Professor's Overview of Module 10

The reading for this lesson (Bowe, sections "Tulsa" and first part of "Saipan" to the bottom of p. 184) brings us to the use and abuse of U.S. visa programs to bring workers into the United States, often from more underdeveloped societies.  I consider the Tulsa part particularly self-explanatory, so there is not a great need for extended commentary on my part here. 

You will read about the John Pickle Company, created with a loan from the U.S. government's Small Business Administration in Tulsa, Oklahoma.  Founder John Pickle expanded the company internationally by bidding on U.S. contracts in the Middle East.  The story narrates his use of the U.S. B1/B2 visa program to bring skilled welders from India in the U.S., supposedly for "training" but actually to work at sub-minimum wages and in conditions that arguably constituted slavery.  Their dramatic "rescue" by a committed Evangelical Christian and the resulting controversies and court proceedings are the rest of the story. 

As you read this story, I would like you to keep in the back of your mind the following questions that arise from the material:

(a) the mentality of a man like John Pickle, and how much this represents widespread psychological traits in the U.S.;

(b) the mentality of a man like Mark Massey (the "rescuer"), and how prevalent his mindset is in the U.S.;

(c) the realistic options and the risks taken by the Indian welders (were they or were they not partially responsible for their plight?);

(d) the role of "intermediaries" like Ray Murzello and the Al Samit company in India, as a way for U.S. employers to evade responsibility for the treatment of those they employ;

(e) the question of whether this case was actually slavery or not;

(f) the inadequacy of the U.S. legal system, and the greater likelihood of success in attaining redress through civil, rather than criminal, proceedings; and

(g) how this whole story fits into the context of a world sharply divided in terms of wealth and power. 

As part of this lesson, you are also to view a video which is an interview with perhaps the world's foremost expert on slavery, Dr. Kevin Bales.  To view this video, go the following website:

http://www.democracynow.org/2009/9/9/the_slave_next_door_human_trafficking        

(If you have trouble finding it that way, simply "Google" the phrases "Democracy Now" and "Kevin Bales" -- that will bring you to the link for this video.) 

The last 20 or so pages of the reading assignment for this module concerns the Pacific Island island of Saipan, which is a U.S. "protectorate," which essentially means it is a colony of the U.S. The reading lays out the essentials of the place: subject to U.S. laws except where it isn't, such as the U.S. minimum wage law, corrupt local government, extreme exploitation of many imported workers (primarily from China but also Bangladesh and elsewhere), rampant prostitution, etc. I will be leaving the questions and issues raised by Saipan to the next module, so at this point I'll add nothing more on that topic. But please absorb the basic situation of the island from this week's reading, and we'll discuss it more next week. 

At the end of this lesson, you must turn in the fifth written assignment through Turnitin.com.  (As usual, due 24 hours after the discussion is due, meaning by or before 6 PM on Sunday night.) The question you are to address in the paper (2-5 pp) is the following: 

Having read about the tomato pickers in Immokalee and the Indian welders in Tulsa and seen the video with Kevin Bales, consider various proposals to deal with slavery and labor abuse in the U.S.  Which is the one you would support?  Consider the possible options, and choose which you think best addresses the problem.  In any case, consider more than one potential solution, pick one, and argue why your solution is the best one.

The forums questions:

1. Consider the mentality of a man like John Pickle, or of those who supported him when the story broke in the media.  How would you characterize their outlook?  What are the values and the reasoning of this type of American?  Do you see any other evidence of this mentality in the U.S. public scene today?  Are there any examples?  

2. Consider the mentality of a man like Mark Massey, who brought on himself major problems and life stresses because of his actions on behalf of the Indian welders.  How would you characterize his outlook?  What are the values and reasoning of this type of American?  Do you see any other evidence of this mentality in the U.S. public scene today?  Are there any examples?  Which do you find the preferable attitude: Pickle's, or Massey's?  

3. Consider the role of the U.S. visa program and of intermediaries like Ray Murzello and the Al Amit labor recruiting company.  Can such programs be put to good use, or are they inevitably tools of abuse?  Can labor visa programs be useful if reformed, or are they inevitably prone to abuse? Whatever your perspective, explain why you think so.