Would you own a slave? Would you spark your sex life with a visit to an enslaved sex worker? No? Good. Me neither. Are we so different, I wonder, from the millions who do these things: own slaves, pay for sex with girls, boys, girls and boys, adults “paying off their debts.” Would you do business with a guy who does business with a guy (or woman) who can get you dirt cheap labor, no questions asked? Even if you’d never have to see them? No, I didn’t think so. We find the concepts of forced labor with no pay or so little pay one wouldn’t notice or trapped sex workers abhorrent. And we love children.
What are we to do, though? I am not giving up my computer. Although my habits at this point in my life are reasonably under control, I'm a shopper and am pleased when I find a cheaper price for something somewhere on the Internet, and yes, even in a big box store. I've read about the horrible working conditions, but I buy books from that monster bookseller, imported clothes, and when I need a new gadget, I will try to buy it for a "good" price. (This past Christmas I made an effort to buy American made gifts. After a good deal of searching and clicking, I found slippers for one brother and a great wool scarf for the other online. So I was pleased with myself for that.) I'll just put it out there—most of the time I am a careless consumer, which means I must be helping to keep the horrors of slavery afloat, which makes me mad as hell. I donated a little money today to an anti-slavery outfit. (Hey, I'm not rich.) But as of today, I am going to think of myself as an Abolitionist. I'm going to watch myself, too. I'm going to think before I buy.
