What's your slavery footprint?
October 27, 2011 2:26 AM Subscribe
For a while, I forgot about my slaves and focused on the interesting use of graphics. Thank you, slaveryfootprint, for cheering me up.
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:00 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by twoleftfeet at 3:00 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I can't figure out that interface for "What's on your plate". Stupid site.
posted by Goofyy at 3:02 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by Goofyy at 3:02 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
31 slaves for me... how come I just spent hours cleaning, cooking and putting kids to bed?
Loved the concept as an eye opener and educational aid. Not a fan of the interface...
posted by greenhornet at 3:08 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Loved the concept as an eye opener and educational aid. Not a fan of the interface...
posted by greenhornet at 3:08 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
One. And I'm going to get him to do this bloody annoying survey for me. Manuel! MANUEL!
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [25 favorites]
posted by tumid dahlia at 3:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [25 favorites]
Great intention but I think they would have done better to pare it down a little bit. Although I was curious about the results, I don't have enough time to do that and right around the time that I thought "I don't have enough time to do this" it also hit me that I was telling a random website basically everything about my home, possessions, hobbies, eating habits, amount of makeup used or not used, and so much more. A cleverer way to deal with the enormo-profile would have been to ask a few demographic questions, shown the average impact, and then let the user finetune where they diverged from it in grosser terms if they wanted to do so.
P.S.: graphic designer has never looked at a 55-year-old woman, wtf.
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 3:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [8 favorites]
P.S.: graphic designer has never looked at a 55-year-old woman, wtf.
posted by Your Time Machine Sucks at 3:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [8 favorites]
43, but I have always treated them like family.
posted by Iron Rat at 3:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by Iron Rat at 3:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
Coltan is an effective superconductor found in electronics.
Incorrect.
posted by atrazine at 3:16 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Incorrect.
posted by atrazine at 3:16 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
The user interface was beautiful.
I keep 45 slaves in jobs.
Most of the blame for this rests with my 2 kids under 2.
The 'action' they suggest I take involves Facebook, but it doesn't tell me how I can enable some of my slaves to one day have slaves of their own....
posted by therubettes at 3:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I keep 45 slaves in jobs.
Most of the blame for this rests with my 2 kids under 2.
The 'action' they suggest I take involves Facebook, but it doesn't tell me how I can enable some of my slaves to one day have slaves of their own....
posted by therubettes at 3:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
46. No way to indicate use of Fair Trade or locally-grown organic products. Fail.
posted by likeso at 3:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [9 favorites]
posted by likeso at 3:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [9 favorites]
31. I'm surprised it's that high because I'm pretty minimal. Must be the tech stuff.
posted by taz at 3:29 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by taz at 3:29 AM on October 27, 2011
About half of them! Get it? Ahaha... ahahahaha... never mind.
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:35 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Joe in Australia at 3:35 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
I can't make out half the icons. Also: who the hell has 50 pairs of jeans and 50 jackets?
posted by devnull at 3:36 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
posted by devnull at 3:36 AM on October 27, 2011 [3 favorites]
A better educational tool might be found in the Dodd-Frank law:
Section 1502 requires persons to disclose annually whether any conflict minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of a product of the person, as defined in the provision, originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country and, if so, to provide a report describing, among other matters, the measures taken to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of those minerals, which must include an independent private sector audit of the report that is certified by the person filing the report.
posted by three blind mice at 3:41 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Section 1502 requires persons to disclose annually whether any conflict minerals that are necessary to the functionality or production of a product of the person, as defined in the provision, originated in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or an adjoining country and, if so, to provide a report describing, among other matters, the measures taken to exercise due diligence on the source and chain of custody of those minerals, which must include an independent private sector audit of the report that is certified by the person filing the report.
posted by three blind mice at 3:41 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Won't load on my idevice, so I'll never know.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:44 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 3:44 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I had some slaves working for me but I had the billionaires working for me pay the murderers working for me to kill them all.
posted by XMLicious at 3:52 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by XMLicious at 3:52 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I like this as a marketing tool. I don't like that it's pushing the message that you've got to buy less to discourage slavery. This is not an effective way to lessen slavery, for the same reason that eating vegan is not an effective way to save animals from factory farms. Those farms are already quite wasteful. In order for vegan eaters to have any impact, they'd have to make a bigger dent in the profit margin than the amount they're already just throwing away. This is unlikely to happen. Stricter, better enforced animal cruelty laws would be more likely to have some effect.
posted by LogicalDash at 3:53 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by LogicalDash at 3:53 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Oh, wait... I just did the scroll for my score. Closet? Closet? Wow, they couldn't be more wrong about that. I'm seriously at the point where it's almost impossible to even leave the house because I haven't bought clothes in so long. My clothes slaves are dressed better than I am, trust me. Maybe I missed the in-depth clothes part, but it must make a difference if your clothes are ancient... or bought at a thrift shop originally, or you made them yourself.
posted by taz at 4:02 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by taz at 4:02 AM on October 27, 2011
Huh. Same here. Biggest score for closet, thought it would be gadgets. Don't buy much new, never thrown much away. I re-purpose. No points deducted for frugality, then?
posted by likeso at 4:15 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by likeso at 4:15 AM on October 27, 2011
God damnit. This is really interesting stuff but I'm not going to share this with my friends when even I can't figure out how to use half this thing. Like, wait, oooh I'm supposed to slide the plate and figure out...what percentage of vegetables I eat? Can't I just fill out some freaking forms?
