I read once that they used to pay the Native South Americans in coca leaves...

[LiberalLoner]

The invading Spaniards apparently would use the Native Americans to get gold and silver and whatever other plunder they desired, and would pay them only in coca leaves, which are the source of cocaine. What I read (this was a long time ago I read it so my memory is very fuzzy) is that the Native Americans would become addicted to the coca leaves, and so the invaders did not have to bother feeding or clothing or housing their workers. Just had to give them coca leaves which apparently were easy for the Spaniards to get. So the Native Americans would work themselves literally to death, dying of starvation usually.

I remembered that all these years. In my mind it was an example of pure evil in the world. It really horrified me.

Lately I have been remembering that story and thinking, that's what the GOP has planned for all of us, basically. I mean not literally giving us coca leaves instead of what we really need in order to stay alive, but basically giving us such low wages and making it so hard for us to earn enough to cover the basics of life, that we all die much earlier than we would otherwise.

I see things getting worse and worse until we are pretty much in the same boat as the poor Native Americans who died working for the worthless coca leaves.

I really wish I could be an optimist but I don't see much reason to be optimistic anymore.

[RandomThoughts]

1. The hard part is not being optimistic or pesimistic.

But making sure you don't shift your goals and change what is acceptable or not acceptable.

From moment to moment, if you find yourself in pessimism and let that shift your goals, then eventually by making you pessimistic, they get you to accept what they want you to accept.

That's how I think on it.

Hope/despair cycles are used to try and break people often. If you can sway with the tougher times, and use the momentum of the rebound when you find the optimism, it seems to work better. Although I still don't have beer.


Or as posted long ago, "ride the wave and weather the storm", and that is timing so you can have the wave energy behind you. If you are always pushing when in trough or best peak, you use lots of your own energy for less effect.

So if it gets frustrated, take a rest, and time your efforts, or that is what I try to do.

Or have a beer :)

[LiberalLoner]

3. LOL, thanks. A coworker of mine said that the problem with me, is that

I just didn't stay drunk all the time. He said I was very relaxed and cool when I had a few but otherwise, way too uptight and tightly wound. Maybe he was right.

I'm just in despair over the crumbling economy and SS maybe under attack and pensions under attack and it just seems like we are in this huge stampede to match the living standards of the worst slums of the world.

[RandomThoughts]

8. Find somewhere you can make a difference.

And put your effort there when it is most effective.

And drunk is not the best thing in my view, but been there myself :) , but in moderation a beer can be relaxing for some, mostly its about being out around people not the beer.

[laureloak]

2. Tea made with coca leaves is still being used to prevent

altitude sickness at Machu Picchu. All the gold in the world doesn't matter if you can't absorb enough oxygen.

[LiberalLoner]

5. Oh, I didn't know that! Very interesting, thanks! I got altitude sickness once

when I visited Los Alamos. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with me until it dawned on me I was at 10,000 feet or something like that.

[blm]

4. Peach growers in the south would pay workers and make sure crack dealers were nearby

as most of society looked the other way in the 80s and 90s.

[LiberalLoner]

6. Oh, how awful. Pure evil. :( n/t

[Rebubula]

9. Citation, please

Not that I do not believe you....well...no, I do not believe you.

[blm]

11. May I ask how old you are? Ed Bradley did a report on this years ago, and court cases have already

gone thru system. Though I'm not surprised you aren't aware of these matters given the state of our corporate media machine, especially the last 20 years. That's why I ask your age.

Here's a few cases:


Slavery in the Fields and the Food We Eat

In 21st century America, slavery remains woven into the fabric of our daily lives. On any given day, the tomatoes in the sandwiches we eat or the oranges in the juice we drink may have been picked by workers in involuntary servitude. Captive workers are held against their will by their employers through threats, and all too often the actual use of, violence.
The CIW helps fight this crime by uncovering, investigating, and assisting in the federal prosecution of slavery rings preying on hundreds of farmworkers. Through this work, the CIW has brought the abysmal state of human rights in US agriculture today to public light.
The following is a list of known Florida farm labor slavery cases, 1997-2008:

U.S. vs. Flores -- In 1997, Miguel Flores and Sebastian Gomez were sentenced to 15 years each in federal prison on slavery, extortion, and firearms charges, amongst others. Flores and Gomez had a workforce of over 400 men and women in Florida and South Carolina, harvesting vegetables and citrus. The workers, mostly indigenous Mexicans and Guatemalans, were forced to work 10-12 hour days, 6 days per week, for as little as $20 per week, under the constant watch of armed guards. Those who attempted escape were assaulted, pistol-whipped, and even shot. The case was brought to federal authorities after five years of investigation by escaped workers and CIW members.

