail. There's also a petition to sign at the end to help stop child sex tourism.<br />
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If you don't read on, that's fine, it means that you watched the video and then didn't have time for any more reading. Good! Watching the video and not reading more is better than not watching the video and reading more.<br />
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As I commented to Pamela, while watching the video I thought a lot about pornography in general. I feel more strongly than ever that my emphasis on pornography and its relationship to modern slavery is justified, because more strongly than ever I see that our attitudes towards pornography are the same attitudes that will later justify propagation of slavery and child sex tourism. One of the experts in the video talks about how men are sitting behind their computers in far-away countries virtually abusing the ten-year old Sweetie mentally and bodily, and then once they get off they also shut off the computer, go back to work and think nothing of what they've just done to a ten-year old girl. Is pornography not the same? We sit behind our computers or TV screens, directing the action (in the sense that we can choose and search out for whatever type of pornography we want), virtually using and abusing--a high percentage of pornography nowadays is about abuse--the bodies and minds of women and men, and then once we get off we shut off our computers and TVs and think nothing of what we've just done. Child sex tourism is obviously a far more cruel and heart-wrenching phenomenon, but do you see how our attitudes toward pornography can quickly escalate to child sex tourism? And then virtual child sex tourism can quickly escalate into face-to-face child sex tourism. And then face-to-face child sex tourism can turn into local child sex abuse/slavery.<br />
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At the bottom of all of this is an inability to see everyone as a child of God. When slavery in the thirteen colonies and the United States was at its height, slave-owners did not want their slaves to be educated in religion. Why? Because slave-owners, as heartless and/or ignorant as they may have been, knew that God probably didn't look kindly on enslaving fellow Christians: once someone accepted Christ as his/her savior, well, then that slave was... was... was a real person! Oh my goodness! We can't enslave real people! I don't mean to say that we all need to be religious or that we need to educate slaves in religion. Since post-modernity began its reign, I'm not sure that being religious would save a slave in the worldly sense. I am saying that we all need to see all other people as children of God. We don't need to be religious or even believe in God ourselves to do that. All we need is a sense that if a person is alive, then <i>they are just like us, a real, live person.</i> When we allow pornography into our lives or into our society, we acknowledge in some small way that not all people are equal. In that case, some people are worth physically or virtually taking advantage of, worth using and abusing. <br />
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Even if we aren't talking about pornography, there are far too many of us going around thinking that only people of the same or higher social status as ourselves are real people. There are others of us who go around thinking that only our friends are real people. Stop for a second and consider whether you are one of those people who don't truly believe that all persons are indeed persons. If we think about the way we and our acquaintances talk and think, we will find that we are often or come close to being someone who doesn't view all persons as persons. And that is our problem. There's far too much devaluing of real, human persons going on.<br />
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Want to end child sex tourism? Want to end slavery? Then evangelize. Whoa, that's a scary word. It shouldn't be scary, though, when we are evangelizing to the radical yet not-so-radical idea that all persons are actually persons. If we do that, then no one will be able to use and abuse another human being and then continue on with their life as if nothing happened. We are all children of God, after all.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-86229229272798896632014-03-07T11:52:00.000-05:002014-03-07T12:16:09.792-05:00A Book ReviewI recently read Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel, <i>Snuff</i>. If you don't know what Discworld is, I encourage you to look it up. I encourage you to look it up not because I'm too lazy to describe it but because I just spent thirty minutes trying to describe Discworld and realizing I wasn't doing a good job. Basically, though, it's a world of comic fantasy that I highly recommend, if you're interested in either fantasy or laughing hysterically for hours. <br />
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Anyway, I wrote this book review on Goodreads and thought that I would share it with you. If you are on Goodreads, then you can find my review and click to "like it." I encourage you to "like it" so that others may see it. Unfortunately, though the book is clearly about the drug and slave trade, because it is a part of Pratchett's running Discworld series--a running satire on everything--I doubt that many people who have read the book will have the same, necessary perception of the book as I do. Whether you are on Goodreads or not, I encourage you to read <i>Snuff</i>, because it is a fantastic (see what I did there? Discworld is fantasy, and I just said a Discworld book is "fantastic"... ha ha), non-direct look at how certain forms of slavery develop such a strong hold in our world, all the while being hidden from the public eye.<br />
