Slavery Footprint

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.  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).  My wife said the same thing when she discovered that she had over fifty.  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!

The purpose of slaveryfootprint.org is not to alarm you.  The purpose is to inform you.  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.  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. 

 Even then the number will probably remain high.  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.  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.  That’s an unfortunate truth, but we know it’s true looking at how we reduce our carbon footprint.  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).  How?  Well, where do we buy our food?  Is it all local?  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.  Dangit!  We’d then have to change the way our society produces and distributes food to completely eliminate our footprint.  One example of at least a handful.  Another example: do we use paper? If yes, is it hemp paper?  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.  Moral of the story is simple: we must make radical changes to our own lives and also make radical changes to how society operates.

 Moral of the moral: go to slaveryfootprint.org and learn how you can make a difference with, often, simple life changes.  Find out how many slaves are working for you and how exactly you can reduce that number.  Remember, a law of economics is that supply always seeks to meet demand.  If we limit demand then we limit supply.  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.  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.

 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.  Or, at the very least, make sure that you recycle your phone in a place that will properly reuse the parts of the phone.  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.  Upgrade your phone and don’t recycle the old one and you are using slave labor.  Unless your current phone is broken, why do you need to upgrade it anyway?  What’s up with that?  Take better care of your cell phone in the first place, too.  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.  If it works, keep using it; if you’re behind the times, so what?  The “times” aren’t so kind to 27 million slaves.

Worst Evil

Recently 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?

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.

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. 

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.

Sen. McAllister

I 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.

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.

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.

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 thing 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: Polaris Trafficking Resources.  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.

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."

(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.)

Nigerian School Girls

 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, "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 article and then wrote the following comment:

'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 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.'

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.  

I first encountered this term, "moral capital," in a book of the same name: Moral Capital: Foundations of British Abolitionism, 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.

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. 

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 everywhere--then the only clue can be found in our history, in our recent history of blindness.  

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. 

Massage Parlor in Vermont

A 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.

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. 

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.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline

Human 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.

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 as long as it remains a secret.  For as long as the secret life remains a secret, the person's better half literally 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 all 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. 

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.

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.

With that said, let me share with you the "Sexual Abuse" and "Sexual Harassment" sections of The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church 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 The Book of Discipline, we just haven't been thinking about it properly or using it.

David Mitchell

David Mitchell, author of Cloud Atlas, has quickly catapulted into my top five favorite authors, of any genre.  He rocks.  Anyway, in one of his novels, Number9Dream, 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.

Without further ado, I will quote Kazue Yamaya's account with no further commentary.

"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 we [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.

A month later I was living in a single windowless room in a buraku [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.  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 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."

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.

Unknowingly Supporting Trafficking

One 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. 

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: Unknowingly Supporting Trafficking.  

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.

Houston Trafficking

I've decided that anyone who posts anything about human trafficking on my website, on my Facebook, or on the 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves 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 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves Facebook page:

Houston Trafficking

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.

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 that many of us wouldn't dream about doing.  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.

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.

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." 

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.

Polaris Project

A Book Review

I recently read Terry Pratchett's Discworld novel, Snuff.  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. 

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 Snuff, 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.

(Note: I've taken out some of the review that focused more on the style of the book)

"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, 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves) 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.

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.

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.

...

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.

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, Snuff 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.

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."

Recognition

Recently I received in the mail an official recognition from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for my trip and the writing of the book, 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves.  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.

First, I really need to update this blog.  The pages and links on this website still all refer to my trip two years ago.  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.

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.

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.

Big Bang Theory

I can't imagine anyone's watching The Big Bang Theory 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. 

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. 

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.

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. 

Ultimately, though, there's nothing inherently funny in slavery, and working out a joke about slavery that is funny requires more work than it's worth, so why do it?  I still can't decide if The Big Bang Theory 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. 

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 The Big Bang Theory 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.

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 The Big Bang Theory 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. 

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 The Big Bang Theory made.

Idle Hands

There'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. 

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?

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.

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.

Mutual Aid

Before 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: 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves), 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. 

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.

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 27 Million Revolutions 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.

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. 

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.

Finally Publishing

About eight months after I had originally hoped to publish (that's what we call naivete), I am finally getting 27 Million Revolutions for 27 Million Slaves 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.

