Record U.S. exports confirmed last 3 months all-time highs exceeding $300B monthly.

[chr0naut]

Quote: "US anti-slavery laws are not absolute like in other countries, either. They have an exception built-in which means that he USA has never actually abolished slavery.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
- 13th amendment to the US Constitution."

What about Neanderthal Cro Magnon Slave races?

Did Neanderthals keep Cro-Magnons as sex-slaves?

 Was That the dawn of Slavery??

That is probably an interesting idea but is perhaps better suited to posting as a new topic, perhaps in "The Grey Area" or Science and Education" forum, as DI doesn't have a specific anthropology or ethics forum.

A further extension of the idea would be to question the ethicality of utilizing animals in cruel ways for our own amusement, or as forced labour. An example of such might be whipping teamed beasts of burden to get them to work, or to get a horse to race.

[BeyondKnowledge]

Any country that knowingly trades with slavers, is complicit in their guilt and is supportive of that slavery.

The USA cannot claim to be ignorant of the fact that some goods are the product of forced slave labour and despite reductions in import volumes due to economic shifts, the USA is still importing slave produced goods (higher tariffs just mean that the US government is collecting more taxes on the trade).

But it gets worse:

Global Slavery Index / Country Study - United States of America. Please note the number of modern slaves in the USA! With the 13th Amendment, how does this happen?

The USA has State-imposed (non voluntary) forced labour for the incarcerated.

The USA also has the 5th highest incarceration rate in the world and the highest number of incarcerated prisoners in the world.

Since the crime rate for the USA is roughly median in the world (58th out of 150 countries), the justification for the near maximum levels of incarceration is non-existent.

List of countries by incarceration rate - Wikipedia

Crime Index by Country 2026

US anti-slavery laws are not absolute like in other countries, either. They have an exception built-in which means that he USA has never actually abolished slavery.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
- 13th amendment to the US Constitution.

The USA is not a nation of freedom and liberty - it is at the opposite end of the scale.

You present links to both illeagle slaves held by individuals and prison inmates counted together.

While the prisoners may or may not be considered slaves by some, the individuals holding slaves have nothing to do with the US government officially. How can they be counted together?

The prisoners may be working for snacks, time served consideration at parole, or just out of something to do because of the bordum. How are you calling them slaves?

[chr0naut]

You present links to both illeagle slaves held by individuals and prison inmates counted together.

While the prisoners may or may not be considered slaves by some, the individuals holding slaves have nothing to do with the US government officially. How can they be counted together?

The prisoners may be working for snacks, time served consideration at parole, or just out of something to do because of the bordum. How are you calling them slaves?

Trying to redefine clear and simple ethical concepts into all sorts of pointless sub-classifications is a way of avoidance of bigger encompassing issues.

Take for instance, the way the gun lobby tries to infer that suicide by firearm shouldn't be part of the 'gun deaths' figures they present.

Suicide by firearm is as much a subset of 'gun deaths' as murder by firearm, and the mitigations to firearm crime also work to mitigate suicide by firearm. But the justifications for public firearm proliferations don't fit with the massive suicide data.

So, what if illegal slavery is different from slavery due to an 'intentional loophole', written right into the law. They are still both slavery.

And if, at the end of their sentence, ex-inmates could take the money they earned during their incarceration and, say, buy a house, settle down, and 'not crime', then you couldn't accuse the state of being slavers, but no-one can say that.

The trinket-like 'rewards' that they earn while incarcerated have no value outside, and are dispensed at no real net cost to the jailers.

The threat of extended sentences and restriction of 'comforts' (or necessities), is not the incarcerated working because they want to 'get ahead in life', it is instead how labour is forced upon them, and that they cannot reasonably avoid.

And during the last few decades the numbers of wage-slaves, those citizens living on the breadline of subsistence, has markedly increased.

Once upon a time, wives stayed home while the husband went out to work; and there was enough to pay for the car, the mortgage, the TV and groceries. That has been increasingly a fantasy, for the majority of citizens, for decades.

The reality is that everyone in the household must to work, but still they are living pay-check to pay-check, week to week, and constant debt is the rule, not the exception. That is wage-slavery.

So, you see, there is stuff for everyone to do before the US becomes that utopia of freedom and prosperity - ignoring the issues won't get it sorted.

[ReturnofBroccoli]

Of course, they want to milk their cash cow. I'm sure George Washington treated his 100+ slaves very well. But they were still slaves, in a society that, on average, didn't treat slaves well.

As near as I can tell, last year the total U.S. government expenses on public prisons and jails amounted to $417.1 billion.

Economics of incarceration - Prison Policy Initiative

Figure it out... the numbers are over-the-top suspicious. The law has loopholes. and people are making lots of money to not rock the boat.

Meanwhile the citizens are waving flags and chanting pithy slogans about how 'comfy' their prison nation is as they, the un-privileged ones, struggle to make ends meet (occasionally slipping into crime, and oops!).

