Trying to compare forced-labor and human trafficking to chattel slavery obscures and excuses the institution of slavery in the Americas.

Slavery apologists use these arguments. "Slavery is no worse than prison." "Slavery still happens, and to white people".

Their are some key differences, I'll point out three.

1. no matter how depraved and cruel the conditions of a trafficked person are, they don't expect the same fate to befall their children and grandchildren.

2. Human trafficking is illegal and rather looked-down-upon. Chattel slavery was considered normal, routine, necessary, and good throughout the society where it occurred.

3. Human trafficking victims are legally people with rights recognized by the legal system; their abusers must hide their activities and fear punishment.

"A pimp enslaves people"

I'm not so sure that is always the case. A sex worker can find someone who ensures their safety and pay them to do so. They could also help find clients for them. At no point does the definition of pimp require the person to force the sex worker to do anything.

Wait... That means drug trafficking is... gasp Those poor drugs!

It's a separate charge, with a distinct meaning, but yes it's usually used because people are afraid to call it slavery. Human trafficking also includes coyotes (people who clients hire to smuggle them across borders).

The Tates (allegedly but blatantly) trafficked people for the purpose of enslavement.

The more I think about this the more I think we need to bring back calling a slaver a slaver. Not just for the blunt acknowledgement, but also for the distinctions between someone operating an unlicensed brothel where the workers are free to leave vs one where they aren't, or between a farmer who hires undocumented labor without threatening deportation vs one who will call immigration enforcement when a laborer demands safe working conditions or leaves for a competitor, or between a coyote who leaves you once you're in and a trafficker who keeps your passport.

how is a pimp different than any other capitalist?

how come when it comes to the issue of sex everyone all of a sudden takes offense to someone taking a cut off the top?

aren't car dealers pimps? aren't they just car traffickers? isn't mcdonalds a meat trafficker?

another question: why are women so feeble that a dude can show up at their door in a fur coat and a fedora and be like 'you're gonna fuck random dudes and i'm gonna take all the money' and they're like 'ok.'

nowhere in culture do we consider this OK behavior so there's no excuse for it. when men are down and out they suck down steel reserves and live in the park like normal people.

we need to talk about this.

It is an intentional rebranding.

Why because the word slaves invokes all types of racism and therefore it can only happen to those people.. You know those people that aren’t me…

Human trafficking is the trading of slaves. It's just a subset of what goes on around slavery.

You have to remember, in the US slavery isn't really illegal, it's just illegal to do privately. The state can, and does, still sentence people to slave labor. So the reason they refer to trafficking is that it's the illegal part of the slavery.

Not really, words have meaning

human trafficking: noun

A criminal activity in which people are recruited, harboured, transported, bought, or kidnapped to serve an exploitative purpose, such as sexual slavery, forced labor, or child soldiery.

slavery: noun

1. The condition in which one person is owned as property by another and is under the owner's control, especially in involuntary servitude.
2. The practice of owning slaves.
3. A mode of production in which slaves constitute the principal work force.

The most egregious use of this is for entities people otherwise have some respect for. People bristle when I mention that California sends slaves to fight its forest fires.

Historians today have no problem recognizing slavery in historical cultures. They'll have no problem stating that ancient cultures practiced slavery as a form of punishment, where you could be sentenced to slavery for a crime. But that never transfers to the present day. People get rather offended if you say California uses slave labor. They prefer terms like involuntary or forced labor.

But make no mistake, California sends slaves to fight forest fires.