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!

Slavery Footprint

One of the more common questions that open-minded, liberal-minded, and/or social-justice-minded people first learn to ask is, "Where was this shirt made?"  Chances are that if a piece of clothing that you are thinking of buying is made in China, you are about to buy an article of clothing produced by slave labor.  Indeed, chances are that if you are about to buy anything made in China or India that you are about to buy a slave-labor item.  Some of these open-minded folk search for non-slave-labor items until they find something made in the USA or Europe; others simply don't care at all that certain items like clothing are produced by slaves because, after all, clothing seems essential; still others look around for non-slave-labor items until they realize that doing so is very hard and oftentimes expensive.  I won't bother to point out (though I guess I am now) that the first type of person might be misled by a "Made in USA" label: let's not forget that the United States and Europe, where we'd like to think that civilization reigns and slavery is no more, are still greatly tainted by the worst evil mankind has ever known.

Now, I don't want to depress anyone, because being thoughtful about where our clothes come from is a good first step toward thinking about our slavery footprint.  And that's a good thing.  Once we start thinking about our slavery footprint in the smallest of areas we are likely to see how much of an impact our lifestyle has on slave labor.  Perhaps then we will begin to make changes to the way we live.  All of that is positive and I want to encourage thoughtfulness and lifestyle changes... God knows I, too, could still use a lot of changes to the way that I live if I want to bring down my slavery footprint.

Much like our carbon footprint, our slavery footprint is wide-reaching and can be roughly calculated.  When we do calculate it we might get depressed and greatly frustrated.  To some extent, actually, I do want to depress you, because running around as if everything is jolly won't help you gain insight into the impact your life has on slavery.  Unfortunately depression and frustration must often precede the most glorious transformations.  With that in mind I invite you to calculate your slavery footprint.  If you've done this already, I invite you to do it again and this time be as detailed as possible: take more than five minutes.  As you go through the calculation you will hopefully learn a lot about slavery in the world today but, perhaps more importantly, you will start to see what kind of life changes you need to make if we want to put an end to slavery.

Slavery Footprint

My Relationship to Pornography: A Year Later (Part II)

As far as I'm concerned, the worst aspect of pornography is the attitudes of those watching.  But before I get to that it's clearly important that I talk about the effects of pornography on those involved. 

Many people will say that prostitutes and porn stars choose the lifestyle which they live.  To some extent that is true.  They are not actual slaves and so always have a choice.  First of all, though, we have to acknowledge that as far as prostitutes go, many are slaves or are essentially slaves.  What pimps are masters of is getting their girls, or boys, addicted to drugs that are extremely hard to unhook from, like cocaine; then the prostitute hardly has a choice: if they leave, they'll be poor and unable to get the drugs that they seem to need.  Even if prostitutes aren't literal slaves, then, the choice they have is a false one and might as well be slaves.  Porn stars are not much different.  Men and women, women especially of course, are led into a life with a false choice: many porn stars have left the profession, if it can be called that, and then immediately return because they have been convinced that they aren't good at anything other than having sex with people for money.  Once in the "real world" as we call it they find that it is much easier to have sex for half an hour rather than working a 40-hour week.  Of course I simplify.  Most porn stars are in a number of videos every week.  Still, the amount of work that they put in is nothing compared to a full work-week where they cannot use what they have been told is their best attribute: their body.  For most porn stars, then, pornography seems to be the only choice that they can make until their body is no longer deemed beautiful.  What once was a choice made perhaps as an 18-year old to make some extra money is now the only choice that they can make.

Let's say, for the sake of argument, that porn stars do choose pornography without any strings attached to that choice.  The fact will remain that porn stars are used and abused during the filming of pornography.  Frankly porn stars are used and abused before the cameras are even turned on: they are paid ahead of time for the action about to be performed, with more money for the more perverted actions.  If pornography is a profession, then we can imagine that more perverted actions will be performed more and more often with porn stars wanting to make more money.  It's not likely anyway that a porn star, even if they entered the industry with the hope of only performing straight sex, would be able to escape the pressure to perform the more perverted roles.  The porn industry knows quite well what they want and how to apply pressure to get what they want. 