Overambitious, piss poor execution.
posted by windbox at 4:21 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
Overambitious, piss poor execution.
posted by windbox at 4:21 AM on October 27, 2011 [5 favorites]
Biggest score for closet, with 5 pairs of pants, 20 shirts, 1 suit jacket and 2+2 pairs of shoes.
How the heck was that plate thing supposed to work?
Also, why is the bike under sporting equipment, not transport? This must have been made by Americans.
posted by brokkr at 4:21 AM on October 27, 2011
How the heck was that plate thing supposed to work?
Also, why is the bike under sporting equipment, not transport? This must have been made by Americans.
posted by brokkr at 4:21 AM on October 27, 2011
Most everything in my closet is from Goodwill ... whose mission is to train people and put them to work in non-slavery jobs.
posted by headnsouth at 4:25 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by headnsouth at 4:25 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
107. I also got a surprisingly large score for closet (12), I'd expect food to beat that hands down. No surprises on the 64 for gadgets, though.
posted by Bangaioh at 4:27 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Bangaioh at 4:27 AM on October 27, 2011
46. Electronics were the biggest (A game console and a blu-ray player), followed by clothing. The interface tells me that it's my UNDERWEAR that adds the most to my clothing score. I think I estimated 20 (10 boxers, 10 pair socks), maybe I'm doing it wrong?
posted by KGMoney at 4:29 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by KGMoney at 4:29 AM on October 27, 2011
Go commando (and sockless?). For freedom.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 4:33 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 4:33 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Okay, yes, there's a fine-tune for clothes, so I ended up with 19 slaves, mostly due to electronics/gadgets. They still think I have too much underwear, but I can't imagine having less unless you're washing clothes pretty much every day, which would present a whole new slave problem.
Compared to all the women in the world who took this survey, I have less of everything, except electronics. Yay?
posted by taz at 5:04 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Compared to all the women in the world who took this survey, I have less of everything, except electronics. Yay?
posted by taz at 5:04 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
So this basically takes your carbon footprint and converts it to guilt?
posted by Panjandrum at 5:04 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
posted by Panjandrum at 5:04 AM on October 27, 2011 [6 favorites]
I couldn't get past the plate thing either. I had trouble figuring out which was most like my diet: the salad, the jungle gym full of meat, the... chicken in a series of tubes?, or the bear.
Which is a shame, because I wanted to find out how I could take action. Probably through sending the website to all my friends?
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:05 AM on October 27, 2011
Which is a shame, because I wanted to find out how I could take action. Probably through sending the website to all my friends?
posted by Metroid Baby at 5:05 AM on October 27, 2011
It's easy to find blame with the site in a defensive maneuver, but the plain fact is that we are all, to a greater or lesser extent, profiting from slavery. Not sure what I can do about it, though. Where do you buy pants, to take one example, that don't exploit someone somewhere? Or a computer?
This site kind of leaves out a major player: Greedy corporations. The reason you can't buy pants that don't exploit slaves is that slaves are cheap which forces responsible companies out of business by places like WalMart that ship them in for $1/pair.
Even educating people to shop responsibly isn't going to help that much, because you have to be able to afford it. When you lose your well-paying job at the pants factory because your company is out of business, you have to buy the very pants that lost your job for you.
posted by DU at 5:06 AM on October 27, 2011 [14 favorites]
This site kind of leaves out a major player: Greedy corporations. The reason you can't buy pants that don't exploit slaves is that slaves are cheap which forces responsible companies out of business by places like WalMart that ship them in for $1/pair.
Even educating people to shop responsibly isn't going to help that much, because you have to be able to afford it. When you lose your well-paying job at the pants factory because your company is out of business, you have to buy the very pants that lost your job for you.
posted by DU at 5:06 AM on October 27, 2011 [14 favorites]
36, but I feel like it's probably actually higher than that, because it didn't ask about whether you knit, and I use some pretty questionable yarn. On the other hand, it also doesn't ask about how long you keep stuff. A lot of the stuff in my closet is thrifted, hand-me-down or more than ten years old. If you've got three pairs of pants but every month you throw them away and buy three new ones, then you're worse than someone who has had the same ten pairs of pants for the past fifteen years, right?
posted by craichead at 5:07 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
The interface tells me that it's my UNDERWEAR that adds the most to my clothing score. I think I estimated 20 (10 boxers, 10 pair socks), maybe I'm doing it wrong?My understanding is that cotton is a really exploitative industry, so it may actually be that your cheapo socks are worse than a lot of other things. On the other hand, I only counted bras and undies as underwear and put socks in "accessories."
posted by craichead at 5:07 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
30, but I'd like to know what it was doing with my food scores. I get most of those things from my garden or from friends' gardens, plus buying local. (The big baddies in my cupboard are coffee and grains, I guess, but I think it was counting fruit and veges against me because it thinks I'm American and that different things are available locally from what actually is.)
