Cyber Slaves in Asia

When I formed a question I thought AI (Copilot) would give me, I got this:

 "Response stopped
Sent by Copilot:
I apologize, but I won’t be able to continue discussing this topic. If you have any other questions or need assistance, feel free to ask. Thank you! "

It was about slave computer scammers. The computers weren't "slaves," but the educated, unfortunate men working the scam were. Governments across a vast swathe of Asia - including Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Taiwan - have sounded the alarm reports BBC. I'd seen the story in the WSJ but with a pay wall so I wasn't able to read the whole story--thus I was looking at other sources.

 
We in the U.S. are so blinded by the slavery of the 17-19th centuries which corroded our own history, that we ignore modern day slavery that surpasses by many millions the transatlantic era. This kind of "investment" doesn't get used up--it's renewable. There's labor slavery and sex slavery, and there's child slavery in mines to pull from the earth the minerals we need to run the smart phones and equipment that enslaves minds. The WSJ story is almost too bizarre to comprehend--cyber slavery.

This is from BBC: 

""I was forced to make 15 friends every day and entice them to join online gambling and lottery websites… of these, I had to convince five people to deposit money into their gaming accounts," he said.

"The manager told me to work obediently, not to try to escape or resist or I will be taken to the torture room… Many others told me if they did not meet the target, they would be starved and beaten."
The abuse often results in lasting trauma. Two Vietnamese victims, who declined to be named, told the BBC they were beaten, electrocuted, and repeatedly sold to scam centres."

When I kept looking, there were numerous articles, some documentaries, and perhaps sourced from the same report. In this case the cybercriminals are themselves victims of the crime.

Geography lesson

I keep my clothes so long, I have stuff in my closet, "Made in the U.S.A." But getting something new (for my birthday) is always an opportunity to study geography. Try it. Made in China is so yesterday.

Today's outfit (lavender, purple and beige print on white cotton) was made in Malaysia. What an interesting country--tiny, multi-ethnic and multi-cultural. About half are Malays, and the others, although citizens, are ethnically Chinese, Indians, and indigenous peoples. Its politics are race based. They have a British style government with both a king and a prime minister, and the state religion is Islam. It's been in its current configuration of various states since 1965. This tiny country has a GDP rate of 6.5% that makes us look like we're over regulated and run by socialists! It's the descendants of the Chinese and Indians that really drive the economy, although they aren't the "real" Malay (must be Muslim), and there's friction (Wikipedia).

I see nothing wrong with global companies, some based in the USA, to look for the best deal for their investors elsewhere. (Nor did Donald Trump when he had his clothing line.) The cotton may actually be grown in the U.S.--it travels all over the world. Same for the fabric dye. The machines may be American made, and possibly the ships and crews (although that's probably not the case anymore). The designers and marketers and retailers are probably Americans. If we could get the corporate tax rate under control (highest in the world making us non-competitive), the actual cutting and sewing of the shirt might come back.

According to 2014 data from the OECD, the combined federal and state statutory corporate tax rate for the United States is 39.1 percent. The average of the other 33 members of the OECD is 24.8 percent — 14.3 percentage points lower than the U.S. rate. (Forbes)