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(Note: I've taken out some of the review that focused more on the style of the book)<br />
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"Regular Discworld copper Sam Vimes goes out to the country with his wife, Lady Sybil, for a vacation... until he finds trouble, as Vimes always does, and then has to take down a drug and slave trafficking racket. Because of my own experience and involvement in fighting slave trafficking (check out my book, <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</i>) I love and appreciate this book. Sam Vimes is, in a sense, the last person you'd expect to respect the rights of perceived lower-species (in this case, goblins), which makes the anti-slave purpose of the story all the stronger. We can all learn a lot from the rough-and-tumble Sam Vimes about why we need to take on modern-day slavery with much more enthusiasm and strength. Pratchett also perceptively connects the drug trade to the slave trade. A wonderfully meaningful story is Snuff. <br /><br />One of the most powerful comments that I've ever read in a Pratchett novel gets repeated by Vimes in various forms throughout the book, "You could have done something." If you read my book, you'll learn that, indeed, when we are faced with an evil like slavery, we all can do something. Little changes in our life, our attitudes and/or our lifestyles, can make a big difference in the world. As the rough-and-tumble character that he is, Vimes has something specific in mind when he says, "You could have done something," but even if we disagree with his notions of literally fighting back, we should still hear his words ringing in our ears... "You could have done something." Slavery is unacceptable in our world today, and we can all do something.<br /><br />Another great aspect of this book is that it shows how hidden slavery can be. Vimes shows up in the countryside and everything seems clean and fine. No one likes the goblins (the potential slave population) because they are poor, uneducated thieves who can barely speak the language. At first Vimes thinks that this is such perfectly normal behavior that he doesn't give it a second thought. It's not so much a question of, "Who cares about the goblins (or, who cares about the poor, uneducated, possibly foreign population)?" but rather a question of, "Who even thinks about the goblins?" The answer is, "no one really," because we all walk around with our eyes shut focused on the lives of the wealthy, hoping that one day we might join their ranks. We might care about the rights of all people, but our eyes aren't open enough to see all the people. We aren't a true community in any sense. This is how slavery becomes hidden, this is how there are 27 million slaves in the world, many of whom are in the United States, without our knowledge. If it weren't for Sam Vimes's inclination to find trouble, he wouldn't have known what was going on because he wouldn't have opened his eyes. And by the end of the story, Vimes hasn't even necessarily accepted goblins as equal, but he does come to understand, by viewing the horrors of slavery, that all people, including goblins, are indeed people.<br /><br />...<br /><br />There's nothing inherently wrong with an action novel about dismantling drug and slave trafficking. That's quite good, in fact! I love it! Let's write more of them! If you have never read a Discworld novel before and have a beating heart, you will love this book [and find yourself wanting to fight slavery all the more!]. But if you are familiar with Discworld, you have certain expectations that are not met. Which is okay, of course, since I'm not sure that I want to laugh while reading about the drug and slave trade. I just wish I had some forewarning that my life experiences with slavery would come a-haunting.<br /><br />And it's possible that Pratchett realized that this shouldn't be a proper Discworld satire. There is a point in the novel when Lady Sybil, Vimes's wife, loses some of her power over Vimes and decides to just become a supporting wife as Vimes goes out to make the world a better place. This is a powerful transition. Yes, <i>Snuff</i> may not be what I was expecting or even hoping for as a Discworld novel, but, as Lady Sybil recognizes, what are expectations of a Discworld novel in the face of the drug and slave trade? Nothing. <br /><br />So at the end of the day I of course really liked this book for its focus and its story. Sam Vimes is, in a way, your stereotypical conservative, American Southerner. If even he can find it in his heart to respect lowly, poor foreigners who can't speak good English--I mean, goblins, and fight to keep them from being enslaved, then so should we all."John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-74881229807155811342014-01-05T19:27:00.003-05:002014-01-06T10:39:30.763-05:00RecognitionRecently I received in the mail an official recognition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for my trip and the writing of the book, <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</i>. Offered by representative Kate Hogan and signed by Speaker of the House, Robert DeLeo, the House of Representatives extends its sincerest thanks for my work. The recognition caught me by surprise, since I didn't think that the release of my book was all that earth-shattering. But the recognition (now obviously hanging on a wall in my office) taught me two things.<br />
