I am speaking to you as an advocate for history itself, and I'd like to show you how you can prevent our past mistakes from happening over and over again. Namely, how can we all take part in the abolishment of oppression, of modernised slavery, once and for all?
But before that, let’s first take a look at the year 1800. While some people might recall a glorious time, full of prosperity and economic bloom, we will find that it was quite obviously more than what meets the eye. During the period of the American Civil War, we already once uncovered and declared against the system of past slavery. Moreover, America itself swore to remorse all the cruelties committed by our ancestors. Only under the premise that we stopped believing all men and women to be created equal, we are not allowed to turn a blind eye to the fact that our world is still based on a very similar concept of tyranny and depotism.
Human trafficking. Child labour. Domestic servitude. We all are aware of the fact that our so-called concept of freedom praised internationally is still based on the suffering of millions of people. Although it may have taken a different shape and range. Just as the black slaves were left with no choice but to build the economy we still profit from today, the progressive governments of our home countries continue this tradition.
Whether directly or not, as slaves to capitalism, we all are at fault. Are any of us really under the illusion that this is not the face of our society, not what we have become? In other words, has ever been any different? Slavery, my fellow citizens, is widespread and insidious. Hence, it is a social disease that has existed for centuries and yet, we never quite managed to exterminate it. Whereas the Homo Sapiens has evolved in many different areas, our arrogance remained the same. With regard to that, oppressing the weak seems to be a human-made concept which has modernised and now shows up at the bottom of the social class system.
For instance, clothes sold in Europe are rarely produced locally. Instead, it‘s the extremely low labour costs in Bangladesh that have lead to a spectatular industrial growth in the recent decades, as it was stated by the International Labour Centre in 2022. Because I can buy a piece of clothing for little money, others hace to pay a price.
This, however, is today’s society, although you can rest assured that we are not its face, in our wealth and fame. They are. Those people, whose eye contact you avoid on the street, quickening your steps to get past them. I know you do that. I did, too. But we have to stop. We have to face what we have become.
Let me assure you that I do not aim to appear brazen. Quite the contrary. I’d like to introduce one concrete solution instead of simply appealing to your conscience. It’s as simple as that: Each lack of data-driven desicion-making is nothing but a stalling process. In fact, it’s nothing but hipocrisy. Therefore, the easiest thing you can do right after you finished reading is to inform yourself. Arm yourself. Trustworthy data is out there, such as the most recent global slavery index estimating that there are 50million people trapped in different forms of modern slavery. That’s almost the double amount of Australia’s population, which is 25,7 Million. It’s beginning to dawn on you, isn’t it?
Consequently, I’m hoping you’re with me on this one. That all of us, together, will be able to make a difference. I was able to learn a lot throughout the year: How compassion changed living conditions. How the fight for human dignity made progress. How a kind heart and helpfulness actually influenced an individual’s life for the better. We can and we will stop our past mistakes from happening all over again, we will keep the promise given to our ancestors centuries ago.
Would you like to join my side and become an advocate for humanity’s history, too?
