That's gotta be the funniest sentence that I've ever heard relayed in the news.

God damn.

This mf could start his own little economy with that many people. What's he worried about inflation for?

Alright well, I've done a lot of volunteer work for vulnerable communities, and I'm personally in favor of something like reparations since I know that slavery and genocide have generational impacts, but I also don't control the government or what we get to vote on.

So why would I ever feel like I shouldn't be able to condemn Qatar for modern-day slavery?

Because "the West", which is a collection of countries that have historically been at odds with each other until the last 40-50 years, hasn't come together as one group to say that it's sorry? That's ridiculous.

Oh for pete's sake.

I'm always quick to point out the role that western colonization has played upon many countries and its after effects. But if you think that it's the sole cause of the world's problems, or even of the problems in the countries that it has directly touched, then you need to read more history, western or otherwise.

More importantly, if you think that having a troubled history precludes everyone that currently lives in any of those countries from having a voice in the global community, as if it's some sort of deranged penance, then you're being ridiculous.

Like I said, we can denounce bad things while also admitting that our forebears did some fucked up stuff.

So because they hoped to make more money for their families back home (which is why most of them are there), they should be allowed to be detained against their will, be unfairly compensated for work, and be subjected to dangerous/deadly working conditions? Oh yeah, that's cool dude.

And for the record, I've been to Qatar and have talked to some of these workers. They make up the vast majority of the population there.

I can tell you that none of them liked the fact that their employers were allowed to confiscate their visas and hold them, or bar them from trying to find employment with someone else.

I was there when that earthquake hit Nepal a number of years ago, and I ended up loaning out my phone so some of the Nepali workers could check on their families. One of them told me that was the first time he'd heard their voices in years.

Does that sound like living/working conditions that we should be supporting?

You know that you can simultaneously try to address historical inequality/grievances in your own country while also protesting the atrocious things that other countries are currently doing, right?

Those things aren't mutually exclusive.

So, to make up for the transgressions of our ancestors (as a collective), current generations should continue to endorse slave labor and human rights violations?