While most people think that slavery ended with the Civil War, it is still alive and well-even in the United States.
The two main areas of slavery are sex and labor. That is, people are enslaved to provide sexual services (typically working as prostitutes) or to provide work (such as picking fruit or working in a factory).
While slavery is illegal it is able to persist by various means. One thing that enables it to persist is that it gains concealment from other practices. For example, while prostitution is generally illegal, it is tolerated (just ask former governor Spitzer) and thrives in the United States. This tolerance for prostitution allows sex slavery to continue to exist, concealed under the aegis of this practice.
In the case of enslaved labor, cover is gained by the tolerance we have for illegal labor practices. For example, the fact that a blind eye is often turned towards the employment of illegal aliens also provides a blind area in which slavery can flourish. After all, if people do not look too closely at illegal aliens working illegally, then they will not notice that some of these people are enslaved.
Thus, our tolerance of the exploitative practices of prostitution and labor provides deep shadows in which slavery can thrive. As such, it is no wonder that it still persists in the land of the free.
While slavery is not generally regarded as an important problem, it is. After all, slavery is one of the great evils and to allow it to persist does significant moral damage to our society-especially since this is supposed to be a land of liberty and freedom. Also, there is the terrible crime being committed against those who are enslaved.
Naturally enough, I agree with John Locke’s view of how slavers should be dealt with. That is, of course, by killing them.