During filming, the woman is told to be perverted and to like being used and dominated.  We may say that certain amounts of power domination or roughness in the bedroom is healthy and I wouldn't disagree.  A loving relationship between two people is a lot different, though, than porn stars randomly put together in a video and the woman being abused.  The effect this has on the female, as said before, is that they begin to think that what they are good for is being used for male enjoyment, and that male enjoyment should bring them pleasure.  No longer will the female think that they are worthwhile human beings on their own without being used.  Self-image becomes a major issue whether they acknowledge it or not.  Surely some will still say that they are choosing the life and that choice brings them ultimate pleasure and fulfillment, but there is no denying that what they deem as fulfillment actually entails having their worth demeaned and destroyed.

I have had the opportunity since my bike trip to watch some documentaries on the pornography industry, which I'll list and talk about in another post, that have only confirmed that anything that destroys the image of the porn star will also encourage the loss of proper attitudes toward sex and the opposite sex in those watching pornography.  Unfortunately I know from experience that watching pornography leads more and more to thinking of the opposite sex as a plaything.  Granted, I, like other people, might still be a good enough person to see other good qualities in members of the opposite sex.  Still, the end hope for interactions with the opposite sex is, indeed, sex.  Someone who watches pornography has a much harder time not thinking about sex with just about everyone of the opposite sex that they come across, even if they don't act on it.  And believe me, certain expectations develop.  It's hard for someone who watches pornography to not expect a girlfriend or boyfriend to do certain things in the bedroom, or out of the bedroom.

Those expectations then carry the image and worth issues that porn stars deal with into normal relations.  Girlfriends especially are now expected to act like amateur porn stars.  Obviously I don't know to what extent women feel these expectations pressuring down on them, but from personal experience I know that it's hard for a woman to deny a man that they may want to date or are dating.  The end result of this is that, basically, we re-create sex slavery in our own bedrooms.  More accurately we are re-creating pornography in our own bedrooms, especially when we consider the growing trend of taping ourselves in the bedroom and then posting the videos on the Internet.  Taping might also be a healthy expression of loving passion, but the trend of taping and then posting is an indication that we want to imitate pornography.  But I argue that we are indeed re-creating sex slavery in our bedrooms.  What happens is that we indulge master/slave scenarios over and over again.  At the end of the day the man and the woman may still consider themselves equals, but it's hard not to escape the feeling first engendered in the bedroom.  And our women expect that and live into that expectation, then further encouraging the attitudes of men everywhere.

The worst part of it all is that men now think that it's ok to treat a woman as a slave of sorts for their own enjoyment.  If ever they encounter a woman who has a positive self-image and doesn't want to entertain the notion of being dominated or used or any of that, then the man is now left with a dilemma: stay with the woman and respect her, leave the woman and find someone else who will let him do whatever he desires, or stay with the woman and disrespect her.  Believe me, the first choice may be desired by most men, but is also extremely difficult for most men to choose and commit to.  Both of the other choices in some way lead to the use of slavery.

If a man who has developed in the ways that I have spoken about from watching pornography only dates and stays with women who will indulge his desires, then essentially he is being told that it's ok to feel the way that he does.  That man will then desire more and more domination of women and then, eventually, will cheat on even the woman that gives him what he wants.  And the man who stays with the respectable woman with the idea of finding an indulgence to his desires elsewhere will obviously cheat.

Neither situation necessarily leads to slavery.  Both situations certainly lead to worsening our ability to properly love and respect women, which is certainly not what we want.  Both situations also have developed the attitudes necessary for using sex slaves.  Whether or not a man actually will find and use sex slaves depends only on whether or not how frustrated they are and how easily they can find other non-slaves to use and abuse.  Having once used sex slaves it's more likely that the man will return and with more intense and perverted wishes.  Those wishes might then find their way into relationships with non-slaves, then worsening the attitudes involved in pornography and watching pornography that helped lead to the use of sex slavery in the first place.  This is much worse considering that the vast majority of sex slaves are very young... I'm sure we can imagine what the result of using young sex slaves is on the society-at-large.  With the attitudes that we are already developing and allowing to develop, the attitudes that are also brought back into society from those who use sex slaves only intensifies the evil situation we find ourselves in.

