Blackbirding by Ryan Butta

* "Australia has long reassured itself that, despite genocidal treatment of First Nations peoples, at least it has no heinous past of slavery, unlike Britain and the US. Ryan Butta shatters this historical self-deception. The term “blackbirding” (its etymology in the African and West Indies slave trades) involved the coercion and kidnapping of up to 62,000 Pacific Islander people, many children, to labour mostly on Australian sugar cane plantations between 1860 and 1906."

"Long portrayed as somehow “other” than slavery, Butta uses forensic archival work and compelling prose to disturbingly illustrate why this was Australia’s slave trade – and how a colonial who’s-who profited handsomely from it. – Paul Daley " >>
theguardian.com/books/ng-inter…

* Book :"As Australia becomes more willing to confront the violence and trauma of its colonial past, one chapter has remained largely hidden: the Australian slave trade known as blackbirding." >>
simonandschuster.com.au/books/…
#slavery #history #EngineeredForgetting #OceanicPeoples #blackbirding #Australia #sugar #plantations #books #EuropeanColonisation #violence

Vulnerable workers bearing the cost of providing Australia with cheap food

"Across Australia's fruit and vegetable industry, Fair Work Ombudsman investigations have repeatedly uncovered widespread non-compliance...: systemic worker exploitation, forced labour, debt bondage and, in some cases, human trafficking and servitude."

"In Coffs Harbour, 61 per cent of growers and labour hire companies inspected were found to be breaching workplace laws, including underpaying workers. The figure rose to 72 per cent in the Riverina and 83 per cent in Victoria's Mornington Peninsula and Yarra Valley....Oz Group, a co-operative representing more than 140 berry growers across NSW's Mid North Coast, said in its 2020 statement it "does not accept any form of slavery-like practices within the co-operative or throughout its supply chain".However, in its 2025 statement, the co-operative said, "addressing modern slavery requires ongoing effort and collaboration" and it remained "committed to continuous improvement"." >>
abc.net.au/news/2026-08-04/aus…
#exploitation #work #ForcedLabour #food #slavery #CoffsHarbour #HorticulturalIndustry #governance #regulation #ModernSlaveryAct #TokenisticLaw #NSW #MidNorthCoast #blueberries

Today in Labor History June 30, 1839: The Amistad left the Havana harbor to deliver 53 enslaved Mende people to a sugar plantation. Portuguese slave traders had illegally transported the Mende from west Africa to Cuba, in violation of European treaties against the slave trade. On July 1, Joseph Cinque led a revolt. Armed with machete-like cane knives, they killed the captain and several crew members, but spared the two slave owners so they could direct the ship back to Africa. The crew tricked them and sailed up the Atlantic coast, presuming they would be intercepted by the U.S. Navy, which captured the ship near Montauk, Long Island. President Martin Van Buren wanted to send the prisoners back to Spanish authorities in Cuba to stand trial for mutiny. Abolitionists raised funds for the mutineers’ defense. Former President John Quincy Adams represented them in court. Adams was one of the few early U.S. presidents to not own slaves, to support the abolitionist movement, and to oppose the war with Mexico. In 1841, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the mutineers had been illegally enslaved and had rebelled in self-defense and ordered them freed. In November, 1841, 35 of the Amistad mutineers were sent back to what is now known as Sierra Leone.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #slavery #amistad #revolt #mutiny #abolition #SCOTUS #africa #cuba #BlackMastodon

Today in Labor History March 23, 1871: Far left workers proclaimed communes in Lyon and Marseilles. The Paris Commune began March 18. Workers, including Cluseret and Mikhail Bakunin and other anarchists and left socialists of the International Workingmen’s Association, had tried to create a commune in Lyon in 1870, as well. Prior to this, Cluseret fought the bourgeois moderates during the 1848 Paris uprising. And in 1860, he joined Garabaldi in his fight for Italian independence. In 1860, when William Sewell made a plea for European generals, he joined Union army with letters of support from Garibaldi, serving as a colonel, commanding troops in Shenandoah Valley. He eventually rose to the rank of general, but eventually quit when he was accused of insubordination for complaining about the abuse of civilians by Union troops. After that, he joined the Irish Republican cause, managing to escape a death sentence by the British. During the Paris Commune, Cluseret served as Minister of War. However, when he refused to arrest Monsignior Darboy, Archbishop of Paris, he was arrested for collusion with the enemy.

