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Nobodies: Modern American Slave Labor and the Dark Side of the New Global Economy | 
 enlarge | Author: John Bowe
Publisher: Random House Trade Paperbacks
Category: Book
List Price: $15.00
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Rating:  16 reviews
Sales Rank: 328821
Media: Paperback
Edition: Reprint
Pages: 336
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 5.2 x 0.8
ISBN: 0812971841
Dewey Decimal Number: 331.117340973
EAN: 9780812971842
ASIN: 0812971841
Publication Date: August 12, 2008
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Product Description
Most Americans are shocked to discover that slavery still exists in the United States. Yet 145 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, the CIA estimates that 14,500 to17,000 foreigners are “trafficked” annually into the United States, threatened with violence, and forced to work against their will. Modern people unanimously agree that slavery is abhorrent. How, then, can it be making a reappearance on American soil?
Award-winning journalist John Bowe examines how outsourcing, subcontracting, immigration fraud, and the relentless pursuit of “everyday low prices” have created an opportunity for modern slavery to regain a toehold in the American economy. Bowe uses thorough and often dangerous research, exclusive interviews, eyewitness accounts, and rigorous economic analysis to examine three illegal workplaces where employees are literally or virtually enslaved. From rural Florida to Tulsa, Oklahoma, to the U.S. commonwealth of Saipan in the Western Pacific, he documents coercive and forced labor situations that benefit us all, as consumers and stockholders, fattening the profits of dozens of American food and clothing chains, including Wal-Mart, Kroger, McDonald’s, Burger King, PepsiCo, Del Monte, Gap, Target, JCPenney, J. Crew, Polo Ralph Lauren, and others.
In this eye-opening book, set against the everyday American landscape of shopping malls, outlet stores, and Happy Meals, Bowe reveals how humankind’s darker urges remain alive and well, lingering in the background of every transaction–and what we can do to overcome them.
Praise for Nobodies:
“Investigative, immersion reporting at its best . . . Bowe is a master storyteller whose work is finely tuned and fearless.”
–USA Today
“A brilliant and readable tour of the modern heart of darkness, Nobodies takes a long, hard look at what our democracy is becoming.”
–Thomas Frank, author of What’s the Matter with Kansas?
“Bowe dramatizes in gripping detail these stolen lives.”
–O: The Oprah Magazine
“The vividness of Bowe’s local stories might make you think twice before reaching for that cheap fruit or pair of discount socks.”
–Conde Nast Portfolio
NAMED ONE OF THE TWENTY BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE VILLAGE VOICE
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| Customer Reviews: Read 11 more reviews...
Surprisingly Frank June 6, 2008
Tiger Sv
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Having read endless papers and legislation regarding the garment industry in Saipan, I appreciate the equally-valid personal experiences Bowe writes about and his attempt to get to the bottom of such a multi-layered issue.
I've only read the third section (about Saipan) as well as the conclusion so far because it pertained to some research I was doing.
While I can't say much about a book whose greater portion I have yet to read, I will say that in his chapters about Saipan, it isn't terribly obvious which "side" he is on. I find this very refreshing, if not surprising, as it is not typical. Bowe presents the issues (and the situations creating them) facing both workers and employers in Saipan's factories and, while his views on a number of matters are pretty clear, when it comes to the factory workers and bosses he does an impressive job of just telling us what he learned, what he heard, and what he saw, without demonizing either side.
The only thing I didn't like was his tendency to generalize about the various groups of people he talks about (by race or ethnicity). However, I can also understand that if he were to delve into the inter-group dynamics and details, his book would not only take on an irritating complexity, but it would be hundreds and hundreds of pages as well.
All in all, as far as that third section goes, it's a fantastic book for anyone who is unfamiliar with the situation in Saipan beyond the media attention it has received. I appreciate the insight from someone who took the time to move to Saipan and see firsthand what was going on.
Migrant workers etc in this expose May 27, 2008
William D. Tompkins (New York, New York USA)
2 out of 3 found this review helpful
An expose of the lower income workers of the world who are manipulated by big business.
