"Cost of slaves falls to historic low"

[Viva_La_Revolution]

(CNN) -- If you have $90 then you could own your slave.

Depending on the kind of person you are that sentence could be at once shocking, saddening or darkly comical. However you might feel though, it’s the plain truth, says Kevin Bales.

The modern-day slavery expert explained to CNN that the current $90 rate for a human slave is actually at an historic low. Two hundred years ago, a slave cost about $40,000 in today’s money. The reason for this price slide: a massive boom in the world’s population, especially in developing countries, has increased the supply of “slaveable” people.

http://thecnnfreedomproject.blogs.cnn.com/2011/03/07/cost-of-slaves-falls-to-historic-low/

[readmoreoften]

1. Yeah, it's not due to the "increased supply of slaveable people"

It's due to the increased power of weaponry and the new global capacity of imperialism to enslave people. This Malthusian propaganda is silly. An increase in population itself simply means nothing. It also doesn't explain why there is more slavery in former 3rd world nations without getting into racist arguments about poor people "breeding." (Malthus didn't like poor people, either, and wanted to blame them for their situation.) The reality is: people have more children in the developing world because (a) a portion of their kids are going to die, (b) they need someone to help them when they age. Most of these areas are poor in the first place because their resources have been stolen by imperialists who put paramilitary thugs in charge of the people's resources (diamonds, tin, coffee, etc.)

Talk about blaming the victim.

[Exultant Democracy]

3. great post.

[Duende azul]

4. I wish I could rec your post!

[Jack Rabbit]

2. The cost of labor is going down everywhere

I'm sure the Koch Bros are behind this.