Cluseret once said, “the U.S. presents that strange anomaly of enslaved labor in a free nation. Politically free, the worker is socially the capitalists’ serf.”

Marx called him an opportunist and an overambitious babbler.

#workingclass #LaborHistory #civilwar #paris #lyon #Marseille #commune #bakunin #anarchism #cluseret #workers #marx #slavery #Abolition #independence

Technology and dominance in the recent
First Encyclical Letter of His Holiness Leo XIV Magnifica Humanitas, 15 May 2026

* Chapter 3: TECHNOLOGY AND DOMINANCE
Some of the topics discussed are:
Automation, dignity of work
Protecting freedom against dependencies and commercialization
Breaking the chains of new forms of slavery
The normalization of war
Force without limits
The military-industrial complex
Weapons and artificial intelligence
The crisis of multilateralism
The need to disarm words
Justice >>
vatican.va/content/leo-xiv/en/…

* Existential risk from artificial intelligence >>
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Existent…

* Martin Heidegger, The Question Concerning Technology, 1954 >>
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ques…
#humanism #human #performance #enhancement #RemainingHuman #transhumanism #PostHumanism #AI #algorithms #machines #governance #regulation #humanity #fallibility #automation #commercialisation #transformation #dehumanisation #slavery #CommonGood #war #multilateralism #justice #TechnologyAssessment #TA #TechnologicalWorldview #techne #technologies #ScientificConsensus #PublicSphere #FLI #risks #existence #nature #RawMaterials

A quotation from Victor Hugo

   You are right, sir, when you tell me that Les Misérables is written for all nations. I do not know whether it will be read by all, but I wrote it for all. It is addressed to England as well as to Spain, to Italy as well as to France, to Germany as well as to Ireland, to Republics which have slaves as well as to Empires which have serfs. Social problems overstep frontiers. The sores of the human race, those great sores which cover the globe, do not halt at the red or blue lines traced upon the map.
   In every place where man is ignorant and despairing, in every place where woman is sold for bread, wherever the child suffers for lack of the book which should instruct him and of the hearth which should warm him, the book of Les Misérables knocks at the door and says: “Open to me, I come for you.”
 
   [Vous avez raison, monsieur, quand vous me dites que le livre les Misérables est écrit pour tous les peuples. Je ne sais s’il sera lu par tous, mais je l’ai écrit pour tous. Il s’adresse à l’Angleterre autant qu’à l’Espagne, à l’Italie autant qu’à la France, à l’Allemagne autant qu’à l’Irlande, aux républiques qui ont des esclaves aussi bien qu’aux empires qui ont des serfs. Les problèmes sociaux dépassent les frontières. Les plaies du genre humain, ces larges plaies qui couvrent le globe, ne s’arrêtent point aux lignes bleues ou rouges tracées sur la mappemonde.
   Partout où l’homme ignore et désespère, partout où la femme se vend pour du pain, partout où l’enfant souffre faute d’un livre qui l’enseigne et d’un foyer qui le réchauffe, le livre les Misérables frappe à la porte et dit: Ouvrez-moi, je viens pour vous.]

Victor Hugo (1802-1885) French writer
Letter (1862-10-18) to M. Daelli

More about this quote: wist.info/hugo-victor/13238/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #victorhugo #lesmiserables #borders #downtrodden #economicinjustice #global #humancondition #poor #poverty #serfdom #slavery #socialills #socialinjustice #socialproblem

Today in honor of Black History Month, we celebrate the life of Frederick Douglass, who was born on February 7, 1817, in Tuckahoe, Maryland. After escaping slavery in 1838, he became a national leader of the abolition movement. He also supported the women’s suffrage movement and ran for vice president as running mate to Victoria Woodhull on the Equal Rights Party ticket. He opposed colonialism and imperialism, including the U.S. war with Mexico. In addition to being a brilliant orator, writer and social justice activist, Douglass was also the most photographed man of the 19th century. He sat for over 160 portraits, always taking a dignified pose. He considered photography a tool for creating a positive image of black men.

Douglass wrote that "experience demonstrates that there may be a slavery of wages only a little less galling and crushing in its effects than chattel slavery, and that this slavery of wages must go down with the other." In 1869, along with Isaac Meyers, he organized the First U.S. National Colored Convention and the Colored National Labor Union. At the time, white unions routinely refused to accept African American members or to show solidarity with black workers. Additionally, employers often hired black scabs during strikes by white unions, while the KKK often recruited within white unions, exacerbating mistrust. Over time, the union became more and more political (much like most modern unions), until it became a de facto branch of the Republican Party (which in those days was known as the party of abolition).