 Agenda-Driven, Reckless Use of Statistics May 18, 2008
MiltonF (Memphis, TN)
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
It is unfortunate when some of the most important subjects that need to be approached with an intellecutally honest, scientific mindset, are co-opted by people with an agenda. Income inequality is an important topic about which we should be concerned, and while some of the anecdotal information Mr. Bowe presents in the book are interesting, his Michael Moore-ish analysis and resulting explanation have the unfortunate perspective of the free market being inevitably exploitative and the way to "reform" the system being the tired leftist answer to impose more regulation and let benevolent government control the evil market, and especially the inherently unequal U.S..
Examples
When discussing income inequality in the U.S., Mr. Bowe uses household income to compare the disparity between the top and bottom quintiles, which is an immediate sign that the argument is skewed. Per capita income is the correct measure because the number of people per household has declined over time (the time period cited, 1960-2005), and the average number of earners per household in the top quintile is more than four times what it is in the bottom quintile (2.09 vs. 0.5). Growing income inequality in the U.S. is real, but not because the free market is inherently unfair, because of three real phenomena.
1) Immigration (legal and illegal) of unskilled laborers and immigration policy that is more focused on nepotism than the needs of the economy, has expanded the unskilled labor force (over-supplied) and drive down wages.
2) Education - the public education system has been co-opted by the very unions Mr. Bowe lauds in his book, and the curriculum has been made less rigorous, so we are not producing the scientists, engineers, and entrepreneurs to drive future productivity growth and again are over-supplying the unskilled labor force.
3) Economy - the U.S. economy has evolved into more of a knowledge economy so skilled labor is more valued. Yet, with the education system dumbing down the curriculum and immigration policy not being based on bringing in more skilled workers, the supply of skilled laborers (knowledge workers) is lower, which raises the price (wages) of skilled laborers, and exacerbates the inequalities.
Instead of increasing the budget of the Department of Labor as Mr. Bowe recommends, perhaps reforming immigration and education would be more productive towards closing inequalities.
When discussing income inequality globally, again Mr. Bowe compares the distibution of wealth between the top and bottom quintiles over time, but with no mention that those groups, especially in the bottom quintile, have changed over time. In the mid-20th century Honk Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Chile would have been in the bottom quintile. Today those economies are in the first and second quintiles specifically because they adopted the free-market policies that Mr. Bowe seems to decry as unfair in this book. Those in the bottom quintiles are the countries who have the most governmental control and the least economic freedom; Zimbabwe, Nigeria, Cuba, etc.
More government, at any level, is not the answer.
There is a need for an intellectually honest, compassionate voice of questioning dissent in the U.S. and the world. Unfortunately, this book is not it.
 Real Problems, False Solutions May 18, 2008
D. W. MacKenzie (New London CT)
7 out of 11 found this review helpful
Nobodies is a book much like "world on fire" by Amy Chua. Bowe has hit upon serious issues. Involuntary servitude and abuse does exist. Yet Bowe, like Chua, fails to understand the real causes of and solutions to these problems. Consequently he arrives at false conclusions. He does so for two reasons.
One of the main problems with this book is that Bowe does not understand economics. Bowe thinks that wages are determined by political clout. Higher wages derive from citizenship and political action. Bowe does not appreciate the importance of labor productivity in determining wages. Bowe also tends to confuse real and nominal factors in globalization. Bowe also does not understand how productivity hinges about global division of labor.
The other main problem with this book is that Bowe does not understand democratic politics. Bowe has excessive faith in the democratic process because he does not understand the inherent defects of democracy. It is necessarily the case that special interest groups have undue political influence and that voters tend to be poorly informed. There are also inherent problems with the overexpansion and rigidity of bureaucracies.
The third main problem with this book is its appaling use of statistics. Bowe compares the incomes of certain groups at certain points in time. Bowe fails to see how the statistics have changed over time. Decades ago South Korea and Hong Kong had severe poverty. These countries experienced rising living standards as they took part in postwar Globalization. For that matter, all industrialized nations started out with low wages in so called sweatshops, and developed through trade and Globalization. Bowe should consider the improvements realized by participants to Globalization.
Nobodies contains some interesting anecdotes. However, this book is so poorly reasoned that it will serve only to obfuscate these important issues. There is another book that examines problems of citizenship and inclusion more intelligently: The Mystery of Capital by Hernado De Soto. De Soto's book is a must read for those who are interested in Globalization. De Sosto is dead accurate in his analysis and conclusions. If you want to Read Nobodies, do so only after reading The Mystery of Capital.
