Recently, it was brought to the attention of journalists that certain groups were involved in the practice of using laborers forced to labor in their factories and their production processes. Nike, which I’ve learned is a company that produces shoes and other footwear and clothing, Apple, which is the company that sold me this computer so that I can write this blog post for you all, these were two of the many many companies that were implicated in a journalistic study of these proceedings. I am not sure how to respond to this situation to be completely honest, which is why I chose it to respond to. I hope to, in the process of writing this post, elucidate myself on my own feelings of this sort of difficult situation.
By the time I was frozen in the ice, we had, in the United Kingdom, heavily reduced, if not completely eradicated the usage of slaves in our proceedings. It was inhumane, and this part is irrefutable. Many argue that the slaves were treated well which is penance enough for providing them with less of a life than the one we were privileged to be born into. This, I do not need is necessary to even consider in this day and age, and frankly I am glad that it has been resolved through your American Presidential campaigns, though also saddened that it created such a rift in this great nation for such a long time. Nevertheless, my boats were filled with my own men, we all labored equally, and shared equally the results of our toil. Again, as we were told by the king to travel and map the eastern coast, our allegiance was to the crown, but we were in no way forced to take on the positions that we labored in. We had chosen the life and career that we felt best allowed us the freedom we needed; is this not all that man desires?
Forced labor is by far one of the worst and inhumane punishments that nations and their governments push upon their incarcerated citizens. By god, the fact that we had decided this two hundred years in the past should be enough of an indication of this concept. However, some nations in todays society still perform this form of punishment. In this scenario however, it is much worse than imagined. Not only are the governments of China and other nations pushing their prisoners to become a part of forced labor camps, but they are imprisoning people because of their religious denominations! When I awoke and not everyone was a protestant or Catholic, well I wasn’t surprised at all! Of course, this was what centuries of progress would look like, correct? In fact, today I believe we are judged more or less equally, not by the religious architecture we visit on Sundays, but the character of our actions. This is why it is horrendous that the Uighur people of the Northwestern Chinese region being persecuted! Imagine seeing a culture and not appreciating it for its differences, but instead thinking right away that it was inferior to yours. It’s frankly ridiculous, and that is all I have to say on that.
Back In My Day 