-Narrative of the life of Fredrick Douglas and Incidents in the life of a slave Girl, both talk about slavery in their own manner. Even though Jacobs and Douglas had been physically and mentally abused severely Harriet Jacobs went through a different kind of trauma that is incomparable. Jacobs being a woman had to suffer physical abuse, her innocence being taken away from her soon enough she realized the harsh realities of the world at a very tender age. Douglas stood up to his master for freedom whereas Jacobs had to live inside a dark small hole for several years just to survive. Imagining her surviving conditions; not enough room to turn over, no light or even fresh air makes me wonder how motherhood can be so strengthening as the only reason that kept her in the hiding for so many years was the laugh of her child. I think Jacobs suffered more than Douglas in every possible way and was affected by the effects of it all her life.
– Despite being well hidden slavery still exists in this modern era of time, it is necessary to be acknowledged so that it can be put to an end. Human Trafficking is one of the major forms of slavery, not only women are being target for it as it does not only include sexual trafficking but also forced labor and many people are still being affected by it. It never occurred to me how our day-to-day life choices are making us a victim of trafficking, being bribed with money forced to accept job offers. Debt is a new form of slavery; many people are put in situations where they are burdened under it and spend their entire lives trying to pay it off yet often fail to do so a great example of this could be student loans. Child slavery is yet a big issue, presently more than quarter of the slaves from the world population are children. Poorer and overly populated countries have the most child labors as families do not have enough mean to earn, another reason is the money saving idea people hire children and pay them less than an adult worker would take for the same amount of work.
I am curious about the idea that debt is a form of slavery. Given that most people take on debt knowingly and willingly, how does one make the argument that it is a form of slavery? Is it that people take on debt without fully understanding the terms of the loan or that lenders are able to take advantage of people’s desperation and lend money with unfair interest rates and terms for repayment? What do you think?