I also think it should take into account how long you keep things for. I have never owned a car that was less than 15 years old at purchase, and I run them forever. My bicycle is on its fifth owner that I know of, and probably more than that. I might have 10 dresses in my closet, but I think the last time I bought one was in 2004. And it was probably from an op-shop. I have some gold jewelry, but it was inherited from my grandmother, who was given it when she got married in 1941. Another person might have the exact same items in their cupboard as I do, but have bought them all new last year, and will buy new replacements for them in another year or two.
Still, it was interesting to see, and I'm going to think hard about technology purchases in future. That's one area where I probably do buy too much too often.
posted by lollusc at 5:07 AM on October 27, 2011
I also think it should take into account how long you keep things for. I have never owned a car that was less than 15 years old at purchase, and I run them forever. My bicycle is on its fifth owner that I know of, and probably more than that. I might have 10 dresses in my closet, but I think the last time I bought one was in 2004. And it was probably from an op-shop. I have some gold jewelry, but it was inherited from my grandmother, who was given it when she got married in 1941. Another person might have the exact same items in their cupboard as I do, but have bought them all new last year, and will buy new replacements for them in another year or two.
Still, it was interesting to see, and I'm going to think hard about technology purchases in future. That's one area where I probably do buy too much too often.
posted by lollusc at 5:07 AM on October 27, 2011
Man, my recent conversion to breatharianism is really paying off!
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:09 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Horace Rumpole at 5:09 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Really, how the hell do you do the plate page?
posted by JanetLand at 5:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by JanetLand at 5:10 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Apparently, your children count only if they are 16 or younger.
And, yeah, I bailed at the "What's on your plate" screen. Hell if I know the percentage mix of everything we eat.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:11 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
And, yeah, I bailed at the "What's on your plate" screen. Hell if I know the percentage mix of everything we eat.
posted by Thorzdad at 5:11 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
We tried this site before, but the post got deleted becuase there were some serious bugs in the site (it didn't recognize NEW YORK CITY as a valid city, for instance).
This site may not actually be for MeFites -- we all tend to be somewhat more socio-politically "aware" and savvy, so only some of this information would be news to us. This may be more for Joe Average Dude.
Mind you, I think that's a GOOD thing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:13 AM on October 27, 2011
This site may not actually be for MeFites -- we all tend to be somewhat more socio-politically "aware" and savvy, so only some of this information would be news to us. This may be more for Joe Average Dude.
Mind you, I think that's a GOOD thing.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:13 AM on October 27, 2011
Really, how the hell do you do the plate page?
1. Click on each type of food group listed. That food group will have a picture of a plate on it.
2. Wait for a SECOND plate icon to pop up on the bottom right.
3. There will be a slider button on the edge of that plate icon. Sliding it back and forth adjusts the percentage of that food group on picture of the plate in that food group line item. It will also adjust the percentages on all the other plates.
4. When you're done with one food group, click on the second food group, wait for that plate icon at the bottom. Repeat for each group.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:15 AM on October 27, 2011
1. Click on each type of food group listed. That food group will have a picture of a plate on it.
2. Wait for a SECOND plate icon to pop up on the bottom right.
3. There will be a slider button on the edge of that plate icon. Sliding it back and forth adjusts the percentage of that food group on picture of the plate in that food group line item. It will also adjust the percentages on all the other plates.
4. When you're done with one food group, click on the second food group, wait for that plate icon at the bottom. Repeat for each group.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:15 AM on October 27, 2011
Go through this again, answer as if you were a slave. Find out how many slaves work for YOU, and if it's more than zero, you're WORKING FOR YOURSELF!
posted by blue_beetle at 5:33 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by blue_beetle at 5:33 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
This exercise is futile without a meaningful explanation/breakdown at the end. Even Cosmo gives me that. Anticlimax what?
posted by litnerd at 5:36 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by litnerd at 5:36 AM on October 27, 2011
According to the comparison tool, the average 0 - 15yo male respondent has 7 children. Precocious, the kids these days.
posted by drklahn at 5:47 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by drklahn at 5:47 AM on October 27, 2011
I think that figure isn't meant to denote how many of something you have, but where on the scale you are? Still, it makes no sense for 0-15yo males to be 7 on a scale for children. Either this is getting a lot of lulz-hits, or every sperm is sacred.
posted by taz at 5:55 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by taz at 5:55 AM on October 27, 2011
I got 23, but I think this thing is best suited to the average Joe, because I spent a fair amount of time loudly berating the site as I answered questions and wondering if I should leave things out when I know for a fact that they weren't made by slaves.