#workingclass #LaborHistory #frederickdeouglass #slavery #racism #abolition #womensrights #equalrights #socialjustice #slavery #imperialism #photography #blackhistorymonth #BlackMastodon

Palm Oil Threatens Ancient Noken Weaving in West Papua

A powerful new indigenous art exhibition has highlighted the tragic loss of #WestPapua’s cultural identity due to #deforestation for #palmoil and #sugarcane monoculture plantations. A situation perpetuated by the illegal Indonesian colonisation of Melanesia. The ancient Melanesian tradition of noken weaving is under threat, as military-backed land grabs force Indigenous Muyu communities from their forests. Protect people and culture, when you shop make sure you #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights

#News: Exhibition highlights vanishing of West Papua’s UNESCO recognised #noken weaving for #palmoil and #sugarcane in #WestPapua. Reject corporate #landgrabbing for palm oil in when you shop! #BoycottPalmOil #HumanRights #IndigenousRights @palmoildetect wp.me/pcFhgU-bmj

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Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/re…

West Papuan doctoral candidate Veronika T. Kanem has issued a stark warning about the cultural and ecological destruction unfolding in Indonesia-occupied West Papua. As the region faces what may be the world’s largest deforestation project—two million hectares for palm oil and sugarcane—centuries-old Indigenous traditions are being pushed to the edge of existence.

Veronika T. Kanem, whose exhibition “Noken/Men: String Bags of the Muyu Tribe of Southern West Papua” opened at Auckland University, says the forced removal of her people from their forests has endangered not only biodiversity but the sacred art of noken weaving—a practice deeply embedded in the identity and social fabric of her father’s tribe, the Muyu.

Known locally as “men,” the noken is more than a string bag. Made from inner fibres of the genemo tree and other natural materials, noken symbolises a woman’s womb, a vessel of life used in ceremonies, food gathering, child-rearing, and cultural gift-giving. It holds economic, spiritual, and ancestral significance across Melanesia.

Now, industrial agriculture and military occupation threaten the entire cultural landscape. These new plantations are not only destroying forests; they are severing communities from their knowledge systems, their land, and each other.

Kanem’s research applies Indigenous Melanesian methodologies, using the act of noken weaving as a metaphor for knowledge, kinship, and resistance. Her work captures the lived experience of displacement and climate injustice at the intersection of colonial occupation, corporate extraction, and Indigenous resilience.

The Auckland exhibition also screened a documentary showcasing noken weaving traditions from across West Papua, including Asmat, Nabire, and Wamena. Speakers at the event, including Pacific scholars and artists, praised the project as a vital act of cultural preservation and defiance.

As Indonesia accelerates its colonial development schemes, the voices of West Papuans like Kanem are essential. Indigenous peoples must lead solutions to environmental destruction. Without indigenous justice, there can be no climate repair.

Defend West Papua’s forests and ancient indigenous cultures. Reject palm oil-driven genocide. #BoycottPalmOil #Boycott4Wildlife #HumanRights #IndigenousRights

Read more: Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving (Evening Report, 2025)

Asia Pacific Report. (2025, March 28). Researcher warns over West Papuan deforestation impact on traditional noken weaving. Evening Report. eveningreport.nz/2025/03/28/re…

ENDS

Read more about human rights abuses and child slavery in the palm oil industry

Indigenous Peoples Fight Climate Change

After wildfires, Belize’s indigenous people rebuild stronger based on “se’ komonil”: reciprocity, solidarity, gender equity, togetherness and community.

