Kevin Bales (Disposable People) is a slavery abolitionist and the author of Blood and Earth, which exposes the simple link between modern slavery and the destruction of natural resources worldwide: both are perpetrated by criminals seeking quick profits. Bales writes with passion and clarity, combining gorgeous travel writing and painful descriptions of violence, interviews and facts from his seven years of research and travel. He tells of slave labor camps in India, Bangladesh, Ghana, the Congo and Brazil that produce rare minerals, cheap seafood and fine lumber from national parks and "protected" forests, using the most destructive, poisonous and bloody methods possible.
Slaves are not hard to find among impoverished people, especially in areas where war, corruption and poverty have weakened the rule of law. "The environmental destruction, death, and slavery feed into each other in cycles that... stop only when they hit the limit of annihilation."
Cheap consumer products may have cost human lives, but that connection is rarely visible in the store. Bales details what it would take to end slavery, how societies can rebuild and balance industry with nature so that local communities benefit, and how important it is for First World consumers to find and demand products made by workers who are paid fairly. "Yes, each choice is small, like a tiny drop of water. But the act of choosing is repeated every day of our lives.... These millions of little choices turn into a great river of economic pressure, a powerful river that can either erode or sustain people's lives and the natural world." --Sara Catterall