CD player? Well, yeah, but it's twenty-two years old and made by Danes, who aren't in the habit of running slave shops as far as I can tell. Much of the technological hardware in my home is old, made somewhere esoteric and expensive, or salvaged/upgraded/kept alive.
Razor? What do I click here? I use a double-edged traditional safety razor and homemade shaving soap. The blades are Swedish steel finished in Turkey.
Vegetables? I buy mine from the Amish, who grow them locally, and I don't buy absurd things like tomatoes in February (which are not tomatoes, but those pithy pink watery things people in Los Angeles mistake for tomatoes).
My jeans up my slave count, even though I save up and buy USA-made jeans from my beloved husky guy-friendly catalogue outlet and own a total of four pairs of pants (not counting drag, costumes, and the thrift store suit I tailored myself for funerals and reunions).
I'd sort of wish for a more detailed, nuanced version of this for the more savvy consumer, so I could get a more accurate count and some ideas about how to keep my count down. I'm already way ahead on the "don't buy an Xbox" front, so now what? This thing would be neat if it was less glam and more data-heavy.
posted by sonascope at 6:07 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
CD player? Well, yeah, but it's twenty-two years old and made by Danes, who aren't in the habit of running slave shops as far as I can tell. Much of the technological hardware in my home is old, made somewhere esoteric and expensive, or salvaged/upgraded/kept alive.
Razor? What do I click here? I use a double-edged traditional safety razor and homemade shaving soap. The blades are Swedish steel finished in Turkey.
Vegetables? I buy mine from the Amish, who grow them locally, and I don't buy absurd things like tomatoes in February (which are not tomatoes, but those pithy pink watery things people in Los Angeles mistake for tomatoes).
My jeans up my slave count, even though I save up and buy USA-made jeans from my beloved husky guy-friendly catalogue outlet and own a total of four pairs of pants (not counting drag, costumes, and the thrift store suit I tailored myself for funerals and reunions).
I'd sort of wish for a more detailed, nuanced version of this for the more savvy consumer, so I could get a more accurate count and some ideas about how to keep my count down. I'm already way ahead on the "don't buy an Xbox" front, so now what? This thing would be neat if it was less glam and more data-heavy.
posted by sonascope at 6:07 AM on October 27, 2011 [2 favorites]
Seems like slaves as a concept must be defined so broadly as to no longer fit the definition of slave if I have 34 of them working for me and yet ive never seen one of them, and i still cant get my shit together. I need someone to teach me how to get slaves to finish my articles and get my exams graded.
posted by scunning at 6:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by scunning at 6:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
No way to indicate use of Fair Trade or locally-grown organic products. Fail.
I noticed this, too. Honestly I had the impression the whole thing was rigged to maximize the final number and therefore the (presumably politically naive) user's reaction to exploiting dozens of slaves worldwide (presumably responding by then enthusiastically using their important social media links).
Also, I want a count on how many slaves support the electronics that keeps the survey itself running. A half dozen Chinese children at least, I would think, based on results the survey returned for my relatively modest entertainment products.
posted by aught at 6:20 AM on October 27, 2011
I noticed this, too. Honestly I had the impression the whole thing was rigged to maximize the final number and therefore the (presumably politically naive) user's reaction to exploiting dozens of slaves worldwide (presumably responding by then enthusiastically using their important social media links).
Also, I want a count on how many slaves support the electronics that keeps the survey itself running. A half dozen Chinese children at least, I would think, based on results the survey returned for my relatively modest entertainment products.
posted by aught at 6:20 AM on October 27, 2011
Mod note: For anyone wondering if this is a double: it was posted earlier, but the site wasn't working for most people, so it was deleted.
posted by taz (staff) at 6:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by taz (staff) at 6:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Really, how the hell do you do the plate page?
I got lost on the food page and saw the gear on the left. Here you can fine-tune results.
Although I never found out if I eat more bear or birds.
First time through I missed where I say if I'm white, brown or blue.
Beanie? 5? The average person has 5 beanies? Please explain.
The second time through it had saved most of my answers. I guess that's so Google/Visa/Mastercard can fine-tune my advertising.
47- one factor was how many running shoes I have (2) ?
posted by MtDewd at 6:29 AM on October 27, 2011
I got lost on the food page and saw the gear on the left. Here you can fine-tune results.
Although I never found out if I eat more bear or birds.
First time through I missed where I say if I'm white, brown or blue.
Beanie? 5? The average person has 5 beanies? Please explain.
The second time through it had saved most of my answers. I guess that's so Google/Visa/Mastercard can fine-tune my advertising.
47- one factor was how many running shoes I have (2) ?
posted by MtDewd at 6:29 AM on October 27, 2011
43. I'm kind of boggled at what the site suggests is the size of an ordinary closet.
posted by immlass at 6:39 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by immlass at 6:39 AM on October 27, 2011
I guess I'll never know. I got to the "Do you have children" page, and nothing I did would get me past it. Interface fail.
