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Yet another example of American hypocrisy! (lemmy.ca)

submitted 1 week ago by CloudwalkingOwl@lemmy.ca to c/usa@lemmy.ca

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So the Trump administration is levying tariffs against nations that don't do enough to stop forced labour. Does that mean Canada shouldn't buy anything from the USA? After all, slavery is still part of the US economy--.

See: https://open.substack.com/pub/billhulet/p/just-who-is-using-slave-labour?r=4ot1q2&showWelcomeOnShare=true

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[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (2 children)

I'm not disagreeing with or surprised about the shape of this graph but I note that the numbers include pre-trial and on remand detainees. I think the law says these can't be forced to work. Although I don't know if that's true for "illegal aliens" if the fact they're here counts as breaking the law enough to use them as slave labor.

[–] DragonAce@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago

For those people, its called "community service".

[–] CloudwalkingOwl@lemmy.ca -1 points 1 week ago (2 children)

And your point being---.

[–] Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Only that "slavery" is generally understood to mean "forced servitude" so they should have taken the trouble to use prisoners whose labor is being exploited by the prison owners and/or the state.

To be extra clear, I'm not saying that the US would come out any better in such a comparison. I assume most other countries have similar laws, and I wouldn't be surprised if some have much better laws regarding the work performed by prisoners.

I just prefer accuracy.

I would also appreciate being corrected by anyone who knows the law regarding whether captured undocumented immigrants can be forced to work while awaiting deportation. I fear they probably can, judging by the eagerness of for-profit prisons and their ICE henchmen to scoop up the strong and skilled guys outside Home Depots.

[–] shawn1122@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago* (last edited 1 week ago)

While undocumented migrants cannot be forced into labor under the 13th amendment, it is a bit of a grey area.

Many immigration detention centers (often run by private, for-profit prison companies) operate "Voluntary Work Programs" where detainees perform facility labor (cooking, cleaning, laundry) for as little as $1 a day.

Numerous class-action lawsuits against private prison companies (such as GEO Group and CoreCivic) have alleged that the word "voluntary" is used loosely. Detainees have testified that if they refused to work, guards threatened them with solitary confinement, transfer to worse facilities, or the withholding of basic necessities like clean blankets or edible food.

[–] milkisklim@lemmy.world 0 points 1 week ago (1 children)

It's misleading to have a bar chart include people who wouldn't be forced to work when the title says it's a chart of people who could be forced to work.

[–] CloudwalkingOwl@lemmy.ca -3 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Repeat after me: 'All charts are an approximation---especially ones that shows data reported from different nations, which often use different criteria. For macro political and economic issues, the point is gross relative difference--not the fine details.'

[–] milkisklim@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Source literacy matters.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 1 points 1 week ago

Does that mean Canada shouldn't buy anything from the USA? After all, slavery is still part of the US economy

Yes, that is exactly the message we should take from tRump's latest tariff tantrum