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First, I really need to update this blog. The pages and links on this website still all refer to my trip <i>two years ago</i>. It's been less than two years, actually, so I'm not totally guilty, but still the blog is clearly out of date. A change in my life and a change in purpose for this blog, plus the fact that there is a whole bunch of worthwhile information out there that I should include, dictate to me that I need to change the blog. An overhaul is necessary. If people are recognizing me for my work in raising awareness against human trafficking, then I should probably not look so lazy. My goal for this month is to make those changes.<br />
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Second, the little things that we do seeking to end human trafficking, a) do not go unrecognized, and b) do not flame out. Oftentimes doing good work in social justice areas feels like a thankless task, but there are plenty of people out there who see what we do and are forever grateful for what we do. To some, publishing a book may seem like a big deal; to me it's not at all (writing is what I do). So whoever we are we should realize that what we consider to be a small, unrecognizable task, is not a small, unrecognizable task in the eyes of all people; to some people, those tasks will seem like monumental achievements.<br />
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Also, whatever good we do seeking to end human trafficking remains forever. What I mean is that each step we take toward the end of modern slavery has such great influence on others--encouraging them to also work to end slavery--and on the world that that step cannot ever be demolished once we take that step. We build on what we've done before and need not re-build. Sometimes we may need to repeat, over and over again, but that doesn't mean that what we have done has not helped make progress or has gone unrecognized. We can and should take heart knowing that every little thing that we do to help end human trafficking has unending significance. Unending significance. Even if you only do one little thing to end slavery, that one little thing will continue to have significance for all time.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-86993126987231522462013-12-11T13:16:00.001-05:002013-12-11T13:16:20.582-05:00Big Bang TheoryI can't imagine anyone's watching <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> and not finding it extremely funny. It's a good show that occasionally makes viewers aware of what's new and exciting in scientific fields and introduces viewers to some of the great thinkers of our generation. You can probably guess, though, that I don't want to talk about any of that. Instead I want to talk about how in one episode that I watched recently (a re-run, I'm pretty sure) Penny mentions how she got a great manicure at a store that she thinks was a front for human trafficking. Once the joke was said and laughed at, the conversation moved on and human trafficking wasn't referenced again. Penny's saying that she got a great manicure, pausing, and then saying that she thinks the store was a front for human trafficking was, indeed, funny. If any of the characters said the same thing it would still have been funny. In fact, if any character in any show said the same thing the joke might still have been funny. <br />
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My first question is why someone's saying, "I got this great manicure at this place... and I think it's a front for human trafficking," is funny. My second question is whether or not a popular TV show's bringing up the joke is good or bad. <br />
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First of all, we all have to acknowledge that our society jokes about a good number of things that perhaps we should not joke about. For many of us, though, these jokes are what keep us sane. If we were not able to joke about the state of our government, about Catholic priests, about consumerism, etc. many of us would find this world way too depressing to survive. Jokes and laughter are survival mechanisms, no question. I don't think there's anything wrong with that, either. We need to be able to joke about the awful things in our world or we won't survive.<br />
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I've talked a lot, in private conversations, about the tendency some kids and even adults have in making bets or jokes that essentially are, "blah blah blah, and be my slave for a week." I don't know if that really constitutes a joke or anything so we have to be really careful with that type of language. Yet if we are joking around and don't mean anything by it, then we have to ask ourselves why we joke about slavery and human trafficking. If we laugh at and make these jokes and bets because there's something inherently funny about slavery to us, then we need to check ourselves before we wreck ourselves, as Ice Cube would say. Sometimes we grow up thinking certain things are funny and we have no idea why. That's okay... as long as we become aware that some things we grew up thinking are funny are not at all acceptable. <br />
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Ultimately, though, there's nothing inherently funny in slavery, and working out a joke about slavery that <i>is</i> funny requires more work than it's worth, so why do it? I still can't decide if <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> intended to raise awareness about human trafficking or if they were just taking advantage of a situation to make a funny. And that's the thing: intention is key. If we make jokes about human trafficking just to be funny then we are essentially arguing that there is something inherently funny about slavery when in fact there isn't. Just because human trafficking exists and is out there doesn't mean we can or should take advantage of it as a comedic situation. <br />