At some point along the line you may disagree with my conclusions.  I think the fact remains, though, that watching pornography affects a whole range of attitudes and actions that can and do lead to the holding and using of sex slaves.  Even if the person watching pornography doesn't use slaves, that person brings an attitude to relating with others that may influence someone who has never watched pornography at all to enter into a form of slavery or to use slaves.  Pornography is indeed a worse evil than we may think.

My Relationship to Pornography: A Year Later (Part I)

I write this particular post for three reasons: 1) I continue to believe that there is a close link between pornography and sex slavery, and slavery of all kinds; 2) Being a part of a confession group the past few years I've come to believe that confessing sins and misdeeds or mis-thoughts to others forges a path toward holy reconciliation; and, 3) Most of the people who have found my blog through google have done so by searching the relationship between pornography and sex slavery.

I want to first focus on the second reason.  When someone confesses to someone other than God (though for many a confession to another person is simultaneously a confession to God, as I believe it is) they are forced to deal with the pain involved, because confessing is essentially a self-deprecating act.  Especially if forgiveness is given the confessor will then be able to feel less and less as if a burden weighs them down and more and more as if new life has been granted.  New life is important: if a person feels that they are tainted, then what will stop them from corrupting themselves more?  The greatest obstacle to poor actions is the individual's feeling that they are somehow pure and performing the action would ruin everything.  Also important to the confession is the reaction from the person/s hearing the confession: they might very well be greatly disappointed, disgusted, angry, etc., but even those emotions are motivation to be better, if nothing else other to be better than the confessor.   Hopefully, hearing the confession will also enable the hearers to look into themselves to determine if they have any of the same thoughts, passions, desires, or tendencies that drove the confessor to the act, and then hopefully preemptively change their character.

It's with this last hope that I again present my personal confession regarding my relationship to pornography.  A follower of the blog during the bike trip last year might well remember that I talked about pornography a good deal and, near the end of the trip, began to see similarities between myself and those who hold or use slaves.  A year later my confession is less revealing but perhaps more enlightening.

Though even before the start of my trip I realized that my own use of pornography was crippling, if nothing else, a fact that only impressed itself more in my mind during the trip, it only took me a couple of months to return to using pornography.  The thoughts and emotions involved in my return are what I want to deal with in this first part, and I'll return to the dire warning that pornography and sex slavery are intimately linked in the second part.

One might think that people learn their lessons.  When an individual is convinced that the lesson also involves the hope and souls of other human beings, one might think that individual will learn the lesson much faster and for all-time.  Indeed I am convinced that my watching pornography does not only condemn myself but also the people that I interact with on a daily basis and, obviously, the people involved in the pornography.  So one might think that I would learn my lesson, especially after the specific bike trip that I embarked on.  One might and would think.

Fortunately and unfortunately, we humans have been created with a massive amount of passion.  Much of that passion is what the Bible might label, "earthly."  I truly believe that all passion can have a positive outlet but finding that path is tricky.  Whatever the case, I have been unable to permanently curb the passions in me that have found numerous negative outlets.  It's almost as if the passions will exist no matter what and, the more I try to shut them off, the more they bubble up inside ready to burst out in a boiling mass of bile.  So I give in, on one hand hoping that by giving in I will no longer be torn up inside and thus be a walking time-bomb, on the other hand simply wanting to give in.

Almost all of us act in the way but with different vices.  How many of us thirst for a drink, or a smoke, or unleashing a torrent of complaints and insults to someone in private, or whatever else our vice might be.  Some of us are good enough that a good book or an upbuilding discourse, as Soren Kierkegaard would say, are all that we need.  I wish I could be the same.  And some of us exhaust ourselves with work so that we cannot even think about our deemed inappropriate passions, though of course we should not then persuade ourselves that the passions are not there.

This last part, acknowledging that many of our passions are deemed inappropriate but perhaps not actually, is very important.  We are human.  If you believe in God, then you believe, I think, that God created us to be the way that we are.  By relegating certain passions of ours to dark alleys because they are suddenly considered inappropriate is a shame.  I've always thought it very funny that our youth can see hours upon hours of violent video growing up, with our encouragement (especially when the violence is dished out by Batman), but sexual images?  Those are inappropriate and evil.  Quite frankly I don't understand.  The effect is that our sexual passions are then swept under the carpet to rot, worsen, and then seek outlets in secret.  Cue prostitution (a majority of which is sex slavery) and pornography (which, I argue, leads to sex slavery and other ills).

