6 Reader Responses

1. Julia Says:
   October 27th, 2008 at 11:31 pm

   Not all of the slavery here is for sex and there have been convictions for labor slavery in the USA. Also, people can shift from being smuggled to being trafficked and back again. Some willing prostitutes get sold as punishment, some slaves are free and start recruiting others etc. There’s a special visa that allows you to stay in the USA if you were trafficked here but you have to testify against your traffickers.

   http://www.salvationarmyusa.org/usn/ww...F650A7EE85257440006BD56D?Opendocument

   http://www.sapromise.org/about.htm

2. Big Elk Says:
   October 27th, 2008 at 11:48 pm

   I’m also really interested in indentured servitude as something “willingly” entered into as a historical phenomenon. I’ve seen mentions of the master-apprentice role as being basically built on that tradition: of you owing the master you worked under a certain number of years labor

3. Big Elk Says:
   October 27th, 2008 at 11:52 pm

   What makes something a part of the “underground economy” in the first place?

4. Julia Says:
   October 28th, 2008 at 12:14 am

   What makes something a part of the “underground economy” in the first place?

   It’s a pure social construct. In Soviet Russia books, poetry and music were in the underground economy. But, not vodka. Here its untaxed vodka. In Soviet Era Poland typewriters and associated paraphrenalia were contraband. But, not unpasturized milk. Whatever is illegal/semi legal basically.

5. Big Elk Says:
   October 28th, 2008 at 12:19 am

   In Soviet Era Poland typewriters and associated paraphrenalia were contraband.

   Typewriters and printing presses, along with home photocopiers, are going to be good things to have.

6. Jonathan Says:
   October 28th, 2008 at 2:28 am

   Interesting question. I thought it was easy to define the underground economy at first but it’s trickier than it seems.

   The term “underground economy” most immediately refers to economic transactions which are untaxed and thus generally illegal. The bigger taboos, like prostitution and drugs, are major components. You then get a large gray area of tax evasion (undeclared income, unclaimed sales, etc.) which is so pervasive most people do not consider any wrong doing. The sheer magnitude of this class of activity (roughly the same as drivers who sometimes speed, jaywalkers , etc.) almost makes the qualifier “underground” meaningless.

   I would argue that arts and crafts are part of an underground economy. Any valuable creative act upon which no monetary value is readily apparent qualifies. Also, many forms of bartering , including filesharing. Perhaps this stretches the meaning of the word “economy,” but I don’t think so. In my mind the “real” economy is composed of bricks and mortar, bushels of wheat, ships loaded with cars and the communications and infrastructure to make it all happen. The underground economy is primarily concerned with leisure, relaxation, escape and enjoyment. I suspect that in terms of value, its size dwarfs the overground economy.

   I recommend going over Hakim Bey’sworks, particularly his discussions of pirates. Also, if you haven’t read Eric Fromm’s “The Sane Society” give it a shot. If you get bored, skip towards the end a bit. Hope this helps . . .