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On the other hand, if we insert jokes about human trafficking with the intention of raising awareness, then of course we're doing a good work. Yet if that's the case, we have to be careful. The fact that millions of people who might not have known about human trafficking now do because of a throw-away joke by Penny in <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> is a positive step, but there are some issues: some people may have missed it, or not understood the joke precisely because they don't know what human trafficking is; there was still no indication of why anyone should care about human trafficking. Penny seemed a little upset and nothing more. The whole situation would have been different if Penny had gone on to say, "Now I'm upset about this manicure. I shouldn't give money to traffickers. I should tell the authorities." More jokes could have been made that also outlined the appropriate emotions and actions to take in such a situation. Then millions of viewers would have certainly got a good education about human trafficking that they otherwise would not have received.<br />
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You know, at the end of the day, what I'm trying to say is that little comments like the one Penny made can make a huge difference. It's entirely possible now that many people think it's acceptable and funny to joke about human trafficking for no good reason, and in addition think that it's not their business to care about human trafficking as an evil in our world, and in addition think that it's okay to take advantage of the services of trafficked persons. It could have been possible, on the other hand, to educate millions of people on how to think and feel and act about human trafficking to make this a better world to live in and, because it's a popular comedy show, they wouldn't have even really noticed that they were receiving such an education. It's possible that <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> did a positive thing simply by mentioning human trafficking, but the joke as it was relied far too heavily on uneducated viewers to understand why the show did a good thing. <br />
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We all of us need to keep our eyes and ears open for such references of human trafficking so that we can point them out and talk about them when others do not, and so that we can avoid making the same mistake that <i>The Big Bang Theory</i> made.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-30566754691006974912013-11-18T14:08:00.001-05:002013-11-18T14:08:36.562-05:00Idle HandsThere's a lot that I could write about idle hands. You know that saying, idle hands are the devil's tools, or whatever the saying is. I find that to be mostly true and particularly relevant to human trafficking. But right now I'm not going to go into that. Instead I'm going to take a more circuitous route and talk about how wasting our time with ridiculous things harms the fight against human trafficking. <br />
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For if you have idle hands, you probably aren't using your time wisely. This is something that I know a whole lot about, especially recently. Fortunately I don't think that I do a whole lot of mischief in any form when I have idle hands. I do, however, play a lot of stupid on-line games when I have idle hands. That and I read a lot about sports. Of course there are times in our life when we need to unwind and calm ourselves, at which time playing games and reading about or following sports can be healthy, if not downright necessary. At what point, though, do our idle hands grow addicted to such mindless activity?<br />
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I don't have the answer to that question. All I know is that it's a necessary question: when our idle hands addict us to mindless, useless activities (80% of what we do on Facebook, Pinterest, ESPN, etc. is mindless and absolutely useless), we quite obviously will have less time to do something productive. By "productive" I don't necessarily mean that anything tangibly productive is happening. Productive activities can include reading the news (real news, not ESPN) or surfing the Internet (on useful websites like Polaris Project or IJM) or chatting up a friend (friends in Congress especially). Doing any one of these activities can be productive in many ways. In terms of human trafficking, these activities can be productive in keeping ourselves aware of the latest updates on our journey to eradicating the world of slavery. And I don't know how often I have to say it, even to myself, but awareness of what's going on is a major first step. G.I. Joe knew what he was talking about. All we have to do is transfer our mindless addictions to mindless productivity. It doesn't take that much energy to read or chat.<br />
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I'm as much to blame as anyone. I have never been all that good at keeping up with human trafficking bills before Congress, news stories, or recent investigations into human trafficking. Lately I have been particularly bad about it, though, as my idle hands have diverted much of my time and energy into the most useless and lazy life I can imagine. When there are people out there needing our help, I and we can't let such things happen to us. There are simple, productive, and much needed things that we can be doing to bring us closer to total liberation.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-58266188597140556992013-11-04T08:57:00.001-05:002013-11-04T08:57:24.650-05:00Facebook PageIn the interest of gaining wider support for the book, and thus wider support for the ending of human trafficking in our world, I have created a Facebook page for <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</i>. Go to your Facebook and like the page (facebook.com/27millionrevolutions) to do your part.<br />