I'm not suggesting that we as a society swing the pendulum the other way.  Pendulums are always risky.  In fact, I don't know what I'm suggesting.  All I know is that my passions never disappeared despite my disgust with how the passions of millions of others have morphed into something cruel and terrifying and that, without having been taught or not being allowed by society to properly manage those passions, my passions then directed me to return to the thing that I now most hate about my life: pornography.

And over time this passion banished into secrecy has indeed rotted and worsened.  Hopes and expectations with women have changed in a way that I despise.  Pornography has only quickened the rotting process.  But I would not ever want any woman that I'm with to know or indulge these worsened passions.  On one hand I could argue that having a respectable woman in my life to date would eventually force the passions to dissipate, but then I might still be hiding; on the other hand I could argue that I need to purify myself of all relations with women so that I don't ever inflict more harm than I already have. 

The point of writing all this, as I said earlier, is so that all my darling readers might look inside themselves and reflect.  How much of me is in you?  If we are all honest I think that much of the character that is in a person who uses or holds slaves is in us, and thus much of me is in you.  I am disgusted with myself almost all the time and, reading this, you probably are, too.  But that doesn't change the fact that perhaps you should be disgusted with yourself as well.  Shame on all of us really.  Or maybe I'm just the scourge of the Earth.  Either way, I think I provide a good lesson to all of us as we address the issue of human trafficking: it is easy to fall victim to the passions that lead us into using and holding slaves, particularly because those passions seem fairly isolated and innocent at first.  Even those of my friends who are religious and respectable, I know of no one who thinks that pornography is wrong to indulge in, though I know of many who will say that the pornography industry is wrong.  That is a false distinction: indulging in pornography is not an innocent activity for any individual, no matter how secret or isolated.

Let us not focus only on pornography, however.  There are a great many passions that seem innocent or even positive at first glance that we indulge and activate to only find many years down the road that we should not have.  I'm not imaginative enough to think of all the passions that I'm speaking of, but I think that if we read and hear my story and then reflect, we each might be able to find what those passions are.

Cycling: A Year Later

A year after my bike trip many have asked if I'm still riding.  Actually, that's not true.  Very few people have asked me if I'm still riding, but I have asked myself if I'm still riding many times.  Obviously I should know whether I am riding or not but honestly, even when I am riding, it is difficult to say whether I am indeed riding or not.

The problem that I have is that before and during my bike trip I had a purpose to keep riding.  After my bike trip I had a purpose: to not let myself forget what I had just done.  But once the calendar turned to 2012 I've struggled with motivation to continue hopping on Cato.  Part of that struggle has been the strange weather in the Northeast throughout the spring.  Whenever I thought that the warm weather was around to stay, the temperature would suddenly drop twenty or thirty degrees.  Since I am so dead-set against exposing myself to cold weather it is hard for me to get into a rhythm when the weather plays such nasty tricks with me.  Mainly, though, the problem is that I simply cannot remind myself of any of the reasons why I made riding my bike such a big part of my life in the past year and a half.  First it was for exercise that my bad knee could handle, then it was to save the environment, then it was an odd but meaningful way to raise awareness for the fight against human trafficking.  None of which seem to pop into my head anymore.  So I still ride my bike because it would seem strange not to, but now it also seems strange riding because I don't know why I'm doing it.

To some it might seem like the latter source of motivation is the only one relevant to this blog.  I disagree.  There are a few core things that I learned on my bike trip, but one of them is that the way we live our life day to day can have a great effect on slavery.  The obvious example is if we wear jewelry with diamonds in them without knowing whether the diamonds were mined with fair wages and agreeable working conditions or from slaves.  But our 'slavery footprint' as I'm now calling it is similar to our carbon footprint: small life habits can add or subtract a serious amount to our carbon footprint or our slavery footprint.  Where do your clothes come from, where does your food come from, where does the gas that you put in your car come from, and on and on; how much you consume various things will affect the growth or reduction of certain industries in a simple supply and demand formula.  Like with cows or chickens or any animal whose meat we eat that aren't treated well, if you buy meat from companies that add to the problem then you suggest to the market that more poorly treated animals need to be farmed.  Farming itself is a slave issue.  Indeed, a huge number of things are slave issues, and thus we must be careful.

