Co-Op Villages Book

I try to keep on top of social issues and human injustices - but I have to confess my naivete about the prevalent worldwide existence of slavery, even in our own country. Kevin Bales, president of Free the Slaves, gives detailed accounts of slavery and traces the cycle of loss of human dignity that follows it. He asserts throughout the book that slavery has existed for over five thousand years, but for many reasons there has never been a better opportunity than now to completely eradicate it. A large part of the problem is that slavery is invisible to many people, myself included. Law enforcement officers, medical workers, restaurant inspectors and others can easily walk into slavery situations, oblivious to signs of slavery. Bales makes concrete suggestions for all readers to help eradicate slavery, from lawmakers and business owners to common citizens.
It's interesting to me that Bales does not condone outright boycotts of slave-made products like chocolate or rugs; rather, he encourages consumer education to put pressure on buyers and legislators while spreading the world to help anti-slavery workers gain the resource and internal support they need to free slaves.
Bales is keenly aware that just "freeing the slaves" does not complete the job. Obviously, people locked in dark, unsanitary rooms and subjected to violence and abuse are going to require rehabilitation on many levels. Anti-slavery groups are working to train medical, psychological, and other professionals in post-slavery specialties (which are all but non-existent). Additionally, the groups he mentions focus on preventing re-enslavement - namely, reducing the life-threatening poverty which often leads to slavery in the first place.
A lot of reference is made to our own country's end of legal slavery - a feat many thought would never be possible. It gives me hope that with enough people playing in the right roles, worldwide slavery can also become a thing of the past.
Slavery and poverty are tightly linked. There are many interventions being done to help reduce poverty, but ending slavery as a means to ending poverty is a relatively new phenomenon. Linking the two will create greater benefit than fighting either battle separately: In a recent series of in-depth multi-national statistical trials, "It is the amount of slavery that best explains differences in human development between countries. Other factors also play a role, but in predicting human development the amount of slavery was more important than the level of democracy, national debt, civil conflict, or corruption... obviously, slavery ruins the lives of slaves, but this research indicates that slavery is a major cause of depressed economies, low literacy levels, and shorter lifespans for all citizens in poor countries."
I'd recommend this book to anyone who has an interest in justice who would like to learn more about human injustices and educate themselves to do their part to right them.