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Illegally, IOW, without the complicity of the authorities.  Not 
comparable, IMO.

This thread isn't necessarily "dead".  I've had trouble coming up with 
a reasonable comeback to what Marianne said.  Because we personally 
didn't know about the slave trade, that means because we've supported 
the US gov't, from what she's said, it sounds like I'm complicit.  And 
that because we don't understand the desperate situations in much of 
the world, we should support slavery as a reasonable alternative to 
overpopulation, world hunger--or that it is acceptable in certain 
cultures.  No.  Sorry.  This is directly connected to the sport I love, 
because the people who allegedly are responsible for this slavery are 
hosting our world championships and sponsoring events here.  And the 
reason it's reached the radar now perhaps is because it's all in the 
name of SPORT.  Not wartime atrocities.  Peacetime atrocities.  Now 
that I know, I can't keep silent--at the same time, now that my fellow 
sportmen know where I stand, I'll shut up here.

Consider indentured servitude--and how it's different from slavery.  
Someone agreed, somewhere to a term of service in exchange for 
something.  And the service includes a reasonable standard of living.  
Millions of us have done that by serving in the US forces, for 
instance.  You aren't "chattel".

I'm donating some prizes to the raffle for our local US team member's 
fund raiser tomorrow night, and am deciding whether to attend.  I've 
supported her efforts thus far, contributing saddle fitting, etc., but 
boy, I wish we had the huevos to investigate these allegations and make 
the right moral choice as a National Team.  We've done it before, at 
the Olympic level.  Why is this any different?

Lynne



On Oct 22, 2004, at 12:38 PM, Melissa Alexander wrote:

> I know this thread has died, but there was just a story on our news in
> Seattle about a human trafficking in the US. (This was motivated by a
> conference/seminar on the subject given here recently, not by the TV 
> show
> we've been discussing.)
>
> They said in this story that they estimate between 14,000 and 17,000 
> people
> are brought illegally into the US each year as sex slaves.
>
> We don't need to look far for human atrocities.
>
> Melissa


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