The Slavery Class — Italy and the United States
I thought this entry had posted but due to Internet difficulties in Italy and being a newbie in terms of operating a Motorola Atrix cellphone, the post did not stick. The post below was motivated by a speaker — Pietro Pacci — who discussed his counseling experiences with immigrant prostitutes in Italy.
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The emergence of African immigrants to Italy presents problems that are similar to those experienced by the United States. The presence of Hispanic populations in Georgia, for example, present paradoxical ethical problems. The United States is a country whose history is forged by the arrival of immigrants from all corners of the world. As such, the United States cultural should be inclusive of all peoples, welcoming diversity and recognizing the unique contributions each population brings to the overall well-being and functioning of this country. Yet, in difficult economic times, scapegoats are sought. In the State of Georgia, for example, Hispanics are vilified for taking State resources — jobs, education, health — either away from American citizens or by causing them to pay higher taxes for these services. This vilification by politicians has led to campaigns filled with promises to tighten the borders the United States shares with Mexico. The vilification is irrational because Hispanic workers are hired by American companies — usually corporate farms — to perform jobs eschewed by American workers. In Gainesville, Georgia, for example, Hispanic workers perform jobs that allow Gainesville to be the poultry capital of the United States. In other states — such as Florida — Hispanic workers allow the cheap harvesting of fruit, such as oranges. This cheap source of labor — small wages, no benefits — allows food manufacturers to sell food products at competitive prices. Without Hispanic labor, American consumers might be paying a significantly higher percentage of their household incomes on items such as orange juice, fruit, chicken, etc. The need to include Hispanic laborers raises an ethical question, however. The creation of the Hispanic working class in the United States can be seen as cultivating a “slavery class” ironically necessary for Americans from all economic classes to enjoy a wide range of products and services at low cost. The Hispanic working class arguably are slaves because they do not enjoy the same wages, working conditions, and benefits of American workers; moreover, they are portrayed as scapegoats politically. As such, they struggle against a hostile political bureaucracy buoyed by harassment by police forces and citizens seeking a return to a more homogenous America. The hypocracy perpetuated by those in political power should be obvious.
Italy faces a similar paradox. The exploitation of African immigrants as prostitutes parallels the victimization of Hispanic workers in the United States. The cultural themes of machismo and patriarchy fuel Italian men to victimize this population. Italian laws and customs make it difficult for immigrants to achieve access to acceptable occupations, in terms of wages and benefits. That is, being a candidate for employment in Italy requires social connectivity: who you know is more important than what you know. Immigrants are scapegoated, vilified for Italy’s economic problems. They are objectified because they comprise the majority of the prostitution trade. Like the United States, the immigrants are slaves. They do not enjoy the rights and privileges of Italian citizens yet are used by Italian men for sexual exploitation. The immigrants must submit to such occupations as prostitution in order to survive economically. The hypocracy of the Italian government is exhibited by a “tolerance” for prostitution that — coupled with exclusive job hiring practices — nourish this practice of sexual slavery.
For both countries, the practice of scapegoating populations of exploited people is scandalous. The ability of all Americans to enjoy low-cost goods and services requires the exploitation of Hispanic populations. Similarly, the partriarchal cultural of Italy requires exploiting African immigrants to maintain the cultural values of machismo and objectification of women. That is, Italian men could treat their wifes as objects of purity while maintaining their machismo through sexual acts with prostitutes. The maltreatment of Hispanic and African immigrants by the United States and Italy, respectively, reveals cultural dysfunctionality — cultures that require the exploitation and marginalization of specific groups of people in order to flourish.
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