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Slavery has many forms, and Babylon is specialized
in each and every one of them. From the subtle
forms of mental slavery of the sheeple to
the most raw type: forced labor by
people who are held captive under the most
terrible conditions.
This documentary deals with that last form.
It's a fate that threatens the lifes of millions
of people, especially children. It's a fate that
has to do directly with an economical and
political "development" called
"globalization".
In fact, "globalization" and
"slavery" are connected like Bonnie and
Clyde. Those who have heard Reggae Music, will
know how true this is as the Movement of Rastafari
has been instrumental in pointing out to this
historical fact.
The video takes us to several parts of the
planet, and also shows us things and places that
have to do with the colonial slavery that helped
build the "New World" after Christopher
Columbus "discovered" it.
We're taken to plantations, we see the wounds
on the bodies of young men who had just recently
been set free out of slavery after working on
Cacao-plantations in Africa's Ivory Coast
sometimes for well over 5 years. We find out, that
the average price of a young boy is around 20
British pounds and we even go to the market place
and see this transaction.
There has obviously been contact with the
United Nations during the process of producing the
documentary. The UN and globalization itself
aren't identified as the culprits, but these world
organizations responsible for globalization (like
the World Bank) are being criticized for the
things they do.
An idea of the World Bank is to drop guaranteed
prices for Cacao, making sure that farmers get
less while the consumers in the west pay more. And
so, farmers are being held under an economic form
of slavery themselves, as they will not get the
money they need to pay their workers.
India is visited and we witness a raid on a
place where carpets for export are produced by
little children. Children are stolen, kidnapped,
parents don't know where they are and hope that
these raids may bring back their children to the
surface.
The video also takes us straight to the
"Free World" and
"discovers" how slavery is very
much alive today as well, even though it's often
said how slavery is abolished. People working for
the World Bank themselves turn out to have slaves
working in their homes, diplomats and members of
royal families are doing the very same thing.
As said, the documentary doesn't point out to
globalization and the United Nations as major -and
conscious- culprits of the contemporary forms of
slavery it exposes, unfortunately.
The makers have extensively interviewed a
professor from a United Nations work group on
contemporary slavery. This professor boldly states
that the UN and multinationals will "end
slavery" when the "consumers"
"demand" it.
Towards the end, there's even a visit to Brazil
where people are working under the most terrible
conditions, but (quote) "it's not
slavery"...
However, all the information necessary to
connect these dots are provided. The result is an
impressive documentary that definitely sheds light
on one of the most raw forms of slavery.
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