• by Sophie Kleber , February 11, 2010

Modern slavery? yes. It exists, in the real sense: People that are forced to work without pay, are threatened and beaten, and can not walk away. Today, 27 million people are enslaved. it is an economical measure. Only Island and Greenland have no slaves at all.

How did this happen? 1. Population explosion 2. Extreme poverty and vulnerability 3. Corruption, especially police corruption

How do you get slaves? You ask people in need: "Want a job?" And once they are on the truck, the hammer comes down. The price of human labor collapsed as the world population rises. Disposable people.

What does it cost to get people out of slavery? You do not buy them out. Liberation is a process, it costs from $150 in India for a family to $30.000 in the US for one person. The total cost at $400 per slave? $10.8 billion. The same amount America spends on chips and pretzels.

If we cannot use our intellectual power to eliminate slavery in the world, we need to ask ourselves one question: Are we truly free?