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And if you haven't already bought the book and gotten the full experience, you can go to Amazon and rectify that situation. I promise the book is far more insightful, provocative, powerful, and even more funny, than this blog has ever been. Obviously I wrote the book, but I honestly believe that all of us would be better off if we read <i>27 Million Revolutions</i>. Let's all stop being lazy and read a book for a change!John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-24525262835993929402013-11-01T19:56:00.002-04:002013-11-01T19:56:48.051-04:00Mutual AidBefore and during my bike trip it seemed as if I were the only person who knew anything much about human trafficking. It was amazing to me how many people didn't even know slavery exists still in the world. Yet now, especially since publishing the book based on this blog (available here: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_0_10?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=27%20million%20revolutions%20for%2027%20million%20slaves&sprefix=27+million%2Caps%2C197&rh=i%3Aaps%2Ck%3A27%20million%20revolutions%20for%2027%20million%20slaves">27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</a>), it's amazing to me how many people that I run into that either know more about the subject or ask me about books or films or shows that feature human trafficking that I have never heard of. <br />
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On one hand, I am embarrassed: shouldn't I, the author of a book on human trafficking, know more about human trafficking than most people? To some extent I'm not entirely embarrassed, because, as a writer, once you finish a project it's hard to still think about it. If I were a social justice advocate first and a writer second, then maybe it would be all good, but I'm a writer first who happens to also be super passionate about securing freedom for all, so I still react to the publishing of my book like a writer. Oh well.<br />
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On the other hand, I acknowledge one of the means of fighting human trafficking that I've talked about on this blog and especially in the book: we must help one another. We cannot ever remain confident in our own self-righteousness and instead receive help from others and encourage each other to read, see, and get involved in new anti-trafficking experiences. Indeed, it's been a blessing having my book be a catalyst for discussion... to hear how much more other people have already read and thought about slavery than I have. It encourages me to continue to be active and not let my mostly-normal reaction to publishing <i>27 Million Revolutions</i> be permanent. I must get off the couch again to keep my eyes and ears open. Slavery is still around us, all around me, and just because I published a book that may or may not be helpful to others and to the 27 million slaves out there doesn't mean that I can take a break. Slavery doesn't take a break and neither can I.<br />
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What's also been good about the experience of hearing the knowledge and experiences of others is that I need not feel wholly guilty for taking my mind off of slavery for a little while. One definition of mutual aid is that we support and encourage one another; yet another definition is that we all work toward freedom so that, if one of us needs to take a break, they can. <br />
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Thank you to all those who have reminded me of the importance of mutual aid in ending slavery. Thank you, because now I can, after a long hiatus, say: Let's all keep our ears and eyes open, support and encourage one another, discuss the evil of slavery whenever possible, and together we can do great things.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-40065027557244308062013-09-15T17:41:00.003-04:002013-09-15T17:41:58.491-04:00KotoThe other day my fiancee and I learned that a particular restaurant that we like, Koto, has suspect business policies regarding its hibachi chefs. There are a number of lessons from our new knowledge.<br />
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1) The more we talk about human trafficking with our friends and family, the more we can share knowledge and suspicions of businesses that may be in violation of simple good manners towards our fellow men and women. In this case, my fiancee had been talking about my new book with a co-worker. By talking to the co-worker my fiancee learned that she is somewhat involved in local human trafficking organizations who have red-flagged Koto as a possible violator. <br />
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2) We need to be ready to change our lives and habits at a moment's notice if we hope to put an end to slavery. My fiancee and I love going to Koto, especially since we live right across the road. Now, though, we can't in good conscience do so. Of course, my fiancee's co-worker said that Koto is a <i>possible</i> violator, and it's perhaps not a great thing to remove our business from Koto based on suspicions, but then why not? There are many other restaurants to go to if we must eat out. A lot of restaurants are possible violators, and we just have to keep an eye out.<br />
