Slavery is an abhorrent concept, but for most of human history, it was accepted as normal. The widespread collapse of “the peculiar institution” in the 19th century was a triumph of Western civilization.
But the 21st-century war on Labor Expense is suddenly bringing back various forms of human chattel. Disturbingly, there are mainstream advocates on both the political left and right advocating for modern forms of slavery.
The slope toward (re)accepting human chattel became slipperier when free trade libertarians started arguing that outsourcing labor to “developing” countries, where forced labor and appalling work conditions are acceptable, is for the good. The argument is that it results in lower consumer prices for Americans. Further, they argue that those appalling work conditions and low wages provide third-world laborers a better standard of living than they could otherwise have. Conveniently, slave traders and plantation owners in the 19th century also made the same argument, asserting that those in bondage enjoyed better shelter, food, and healthcare than they would back in Africa.
So, despite America’s hangover from 19th-century slavery, many 21st-century libertarians still condone its practice overseas.
So, despite America’s hangover from 19th-century slavery, many 21st-century libertarians still condone its practice overseas.
But some labor cannot be offshored. Sadly, slavery is flourishing again in this country, too. As reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution last April, authorities in Georgia arrested Zhu Chen, the owner of Wellmade Industries, along with several family members, for “trafficking of persons for labor or sexual servitude.”
Employees were Chinese nationals who had been recruited through a temporary visa program and promised high salaries. Instead, they were allegedly required to work 12-hour shifts, and they were not allowed to leave the factory or their residence. [Assistant District Attorney] Waldo said there were several calls to authorities reporting slave labor-like conditions, WBHF reported. [emphasis added.]
If this type of slave labor offends our sensibilities when it occurs in Georgia, why is it acceptable for manufacturing that is outsourced to China to use the same labor system? The acceptance of slave labor anywhere in our supply chain makes the domestic acceptance of slavery possible.
Even the use of foreign children as slave labor is becoming disturbingly common again in the United States.
Last summer, a raid on illegal labor at a California marijuana farm resulted in the detention of 10 minors, some as young as 14, all foreign nationals, and some of whom were “unaccompanied.” There are more delicate terms that could be used, but the simple fact is that these children were slaves, living on a marijuana plantation, and being held as chattel by the property supervisor. California Governor Gavin Newsom and many other Democrat California politicians publicly condemned the actions of the government in removing the marijuana farm’s child slaves, believing that true compassion allows such “labor” to occur on American soil. (RELATED: Gavin Newsom Is Now the Simon Legree of Modern American Politics)
A Reuters investigation in 2022 found that Hyundai-Kia’s U.S. operations were hiring a network of Korean-owned suppliers and subcontractors, who then sourced labor through specialized “staffing agencies.” These agencies had a keen ability to procure illegal, “unaccompanied” child labor — some as young as 12 years old. Per a Reuters article titled, “Child workers found throughout Hyundai-Kia supply chain in Alabama,” “[a]t least four major suppliers of Hyundai Motor Co. and sister Kia Corp have employed child labor at Alabama factories in recent years.” It also reported that two Guatemalan brothers, aged 13 and 15, were taken into protective custody. “The brothers lived without their parents, staying with other factory workers in a sparsely furnished house owned by the president of the staffing agency that hired them.”
A child brought into this country to work illegally, while living with his “employer,” is human chattel. These child slaves were part of Hyundai/Kia’s U.S. supply chain.
The widely-abused H1B program is also a modern-day form of chattel labor, albeit a more white-collar version. What started out as a way to temporarily bring foreigners with unique skills to the states has morphed into a means for corporations to import foreign labor, primarily from India and China, paying them below-market wages, often after employees who were U.S. citizens are terminated. More specifically, U.S. employers outsource labor to contractors (often referred to as “body shops”) who are technically the employer. The foreign workers cannot seek other employment in the U.S., nor can they seek to improve their wages or work conditions. They are subject to expulsion by the body shop if they object to any abuse or mistreatment, and they cannot apply for a green card for five years. In effect, they are indentured servants, and corporations hiring H1Bs through this process are working with a form of human traffickers.
In all these cases, outsourcing slavery to subcontractors doesn’t make it any less repugnant. On top of that, there is often the expectation that taxpayers subsidize the chattel labor with public assistance, subsidized housing, food stamps, and free medical care.
Slavery under any name and under any circumstance is a great evil. Neither left-wing “compassion” nor right-wing “free enterprise” can provide an excuse for it to persist in any form in this country, nor in the supply chain of goods that are coming into the U.S.
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