U.S. vs. Cuello -- In 1999, Abel Cuello was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison on slavery charges. He had held more than 30 tomato pickers in two trailers in the isolated swampland west of Immokalee, keeping them under constant watch. Three workers escaped the camp, only to have their boss track them down a few weeks later. The employer ran one of them down with his car, stating that he owned them. The workers sought help from the CIW and the police, and the CIW worked with the DOJ on the ensuing investigation. Cuello worked for Manley Farms North Inc., a major Bonita Springs tomato supplier. Once out of prison, Cuello supplied labor to Ag-Mart Farms, a tomato company operating in Florida and North Carolina.

U.S. vs. Tecum - In 2001, Jose Tecum was sentenced to 9 years in federal prison on slavery and kidnapping charges. He forced a young woman to work against her will both in the tomato fields around Immokalee, and in his home. The CIW assisted the DOJ with the prosecution, including victim and witness assistance.

U.S. vs. Lee - In 2001, Michael Lee was sentenced to 4 years in federal prison and 3 years supervised release on a slavery conspiracy charge. He pled guilty to using crack cocaine, threats, and violence to enslave his workers. Lee held his workers in forced labor, recruiting homeless U.S. citizens for his operation, creating a “company store” debt through loans for rent, food, cigarettes, and cocaine. He abducted and beat one of his workers to prevent him from leaving his employ. Lee harvested for orange growers in the Fort Pierce, FL area.

U.S. vs. Ramos - In 2004, Ramiro and Juan Ramos were sentenced to 15 years each in federal prison on slavery and firearms charges, and the forfeiture of over $3 million in assets. The men, who had a workforce of over 700 farmworkers in the citrus groves of Florida, as well as the fields of North Carolina, threatened workers with death if they were to try to leave, and pistol-whipped and assaulted -- at gunpoint -- passenger van service drivers who gave rides to farmworkers leaving the area. The case was brought to trial by the DOJ after two years of investigation by the CIW. The Ramoses harvested for Consolidated Citrus and Lykes Brothers, among others.

U.S. vs. Ronald Evans -- In 2007, Florida employer Ron Evans was sentenced to 30 years in federal prison on drug conspiracy, financial re-structuring, and witness tampering charges, among others. Jequita Evans was also sentenced to 20 years, and Ron Evans Jr. to 10 years. Operating in Florida and North Carolina, Ron Evans recruited homeless U.S. citizens from shelters across the Southeast, including New Orleans, Tampa, and Miami, with promises of good jobs and housing. At Palatka, FL and Newton Grove, NC area labor camps, the Evans' deducted rent, food, crack cocaine and alcohol from workers' pay, holding them “perpetually indebted” in what the DOJ called “a form of servitude morally and legally reprehensible.” The Palatka labor camp was surrounded by a chain link fence topped with barbed wire, with a No Trespassing sign. The CIW and a Miami-based homeless outreach organization began the investigation and reported the case to federal authorities in 2003. In Florida, Ron Evans worked for grower Frank Johns. Johns was 2004 Chairman of the Florida Fruit and Vegetable Association, the powerful lobbying arm of the Florida agricultural industry. As of 2007, he remained the Chairman of the FFVA's Budget and Finance Committee.

U.S. vs. Navarrete -- In December 2008, employers Cesar and Geovanni Navarrete were sentenced to 12 years each in federal prison on charges of conspiracy, holding workers in involuntary servitude, and peonage. They had employed dozens of tomato pickers in Florida and South Carolina. As stated in the DOJ press release on the farm bosses' conviction,
“pled guilty to beating, threatening, restraining, and locking workers in trucks to force them to work as agricultural laborers. They were accused of paying the workers minimal wages and driving the workers into debt, while simultaneously threatening physical harm if the workers left their employment before their debts had been repaid to the Navarretes."

A 12/19/07 article in The Independent newspaper (UK) describes the conditions faced by the workers in more detail:
"Three Florida fruit-pickers, held captive and brutalised by their employer for more than a year, finally broke free of their bonds by punching their way through the ventilator hatch of the van in which they were imprisoned. Once outside, they dashed for freedom. When they found sanctuary one recent Sunday morning, all bore the marks of heavy beatings to the head and body. One of the pickers had a nasty, untreated knife wound on his arm. Police would learn later that another man had his hands chained behind his back every night to prevent him escaping, leaving his wrists swollen. The migrants were not only forced to work in sub-human conditions but mistreated and forced into debt. They were locked up at night and had to pay for sub-standard food. If they took a shower with a garden hose or bucket, it cost them $5."
Workers first reported the abuse to Collier County police, and additional workers sought help from the CIW. The CIW collaborated with the Department of Justice and the police on the year-long investigation and prosecution.

