Freedom from Fear

Slavery was officially abolished in the United States in 1865. Most other countries had either already obliged or they followed suit. In the Declaration of Independence, the United States declared everyone's "unalienable rights" to "life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness." As a result, it often seems as if we've come so far, leaving slavery in the past and giving everyone the right to their own life. However, this is only a facade. Jarringly, there are roughly 30 million slaves in the world today—and 60,000 of them are in the U.S. Even in cases where people aren't enslaved in the U.S., we still have a hand. So many of the goods we buy come through supply chains that originated in modern-day slavery practices, including trafficking and forced labor. While the U.S. has done more than any other country to combat this, the U.S. still spends three times more money than the next country, Japan, on imports of the 5 most at-risk (linked to modern slavery) goods. Despite our proclamations and efforts to combat slavery, we are still entrenched in a system where modern-day slavery can flourish. Considering this horrible situation we find ourselves in, it's important that we take the time to discuss potential solutions to our massive modern-day slavery crisis. In my opinion, increased transparency would be a great first step, so that we can make conscientious about the items we buy, knowing where they originated. In addition, increased accountability is critical, so that companies whose supply chains are party to modern-day slavery face the consequences. Laws can be put in place to ensure that both of the aforementioned factors be taken into account. Any other ideas? Let's discuss. https://www.economist.com/graphic-detail/2018/07/19/supply-chains-based-on-modern-slavery-may-reach-into-the-west https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2013/10/17/this-map-shows-where-the-worlds-30-million-slaves-live-there-are-60000-in-the-u-s/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.8813353dd561

Freedom to say what you believe is becoming more controversial in the West. Ideas of "trigger warnings" and "safe spaces", while incredibly thoughful, are beginning to pose a threat to free speech. People, especially our generation, need to realise that the only way to protect free speech is to let everyone and anyone have their say- from neo-nazis to weed legalisation advocates. The prevention of certain groups speaking based on their offensiveness cannot be objective, and risks silencing other groups with valuable agendas. While letting hate groups speak will offend parts of society, it is the only way to save free speech. https://www.economist.com/open-future/2018/06/22/do-safe-spaces-and-trigger-warnings-clash-with-liberal-values

The Commission on Human Rights (CHR) is an independent office created under the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, with the primary function of investigating all forms of human rights violations involving civil and political rights in the Philippines. The Philippines today has been a victim of President Duterte's "War on Drugs" and there have been a lot of injustices ever since the said war started and the Commission on Human Rights are the ones responsible in investigating these injustices, but just recently, the House of Representatives of the Philippines that serves as the governing body on the approval, rejection or revision of laws, proposals and budgets, approved the budget of the CHR for 2018, amounting only to 1000 pesos equal only to 20 dollars. Indeed an outrageous decision made by the House of Representatives which leads us to the question, will justice ever be served?