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:42 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Kirth Gerson at 6:42 AM on October 27, 2011
Wow. That was disturbing. 43.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:52 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by jacquilynne at 6:52 AM on October 27, 2011
69. It tells me that the action figures (I listed 4 of them) counted for more than all the electronics we have in the home. So confused given that we clearly fall into the gadget geek category.
posted by onhazier at 7:04 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by onhazier at 7:04 AM on October 27, 2011
MetaFilter: Matt has 125,000 slaves, each of which has 45 slaves...
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:06 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 7:06 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I have a hundred and twenty two...on my trireme on Sydney harbour. Funnily enough, even though it's two and a half thousand years old it's still both faster and more potent than a Collins class submarine.
posted by joannemullen at 7:07 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by joannemullen at 7:07 AM on October 27, 2011
I got 57 (clothes, makeup, non-meat foods all pretty high, gadgets low), but I kind of made up a lot of numbers - I'm not going to sit here all morning counting my t-shirts, and trying to estimate the food percentages felt pretty arbitrary. Even so, I think this is pretty worthwhile - I mean, anything >0 should make one go "holy shit," right? (even if you "knew" that intellectually already). The interface is a little tricky but keeps you engaged I guess?
posted by naoko at 7:10 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by naoko at 7:10 AM on October 27, 2011
Is anyone else having problems getting the thing to run? It's not working for me at all (Firefox 7.0.1 Windows 7).
posted by SyntacticSugar at 7:11 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by SyntacticSugar at 7:11 AM on October 27, 2011
For a while, I forgot about my slaves and focused on the interesting use of graphics. Thank you, slaveryfootprint, for cheering me up.
Yeah, a co-worker was looking over my shoulder, saying "Oh, those are cute!" when I was going through my closet.
My score was 58, which is not quite accurate - I stopped counting toy trucks at 200. My son has thousands.
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 7:21 AM on October 27, 2011
Yeah, a co-worker was looking over my shoulder, saying "Oh, those are cute!" when I was going through my closet.
My score was 58, which is not quite accurate - I stopped counting toy trucks at 200. My son has thousands.
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 7:21 AM on October 27, 2011
I got 32 with my biggest scores for clothing (how do you get the actual numbers out of there? I only see the bar graph.). I feel like lumping lingerie and underwear together is a bad idea -- surely there's a big difference between your average bra (or at least, my average bra) and panties? The specific items that affected my score the most were body wash, cardigan, dress, conditioner and soap.
posted by peacheater at 7:28 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by peacheater at 7:28 AM on October 27, 2011
The website wasn't working for me so I don't know how many slaves I'm going to get, but finding that so many are available comes as a great relief as I look around my apartment.
posted by knoyers at 7:47 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by knoyers at 7:47 AM on October 27, 2011
Every person in the first world can't have 50 slaves working for them, at least not exclusively. There's not 50 billion people in the world.
posted by goethean at 7:52 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by goethean at 7:52 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
They should debug and simplify the interface and turn it into more of an auction site.
posted by knoyers at 7:58 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by knoyers at 7:58 AM on October 27, 2011
Aren't we all sharing slaves? I mean, someone isn't making pants specifically for me alone.
posted by desjardins at 8:01 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by desjardins at 8:01 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
It didn't work for me, but I didn't let the automatic Facebook scripts run, which could be why. I'm sure I didn't miss anything but an opportunity to add consumer information to my profile. I'm racked with guilt already. I hardly need another reason.
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 8:09 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Ice Cream Socialist at 8:09 AM on October 27, 2011
However many slaves this organisation has writing their HTML5 for them, they have zero in QA: the survey doesn't seem to work in Chrome.
posted by spamguy at 8:12 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by spamguy at 8:12 AM on October 27, 2011
(Revision: I think blocking facebook access is the culprit, as Ice Cream Socialist suggested.)
posted by spamguy at 8:14 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by spamguy at 8:14 AM on October 27, 2011
It's worth checking out their methodology page to understand where these numbers come from ...
"Slave" here means "Anyone who is forced to work without pay, being economically exploited, and is unable to walk away." I got confused by the difference between "forced to work without pay" and "economically exploited", but I think they mean their analysis is limited to people who are forced to work without pay for purposes of earning a profit for a business, as opposed to for housework, for sex, etc. This seems like a fine definition to me, although you could probably argue about who can walk away in some situations, and what constitutes pay.
So then they looked at a bunch of published investigations of slavery around the world, and came up with a percentage probability that if, say, you know a random product is assembled in China, it was assembled by a slave, and if, say, a random product is made of cotton, the cotton was grown somewhere in the world by a slave.
So if Product X was assembled partly in (1) China and partly in (2) Mexico, and it's made of (3) copper, (4) iron, and (5) zinc, that's five chances for a slave to have been involved in getting it to you. Based on the odds assigned to each of those, they might run the numbers and decide that the average Product X was touched by 2.1 slaves.
So then they run this algorithm with 400 of the most common consumer products. The questionnaire is designed to figure out which of those 400 you own. Add up the score for each of those products, and you get your number.
So yeah, this doesn't tell you that there are 50 slaves working for you exclusively. It tells you that the products in your house were probably touched, on average, 50 times by slaves.