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SOCFIN’s African Empire of Colonial Oppression: Billionaires Profit from Palm Oil and Rubber Exploitation

Investigation by Bloomberg exposes that despite being RSPO members, #SOCFIN plantations in #WestAfrica are the epicentre of #humanrights abuses, sexual coercion, environmental destruction, and #landgrabbing. Operating in #Liberia, #Ghana, #Nigeria, and beyond, SOCFIN’s…

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Family Ties Expose Deforestation and Rights Violations in Indonesian Palm Oil

An explosive report by the Environment Investigation Agency (EIA) details how Indonesia’s Fangiono family, through a wide corporate web, is linked to ongoing #deforestation, #corruption, and #indigenousrights abuses for #palmoil. Calls mount for…

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West Papuan Indigenous Women Fight Land Seizures

Indigenous Melanesian women in West Papua fight land seizures for palm oil and sugar plantations, protecting their ancestral rights. Join #BoycottPalmOil

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Greasing the Wheels of Colonialism: Palm Oil Industry in West Papua

A landmark study published in Global Studies Quarterly in April 2025 has revealed that the rapid expansion of the #palmoil industry in #WestPapua is not only fuelling #deforestation, #ecocide and environmental destruction but…

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The World’s Most Loved Cup: A Social, Ethical & Environmental History of Coffee by Aviary Doert

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How do we stop the world’s ecosystems from going into a death spiral? A #SteadyState Economy

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How We Volunteered for Digital Slavery

Once upon a time, software was free — not in the “free trial” sense, but actually free.
It lived in the halls of universities, passed between curious minds on floppy disks, shared in the spirit of collaboration and discovery. Hardware was the business; software was the art.

Then came a young man named Bill Gates. Fueled by BASIC and caffeine, he learned to code thanks to that culture of openness — and then, he turned freedom into monopoly. Gates dropped out of Harvard, founded Microsoft, and declared that software would no longer be shared; it would be sold. The age of commercial code had begun.

Microsoft’s first weapon was MS-DOS, a text-based operating system that quietly took over the newborn PC world through IBM’s early machines. Then came Windows, the glossy illusion — a friendly graphical interface that promised empowerment while locking users into Microsoft’s walled garden.

Like a corporate version of The Godfather, Microsoft “made offers” competitors couldn’t refuse. DR-DOS? Made intentionally incompatible. Linux? Targeted in internal memos. Internet Explorer? Forced onto every desktop “for your convenience.” The result: a near-total monopoly achieved not by innovation alone, but by control, coercion, and corporate muscle.

Fast forward to today. Microsoft’s empire no longer needs to hide its power — it runs your computer, your documents, your identity. Telemetry, the friendly name for mass surveillance, quietly records how you use your device. With Windows 11, you can’t even log in without a Microsoft account — the digital equivalent of Big Brother’s stamp of approval. Imagine Orwell’s 1984 rewritten for the 21st century: Winston Smith doesn’t fear the telescreen anymore. He bought it, installed it, and clicked “I agree.” Even students are being tracked through Microsoft Office. Their learning curves analyzed. Their data stored. Their digital lives quantified — all under the illusion of “productivity.”

Steve Ballmer once called Linux “a cancer.” But history, ever fond of irony, flipped the metaphor: Microsoft became the cancer instead — feeding on the open-source world it once despised. Today, Windows happily integrates Linux as a feature, commodifying the very freedom it tried to destroy. Microsoft didn’t defeat open source; it absorbed it. Like the Borg. Like the Matrix. Like capitalism always does.

Meanwhile, the cost of this corporate control extends far beyond money. Windows 11’s unnecessary hardware requirements have already forced millions of functional computers into landfills — a quiet environmental catastrophe disguised as an “upgrade.” The planet pays for your shiny new taskbar.

The illusion of control doesn’t stop at your desktop. As Edward Snowden revealed, Microsoft has shared user data with the NSA — turning your operating system into a global surveillance node. When the International Criminal Court made decisions the U.S. didn’t like, its staff found their Microsoft email access revoked. That’s not science fiction. That’s administrative reality. And it could happen to anyone. We once feared governments might use technology to control us. Instead, we let corporations do it — and we pay a monthly subscription for the privilege.

But not all hope is lost. There’s still the red pill — Linux. It’s not perfect, but it’s free, open, and community-driven. No forced logins, no corporate backdoors, no hidden surveillance. Just software built by people, for people. Switching to Linux isn’t rebellion for rebellion’s sake. It’s a vote — for transparency, for sustainability, for democracy. The blue screen of illusion can still be escaped.

All it takes is the courage to press “uninstall.”

#essay #history #software #digital #slavery #freedom #linux #microsoft #endof10 #windows #win10 #windows10 #surveillance #tracking #nsa #snowden #dystopia #economy #business #capitalism #foss #floss #opensource #gnu #backdoor #politics #humanity #future #humanrights #privacy #matrix #system #environment #climate #earth #bigbrother #bigtech #bigdata #BillGats #Gates