a thoughtful web.
Good ideas and conversation. No ads, no tracking.   Login or Take a Tour!
comment
theadvancedapes  ·  3733 days ago  ·  link  ·    ·  parent  ·  post: 10-20% of Mauritania's people are slaves

I just spent the past 1hr 30min pouring through this piece. Wow. This has got to be one of my favourite articles of the year. These reporters did a fantastic job. I had no idea "old school" agriculturally-based slavery still existed to this degree anywhere.

This is a perfect example of why our system is not structured properly. They are a people that have completely been forgotten. How much of America's defence budget would it take to build schools and rehabilitation centres for former slaves? Probably less than a fraction of a percent. Instead they spend their money on advanced weapons designed to wipe out entire communities of people throughout Yemen and Afghanistan. Maybe they'll send them to Mauritania next since the article noted that Al Qaeda has a presence there.

Or maybe they'll keep funding Guantanamo Bay. Fuck this system.