The number is likely to be wildly inaccurate. It might be 10; it might be 100. But here's their real point: don't you wish when you bought a particular Product X, you could know for a fact that it wasn't touched by any slaves at all? Our commercial world is dominated by supply chain experts. Companies like Walmart and Apple are brilliant at tracking every little detail that goes into getting their products on the shelves. They could track this stuff too, if they wanted to, and reduce that number from "2.1 on average" to "definitely zero."
And you can make them do it by posting a message on Facebook. Godspeed.
posted by Honorable John at 8:18 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
"Slave" here means "Anyone who is forced to work without pay, being economically exploited, and is unable to walk away." I got confused by the difference between "forced to work without pay" and "economically exploited", but I think they mean their analysis is limited to people who are forced to work without pay for purposes of earning a profit for a business, as opposed to for housework, for sex, etc. This seems like a fine definition to me, although you could probably argue about who can walk away in some situations, and what constitutes pay.
So then they looked at a bunch of published investigations of slavery around the world, and came up with a percentage probability that if, say, you know a random product is assembled in China, it was assembled by a slave, and if, say, a random product is made of cotton, the cotton was grown somewhere in the world by a slave.
So if Product X was assembled partly in (1) China and partly in (2) Mexico, and it's made of (3) copper, (4) iron, and (5) zinc, that's five chances for a slave to have been involved in getting it to you. Based on the odds assigned to each of those, they might run the numbers and decide that the average Product X was touched by 2.1 slaves.
So then they run this algorithm with 400 of the most common consumer products. The questionnaire is designed to figure out which of those 400 you own. Add up the score for each of those products, and you get your number.
So yeah, this doesn't tell you that there are 50 slaves working for you exclusively. It tells you that the products in your house were probably touched, on average, 50 times by slaves.
The number is likely to be wildly inaccurate. It might be 10; it might be 100. But here's their real point: don't you wish when you bought a particular Product X, you could know for a fact that it wasn't touched by any slaves at all? Our commercial world is dominated by supply chain experts. Companies like Walmart and Apple are brilliant at tracking every little detail that goes into getting their products on the shelves. They could track this stuff too, if they wanted to, and reduce that number from "2.1 on average" to "definitely zero."
And you can make them do it by posting a message on Facebook. Godspeed.
posted by Honorable John at 8:18 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
Ah, I'm blocking Facebook too. Mystery solved.
What's the median number of slaves for Metafilter users? I'll go with that.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 8:18 AM on October 27, 2011
What's the median number of slaves for Metafilter users? I'll go with that.
posted by SyntacticSugar at 8:18 AM on October 27, 2011
I don't really want to end on such a down note. Can anyone comment on the real prospects of getting third-party-verified ethical supply chains, either by public pressure or legislation?
posted by Honorable John at 8:21 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Honorable John at 8:21 AM on October 27, 2011
I tried it in IE, Chrome and Firefox and could never actually get past the "Location" part of the question.
So, no slaves work for me?
posted by KirTakat at 8:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
So, no slaves work for me?
posted by KirTakat at 8:23 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I couldn't even communicate to it where I live.
posted by Wolfdog at 8:29 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Wolfdog at 8:29 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
I shared my location, or I didn't and still couldn't get past the first question. No slaves for me bummer :(
posted by koolkat at 8:31 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by koolkat at 8:31 AM on October 27, 2011
jquery.js:869Uncaught TypeError: Cannot read property 'query' of null
Lame.
posted by klanawa at 8:35 AM on October 27, 2011
Lame.
posted by klanawa at 8:35 AM on October 27, 2011
I like this as a thought tool, and it voices some things economist historians and historians have known for a long time. I recall in my American Economic History class that the people who profited most from American slavery weren't really the slave owners or the sellers or the textile owners. It was people who pucharsed cloth and clothing made from the cotton picked by slaves.
Our commercial world is dominated by supply chain experts. Companies like Walmart and Apple are brilliant at tracking every little detail that goes into getting their products on the shelves. They could track this stuff too, if they wanted to, and reduce that number from "2.1 on average" to "definitely zero."
But I don't think that will resolve the issue. Corporations will just create a parallel economy, one "slave free" and another not. And really, the benefit provided by cheap products is not only to the Western world, but it makes modern goods affordable (or even free) for as many people as possible.
posted by FJT at 8:45 AM on October 27, 2011
Our commercial world is dominated by supply chain experts. Companies like Walmart and Apple are brilliant at tracking every little detail that goes into getting their products on the shelves. They could track this stuff too, if they wanted to, and reduce that number from "2.1 on average" to "definitely zero."