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3) Indeed, we need to keep an eye out. My fiancee and I had remarked, the last time that we were at Koto, that the hibachi chefs were susceptible to mistreatment. They come over here to the States hoping to make a good living for themselves, in a state--Vermont--that is notoriously good for foreigners to move to. New American residents who don't speak much English must rely on the reputation of a state like Vermont or the reputation of the American dream. If all that they have heard and believed turns out to be false, then they won't know until they've already been sucked into slavery. We talked about this... and yet didn't decide to do or research anything. We should have. <br />
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We all should learn how to be more proactive rather than simply think and wonder and talk. Although, as I said in lesson number one, talking can go a long way.John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-64976398797972849102013-09-04T09:05:00.004-04:002013-09-04T09:05:25.731-04:00Read the BookThe blog has become a book. Maybe now I can focus more on writing the blog again. Check it out!<br />
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<a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=27%20million%20revolutions%20for%2027%20million%20slaves">Amazon</a>John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-55949137141841019272013-08-21T09:41:00.000-04:002013-08-21T09:41:26.754-04:00Finally PublishingAbout eight months after I had originally hoped to publish (that's what we call naivete), I am finally getting <i>27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves</i>
onto the presses. It has unexpectedly been a very emotional ride,
which you won't hear about for months and months, but suffice it to say
that my first ever serious publication is not quite as exciting as one
would hope. At the end of the day, though, I feel successful. Now,
selfishly, I'm most worried about selling the friggin book; of course,
I'm also worried that, once having sold the book, that readers will find
it somehow useful, helpful, meaningful, or whatever positive 'ful' word
you can insert.<br />
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Of my trusted readers of this blog, if you want to buy a copy (it won't
be available on Amazon for about ten days, and when it is it might be a
couple of dollars more expensive) e-mail me at jlucy.wilde@gmail.com and
then we'll go from there. Happy reading!
John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1360519450157239558.post-62157976659125008292012-08-20T14:35:00.000-04:002012-08-20T14:35:19.227-04:00MSNBCI will never forgive NBC for choosing to air one of those "Good Morning America" shows rather than Andy Roddick's Wimbledon final match against Roger Federer. Also, I did not much like NBC's coverage of the recent Olympics in London. Still, MSNBC last night made up for much of that: from 9-11 p.m. they had two documentary shows on human trafficking.<br />
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As always, I am simply glad that human trafficking has gained the attention of news outlets, more and more articles and shows focus on human trafficking. But as I watched the first show last night (10 p.m. is when I go to bed) entitled "Slavery in the Suburbs" I had conflicting notions: on one hand, I was relieved and excited, insofar as one can be excited in such circumstances, that the stories told in the little documentary all had the purpose of carving away the idea that slavery only happens in foreign/developing countries and is alive and well in our hometowns; on the other hand, I was saddened to think that many people would not watch the documentaries because of the assumption that slavery doesn't occur here in the States, and even of those who did watch many might persuade themselves that human trafficking does not happen in their hometown--and then, why should they care?<br />
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The reason why I chose Polaris Project as the organization to fund with my fund-raising last summer on my bike trip is the same reason why I try harping on awareness: Americans especially think that the country is so great, so progressive, so free, that slavery could not possibly still exist here. In the documentary last night, the police refused to think of a young girl recently rescued from sex slavery (not due to any help from the police) as a victim of forced prostitution and instead treated her as a runaway drug addict, since, as with most victims, she was pumped full of drugs. Thus, no investigation to find and convict her captors ever commenced. Another story from last night: a father broke into the pimp's home where her daughter was being held, after the police had taken more than an hour to respond to his 911 call to say that his daughter was kidnapped and held as a prostitute, and then was charged with breaking and entering. That charge was dropped, but still, c'mon people. Police officers are simply representative of the attitudes that most all of us hold: forced prostitution? slavery? sex slavery? Not possible, not here. <br />
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Perhaps it is especially because of our ignorance that slavery can run rampant in our country. We need to get over it. We need to pay particular attention when there are documentaries like the ones MSNBC aired last night. We need to keep our eyes open. John H.D. Lucyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15242209312699001952noreply@blogger.com0