My point is that whether I am riding my bike focused on fighting human trafficking or on saving the environment, or on saving my knee, the fact that I am riding my bike is a positive.  If I am riding my bike then I am not driving a car or using electricity and then not in any way promoting slavery in our world.

Now I am without motivation to continue riding my bike, though I do still ride it.  What is the problem there?  The problem is one that many pastors and priests of churches encounter at some point in their ministry: burn-out.  Pastors aren't the only ones who experience occupational burn-out but I do think the pastor form of burn-out is the most devastating and noticeable kind because all of God's kingdom and His call for us is called into question.  It can be a very dangerous time for pastors.  Similarly I think it's a dangerous time for me and just one example of what can happen when we try too hard to be mission-oriented.  Oftentimes we find some good that needs to be done in the world and think we need to do something about it all the time.  But we have to pace ourselves, mix in some peace and joy, and do only what we can.  Otherwise we will be left in the burning burnt-out desert that I find myself in now.

Part of pacing ourselves, too, is knowing our role.  In the Church we talk about the Body of Christ and I think it's a valid metaphor for non-believers concerned about social justice as well.  Each one of us has special gifts and interests.  We have to rely on each other, knowing that when we use our gifts to address our interests that other folk in the body will use their gifts to address their interests.  The hand cannot do the stomach's job.  Some jobs are more glamorous than others, sure, but all missions are equally important.  Don't work yourself out trying to do too much, other members of the body will do the rest.  I am beyond proud of myself and glad that I did what I did, and proud of all of you who helped me raise money for Polaris Project, but I put so much emphasis on myself that I am now struggling to recover.  So don't be like me and lose motivation to do something that you love.

Hometown Prophet

A couple of weeks ago I came home from seminary and immediately jumped into helping my father win an a town election.  He won the race for selectman and everyone is happy.

Much of the work that goes into helping with a town election for grunts like me entails holding signs.  On the day of the election I found myself holding a sign (or two) for ten hours.  At one point that meant standing next to a fine gentleman that I like quite a bit, though until then I hadn't much opportunity to talk to him during the past few years of knowing him.  Most of the time we were telling stories, long stories: apparently he and my father are the kings of telling long stories.

I don't usually tell long stories.  I just have a lot of stories that I tell in quick fashion.  One of the stories I told that day was how I had bicycled across the country to fight human trafficking.  He responded as most people do, "Wow, are you serious?!"  And then a few seconds later, "That's so disturbing.  I don't know why anyone would use someone like that.  Hopefully our government can step into other countries and stop it."  I was proud of him until that last sentence.

What surprises me about the interaction is how little some people know about domestic human trafficking even in my hometown.  Lack of awareness is an on-going issue that I've written about, and to some extent I think it's the major issue when it comes to trying to fight the evil, but since I decided to go on my bike trip I have not spent much time at home.  Now that I have it's rather upsetting that people that I know and have known for a long time, people that I respect, and people that I thought would have read the article about my bike trip in our town newspaper and that I thought were following this blog, continue to have little idea about just how serious human trafficking is in our world today.  Yes, I am glad that this man showed more concern about those held in slavery than most people that I talk to do, but I still think even the most concern does little good when it is directed internationally and is totally ignorant of how serious it is around our homes.

Granted, I can't expect everyone that I come across to be up to speed on the issue nor can I expect them to have followed my trip with ever-attentive eyes.  In a lot of ways it's good because, I mean, that's my mission: to make others aware.  I'd be silly to think that a few months, even an impressive few months, would fulfill my mission.  Still, I'm beginning to understand what people like Jesus and Mohammed knew, that prophets are very rarely accepted in their hometown.  Part of that is because people know me for who I am with all of my deficiencies and I can't simply be that great guy who biked across the country.  But a lot of that is because, knowing me, hometown folk believe that "this guy" can't have much to say that they don't already know.

I don't mean to say that I'm a prophet.  I simply mean that the experience I have had at home so far reminds me of how much harder a person with a universal mission must work in their hometown.  It's a good thing that I've always wanted to make Hudson, MA a great place--perhaps, through many, many years of hard toil, Hudson can become a model for the fight against slavery.