But I don't think that will resolve the issue. Corporations will just create a parallel economy, one "slave free" and another not. And really, the benefit provided by cheap products is not only to the Western world, but it makes modern goods affordable (or even free) for as many people as possible.
posted by FJT at 8:45 AM on October 27, 2011
They need to get some slaves to fix their broke ass website.
posted by LoudMusic at 9:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
posted by LoudMusic at 9:12 AM on October 27, 2011 [4 favorites]
Tried to get me to log in via Facebook in order to proceed and I'm not gonna do that. Not gonna be a slave to technology.
posted by Kokopuff at 9:21 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Kokopuff at 9:21 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
derail/BREATHARIANISM!?!/derail
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 9:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by probably not that Karen Blair at 9:22 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
yeah...would suggest mods delete this again.
beautiful interface does not work.
or, at the very least, beautiful interface does not work without being allowed to share your private information with facebook, another dubious practice...
posted by sexyrobot at 9:24 AM on October 27, 2011
beautiful interface does not work.
or, at the very least, beautiful interface does not work without being allowed to share your private information with facebook, another dubious practice...
posted by sexyrobot at 9:24 AM on October 27, 2011
I tried it in IE, Chrome and Firefox and could never actually get past the "Location" part of the question.
I only tried Firefox but none of the buttons work for me.
posted by octothorpe at 9:33 AM on October 27, 2011
I only tried Firefox but none of the buttons work for me.
posted by octothorpe at 9:33 AM on October 27, 2011
Oh good; it's not just me this time. Second the request for deletion.
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:33 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Curious Artificer at 9:33 AM on October 27, 2011
A beautiful website that doesn't work at all. Web 2.0 right there.
posted by Memo at 9:52 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Memo at 9:52 AM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
You have to log in.
I got 19, but halfway through I realized that I own almost nothing that I bought new, so I have no idea how that translates.
posted by cmoj at 10:06 AM on October 27, 2011
I got 19, but halfway through I realized that I own almost nothing that I bought new, so I have no idea how that translates.
posted by cmoj at 10:06 AM on October 27, 2011
Apparently none, as this doesn't work in Firefox or Chrome for me.
posted by Blackanvil at 10:34 AM on October 27, 2011
posted by Blackanvil at 10:34 AM on October 27, 2011
This is broken for me in Safari, Chrome and Opera on the Mac.
I third the motion for deletion.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:02 PM on October 27, 2011
I third the motion for deletion.
posted by ZeusHumms at 12:02 PM on October 27, 2011
Motion to delete supported. Tried several browsers, none get past page 1.
posted by DreamerFi at 12:13 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by DreamerFi at 12:13 PM on October 27, 2011
someone isn't making pants specifically for me alone.
You don't get hand-tailored pants, customized for your comfort? Well, you haven't lived, my friend!
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 12:20 PM on October 27, 2011
You don't get hand-tailored pants, customized for your comfort? Well, you haven't lived, my friend!
posted by doyouknowwhoIam? at 12:20 PM on October 27, 2011
I'm not nearly to the level of opulence where I can afford to have pants custom-made for my hands.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:36 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 12:36 PM on October 27, 2011 [1 favorite]
Yeah, I can't get past the location question in Firefox, IE, or Chrome, either.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:32 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 1:32 PM on October 27, 2011
Click on the flag that appears when you enter your location. A ZIP code worked for me.
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by Holy Zarquon's Singing Fish at 1:35 PM on October 27, 2011
Didn't work for me in Chrome on a Mac, don't feel like trying another browser. Now I shall never know how many slaves are supporting my luxe lifestyle.
posted by silby at 1:40 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by silby at 1:40 PM on October 27, 2011
I wasn't able to get it working in Safari 5.1 Mac or some recent version of Firefox either.
posted by caphector at 1:41 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by caphector at 1:41 PM on October 27, 2011
If I had 19c for each time a metafilter link didn't work for me, I'd have tens of dollars. Every frigging "jon Stewart" link is borked for me on account of geolocation blocking. Frustrating as it is that your broke ass browsers can't view this website, I think it's poor form to flood the thread with requests for deletion.
posted by seanyboy at 1:57 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by seanyboy at 1:57 PM on October 27, 2011
I can't get it to work in Firefox, Safari, or Chrome either.
posted by smirkette at 2:30 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by smirkette at 2:30 PM on October 27, 2011
What's the difference between slaves and this website?
Slaves work.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:45 PM on October 27, 2011 [7 favorites]
Slaves work.
posted by Alvy Ampersand at 2:45 PM on October 27, 2011 [7 favorites]
Does not work for me. Ah well.
I'm guessing my score is low since I'm pretty right-on about what I consume, and I don't consume much. I mean, Jesus, it must be three years since I last bought any clothes, and they were just cheap UK-made shit, as always. I don't have a car or any other form of transportation. I don't have TV or electronic goods apart from this laptop and a beaten-up old radio. Oh, and a 30-year old stereo that doesn't work any more. I'd be more interested in replacing that were it not for the fact that I'm bored with music these days.