Again man, its not slavery, they are mandated to work not physically forced, either you don't understand the difference or you don't care. On top of that, the ones who do crafts usually sell their products to the officers in exchange for money in commissary which is then used to buy goods that are used in making deals and trafficking on the inside. The labor that is sold isn't quality labor and is used inside the prison systems for example

barbers *a skill they can use outside* used to cut inmate hair and officers
field force - used to grow fruits and vegetables which are used, again, in the prison
janitorial- self explanatory- in the prison
Cook - in the prison
sewer cleaner - in the prison
tailor - makes uniforms for officers and inmates - in the prison
Leather And metal workers - sells their goods for comissary - in the prison

Most of these are done to cut cost to TAXPAYERS because prisons are expensive
Inmates pay $100 for dental, complete dental, better dental then you even get as a civilian.
Have you ever paid $100 for complete mouth extraction and dentures?
we pay for that
Free medical
free psych
free education
free meals
Free necessities *razors toothbrush toothpaste combs toilet paper towels clothing shoes and boots*
Haircuts
showers
A.C.
ANDROID FUCKING TABLETS
FREE WIFI
Satellite TV everywhere
All of which is given to to inmates who the majority are in there for murder and extreme gang violence. They could gut you from ear to ear with the vacant expression of a black hole in front of your family and walk away.
Maybe your family first while ya watch. I hope that never happens to you but guess what it is happening and this is where they go. There was a teenage couple, pregnant, they shot the girl, baby died, tortured the male. That duo just got booked the other day along with 100 others and this is every day in a single region out of 6 in a single state. There is an army of these guys being processed everyday

These walls and those officers are the only thing standing between them and the 300 million other people in America and those officers die every - single - day. They are outnumbered 50-1 sometimes twice that

You are getting your information from biased sources that spin the truth to make you feel the way you feel and profit off of it. It is not the prison profitting in the way you are thinking

Most of them can barely afford to stay open or even pay their officers

[EXETER]

Wasnt sure where to put the trade news anymore...

Record US exports for the last 3 months.

Those are the highest figures in 250 years of American history. This doesn’t happen organically. This comes from all the deals @POTUS has been striking.

Of course those are the highest figures in 250 years of American history.  So what?  All that means is that the economy of the world and of the US are also the largest they've ever been in history.  The stock market is also always breaking records.  This is all because the world GDP has been growing exponentially for at least 250 years.  Under exponential growth the present indicators are  always going to be higher than the previous indicators, on the average. All of those economic indicators also set records under Biden, under the first Trump administration, under Obama, under G.W. Bush, under Clinton, etc.  It has nothing to do with whoever happens to occupy the White House at any given time.

[andy06shake]

Prices are higher because of inflation, so totals look huge.

But your imports also stayed very high, so the trade gap didn't disappear.

Nothing more really that a flashy headline.

Hardly any sort of proof that your economy or manufacturing suddenly transformed.

How are those unemployment numbers looking?

Then let's also consider the cost of rent/mortgages PCM.

And food is still expensive...

Seems to me it hardly a bed or roses or land of milk and honey scenario.

At least for the common everyday Joe.

[Waterglass]

Some of the reasons things cost more is also due to the United Sates getting off slave labor goods. We should have never gone that direction in the 90's and now we have to pay the piper if we want to bring back higher paying jobs. this means things are going to cost more a lot more and it's actually a good thing. It's time to get back into the mind set that you only buy things that you need more than just wasting your money instant gratification. Live lean, and take nothing for granted. Three generations of spoiled brats, well play time is over, suck it up, you'll live.

Your Avitar, what a great move for constipation.

[SomeStupidName]

Any country that knowingly trades with slavers, is complicit in their guilt and is supportive of that slavery.

The USA cannot claim to be ignorant of the fact that some goods are the product of forced slave labour and despite reductions in import volumes due to economic shifts, the USA is still importing slave produced goods (higher tariffs just mean that the US government is collecting more taxes on the trade).

But it gets worse:

Global Slavery Index / Country Study - United States of America. Please note the number of modern slaves in the USA! With the 13th Amendment, how does this happen?

The USA has State-imposed (non voluntary) forced labour for the incarcerated.

The USA also has the 5th highest incarceration rate in the world and the highest number of incarcerated prisoners in the world.

Since the crime rate for the USA is roughly median in the world (58th out of 150 countries), the justification for the near maximum levels of incarceration is non-existent.

List of countries by incarceration rate - Wikipedia

Crime Index by Country 2026

US anti-slavery laws are not absolute like in other countries, either. They have an exception built-in which means that he USA has never actually abolished slavery.

Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
- 13th amendment to the US Constitution.

The USA is not a nation of freedom and liberty - it is at the opposite end of the scale.

Yep, so complicit they are marching in the streets to keep their slave labor workforce. Some of them even commit criminal acts in the process and thanks to our wonderful incarceration system we have places we can send these idiots, that is if they don't get themselves shot graveyard dead first.

[Hypntick]

Is this thread about US exports or about perceived slavery via prison populations?

[BeyondKnowledge]

Is this thread about US exports or about perceived slavery via prison populations?

Ask chr0naut. They think the two are related somehow.