It must be stated that these situations are not the norm in agriculture today. Rather, modern-day slavery occurs along a continuum of systemic abuse that can best be described as “sweatshop” conditions, including sub-poverty wages, no right to overtime pay, and no right to organize. The CIW believes that the ultimate solution to modern-day slavery in agribusiness lies on the “demand side” of the US produce market -- the major food-buying corporations that profit from the artificially-low cost of US produce picked by workers in sweatshop conditions which, in the worst cases, tip over into slavery. Ultimately, these corporations must leverage their vast resources and market influence as major produce buyers to clean up slavery and other labor abuses in their supply chains once and for all.

The CIW is a founding member of the national Freedom Network USA to Empower Victims of Slavery and Trafficking. As a regional coordinator for the Freedom Network Training Institute on Human Trafficking, we train state and federal law enforcement and social services personnel throughout the Southeastern US on how to recognize and assist enslaved people. The CIW's anti-slavery efforts have gained national and international recognition, including the 2003 Robert F. Kennedy Human Rights Award, a 2005 letter of commendation from FBI Director Robert Mueller, and the 2007 Anti-Slavery Award by Anti-Slavery International of London.

PO Box 603 . Immokalee . FL . 34143 239.657.8311 [e-mail]


Sorry this is news to you.

[Rebubula]

12. Most Likely...

...older than you. But I will let that pass.

However, you are correct and I back down humbly from my assertion that you were incorrect or exaggerating.

I knew that the state of manual labor in this country (and most others - it is not like any country is a worker's paradise - add that MANY other countries are worse with the hired help, just travel to the Middle East to see the subjugation of immigrant workers) is horrendous but was unaware that people were using drugs such as crack to keep the workers in line. However, considering the amazing human ability to be cruel to others - I should not be surprised.

Either way, I apologize for being so snarky in my request for citation.

[blm]

13. I truly didn't ask your age to be dismissive, just so I would know if poor newsmedia coverage was

the culprit here for those of us who are older, or, if you were younger that you never heard of it all because, really, since 2000 there have been so many serious issues we've had as a country that these matters just didn't get discussed, at all.

[aquart]

7. That's an interesting story.

Leaves a few things out.

Chapter 34. Coca leaves

When the Spanish conquistadores, early in the sixteenth century, first encountered the empire of the Incas, * they found that the Emperor himself –– the Inca-controlled the use of a remarkable drug contained in the leaves of a mountain shrub now known as Erythroxylon coca. When these leaves were chewed, euphoria and other desirable effects soon followed. "Among the highest rewards the Inca could give," Dr. Hector P. Blejer explained in the Canadian Medical Association Journal for September 25, 1965, "was the right to chew the coca leaf, which was prized far above the richest presents of silver or gold." 1 Priests and supplicants were allowed to approach the Altar of the Inca only if they had coca leaf in their mouths. "Even at the moment of death it was, and still is, believed by the natives that, if the moribund person was able to perceive the taste of the coca leaves pressed against his mouth, his soul would go to paradise." 2 A plentiful supply of the divine drug was buried with each Inca nobleman.

-snip-

Meanwhile, high in the Andes Mountains, where the coca shrub has been cultivated since time immemorial, natives beyond the reach of the Spanish occupation continued to chew coca leaves, as no doubt they had chewed them before the days of the Incas, and as they continue to chew them today. Far from suffering disaster, they have managed through the centuries to survive the rigors of an incredibly harsh mountain environment, to the continuing amazement of European visitors. Nor do the Andean leaf-chewers appear to become addicted; on moving down to ordinary altitudes, many of them give up their coca without apparent hardship. *



* Dr. Jerome H. Jaffe wrote ( 1965): "it is reported that two million Peruvians who live in the Andean highlands, or 90 percent of the adult male population, consume ... cocaine . . . in the form of coca leaves. In view of the fact that many of these highlanders, who have chewed coca leaves for years, abandon the practice when transferred to a lower altitude, it does not seem appropriate to call this use of cocaine an addiction ." 5

http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/library/studies/cu/cu34.html

[blm]

14. hadn't heard that...interesting

.

[Cleita]

10. Coca is used by the Andean indians to stave off hunger

and acquire the energy to be able to work hard in the high altitudes. Our housekeepers used it when I lived in Chile. We lived at 11,000 feet altitude. When I visited during my summer break from school in the States, they gave me coca tea to relieve my altitude sickness until my body adjusted to the altitude. The Spaniards treated the natives terribly and I believe that they probably used the plant to exploit them as much as they could.

Our coca seems to be cheap stuff at Wal-Mart. It makes me sick every time I see one of their commercials about the great bargains they have with the phrase, "live better with Wal-Mart" or something to that effect.

[blm]

15. the street urchins in South America sniff anything they can to kill the hunger pains...

today's newsmedia is uninterested in following that tragic reality....compassion is SO 1990s to them.