 Riveting, Gifted Reporting, Deeply Depressing, Call to Arms May 18, 2008
Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States)
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This is a spectacular piece of work with many gifted turns of phrase. The author has done his homework, and melds economic facts and philosophical reflections in a worthy manner. The author opens with a challenge: how should a free people respond to slavery, i.e. should they knowingly buy products and services that are rooted in slavery?
I ordered this book on the strength of the author's appearance on CSPAN BookTV, and this is one of those instances where I think that listening to him talk about the book first is hugely beneficial to appreciating the book. The author, in person (on CSPAN), is funny, intelligent, informative, a really excellent presenter of facts in a coherent manner.
Supreme Court Justice Brandeis is cited in this book: "You can have great concentration of wealth in the hands of a few or you can have democracy. You can't have both." While the author documents slavery, at least 27 million world-wide (not counting the prison-slave population) with 800 million not enslaved but utterly poor going hungry each day, 33 million of them in the USA, his book is a socio-economic ideo-cultural treatise on "whither globalization." His bottom line is clear: if we allow slave labor and sweatshop conditions to undercut each of our homeland industries, we are toast.
The author does something quite special with this book. I am deeply impressed. Since the 1970's I have understood the conflict between multinational corporations and governments, the trade-offs between profits and social value, but it is only recently that my reading has brought forth the sharp battle that will define the 21st Century: the battle between Collective Intelligence (one for all, all for one) and Corruption at all levels of government and business.
The meme "true cost" is the ideological battle line. Also known as the triple bottom line (economic, social, and environmental), it is my view that the ability of my generation to promulgate True Cost information in the next ten years is going to determine what kind of future our children have. The author provides numbers, and I am gripped by the 40 cents paid to the slave laborer for a bucket of tomatos, versus the $12.00 plus paid to the farmer or "organizer/enforcer." The author is eloquent in describing how slave wages have not risen in thirty years, while all else has....
This book is deep, richly textured, a tremendously informative and socially-valuable offering.
Here are a few highlights that stayed with me:
1) US Census statistics are so "delusional and deceptive" that Wall Street investors no longer use them--they commission their own studies.
2) The conditions of slavery and poverty and abuse are so deeply entrenched, and imposed on individual held in isolation from society and the rule of law--when the law is willing to be enforced--that they might as well be on another planet, a slave planet.
3) FBI Special Agents get very high marks for being able to master law enforcement in an illegal immigration environment, but the author speaks of "institutional malfeasance" in how often the FBI transfers people. I have long felt that we need to turn government inside out--we need to mass Latin American specialists across government, military, law enforcement, etc, and we need to start putting people into 10 year tours.
4) It is clear we need a "white hat" side of the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS), I envision something in which all information they might collect in investigating human rights and other labor violations is firewalled from illigal immigrant status.
5) 911 operators are virtually helpless in responding to foreign langugage calls. I have been saying for years that we need to have an international implementation using Telelanguage.com.
6) The author surprises me with his optimism, his expectation that we can achieve a profound change in attitude across our population, completely boycotting all products and services whose "true cost" include slave labor.
I want to end this laudatory review by pointing readers toward the World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility, the Interra Project, the World Cafe, and the Earth Intelligence Network.
Below I list a few other books that support this one. The first book documented the commoditization of human labor as the beginning of commercialized evil. The rest are increasingly positive about all of us coming together to overcome power and information asymmetries. "Put enough eyes on it, no bug is invisible. That's us: intelligence officers to the poor and the disenfranchised, who in being lifted from slavery, will create infinite revolutionary wealth. We can do this.
The Manufacture Of Evil: Ethics, Evolution, and the Industrial System
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
Nickel and Dimed On (Not) Getting By in America
The Case Against Wal-Mart
Off the Books: The Underground Economy of the Urban Poor
The Power of the Powerless: Citizens Against the State in Central-Eastern Europe
A Power Governments Cannot Suppress
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
The Wealth of Networks: How Social Production Transforms Markets and Freedom
Collective Intelligence: Creating a Prosperous World at Peace
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