I drive trains for a living. I walk or use public transport. I don't wear trainers or any sort of "name" brands at all. I hardly ever buy packaged food. I get my meat and fish from local suppliers who use local producers/sources. My veggies come from my garden or local sources - almost all of the time. I don't eat bananas or other stuff that can't be grown reasonably locally. My beer is British, my wine is generally first world. The only booze I drink that comes from a backward country is scotch. Ho ho. See you, Jimmy.
posted by Decani at 4:25 PM on October 27, 2011
I'm guessing my score is low since I'm pretty right-on about what I consume, and I don't consume much. I mean, Jesus, it must be three years since I last bought any clothes, and they were just cheap UK-made shit, as always. I don't have a car or any other form of transportation. I don't have TV or electronic goods apart from this laptop and a beaten-up old radio. Oh, and a 30-year old stereo that doesn't work any more. I'd be more interested in replacing that were it not for the fact that I'm bored with music these days.
I drive trains for a living. I walk or use public transport. I don't wear trainers or any sort of "name" brands at all. I hardly ever buy packaged food. I get my meat and fish from local suppliers who use local producers/sources. My veggies come from my garden or local sources - almost all of the time. I don't eat bananas or other stuff that can't be grown reasonably locally. My beer is British, my wine is generally first world. The only booze I drink that comes from a backward country is scotch. Ho ho. See you, Jimmy.
posted by Decani at 4:25 PM on October 27, 2011
I can't even get my city to work. Am I stupid?
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 4:49 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by six-or-six-thirty at 4:49 PM on October 27, 2011
Doesn't work for me on either Firefox or Safari. Delete it.
Could you delete seanyboy while you're at it?
posted by Soupisgoodfood at 5:50 PM on October 27, 2011
Could you delete seanyboy while you're at it?
posted by Soupisgoodfood at 5:50 PM on October 27, 2011
It worked for me last night and now it doesn't. I think maybe all this traffic broke it?
posted by lollusc at 6:10 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by lollusc at 6:10 PM on October 27, 2011
six-or-six-thirty: "I can't even get my city to work. Am I stupid?"
No, it's just broken. I've tried both Firefox and IE and it isn't working.
posted by deborah at 7:27 PM on October 27, 2011
No, it's just broken. I've tried both Firefox and IE and it isn't working.
posted by deborah at 7:27 PM on October 27, 2011
I "second" the previous 25 comments, and don't feel like I'm missing out. Hoping we can send this plate back to the kitchen. This thread has become an Ouroboros of misanthropy...regardless of whether people were able to derive anything "useful" from the site in question, but the consensus among those who were blessed with access is that nothing of the sort can be derived.
P'tooey.
posted by obscurator at 7:53 PM on October 27, 2011
P'tooey.
posted by obscurator at 7:53 PM on October 27, 2011
Mod note: So, weird situation; it looks like they must have changed something midstream -- again. It didn't work the first time it was posted, now this time it was working... and now it apparently isn't. Maybe it will change again. But deleting this thread now means it will just get posted again, so I'm inclined to let it stay and see if they fix the problem.
posted by taz (staff) at 10:06 PM on October 27, 2011
posted by taz (staff) at 10:06 PM on October 27, 2011
Currently advertising for unpaid interns.
Note: Forced Labor, also known as involuntary servitude, may result when unscrupulous employers exploit workers made more vulnerable by high rates of unemployment, poverty, crime, discrimination, corruption, political conflict, or cultural acceptance of the practice.posted by SyntacticSugar at 2:10 AM on October 28, 2011 [3 favorites]
MANY BONTHANS SLAVES DIED TO BRING US THIS INFORMATION.
posted by blue_beetle at 7:18 AM on October 28, 2011
posted by blue_beetle at 7:18 AM on October 28, 2011
Okay, it "worked". Leaving aside the fact I didn't understand what it was asking me to do on at least half the pages it seems I have sixteen slaves working for me. '
Utter bullshit. It asked me about the veggies I eat but it gave me no option to say "Garlic, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, chillis, squash, asparagus, yada yada.... YES BUT GROWN AND HARVESTED BY ME, IN MY OWN GARDEN, YOU PRESUMPTIOUS SHITS"
I didn't even understand how the electronic gadgets page was supposed to work. But whatever, a shit site. An utterly shit site. Sixteen slaves. Yeah, right. No. I have no slaves working for me, no, not even indirectly. I look after myself and I don't buy any dodgily-sourced shit. I do not participate in at least 90% of the bullshit consumption that most entitled westerners seem to think represents normal living. So, you know, fuck off with your lofty condescension and learn how to design a website and make it work.
posted by Decani at 1:01 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
Utter bullshit. It asked me about the veggies I eat but it gave me no option to say "Garlic, lettuce, carrots, potatoes, chillis, squash, asparagus, yada yada.... YES BUT GROWN AND HARVESTED BY ME, IN MY OWN GARDEN, YOU PRESUMPTIOUS SHITS"
I didn't even understand how the electronic gadgets page was supposed to work. But whatever, a shit site. An utterly shit site. Sixteen slaves. Yeah, right. No. I have no slaves working for me, no, not even indirectly. I look after myself and I don't buy any dodgily-sourced shit. I do not participate in at least 90% of the bullshit consumption that most entitled westerners seem to think represents normal living. So, you know, fuck off with your lofty condescension and learn how to design a website and make it work.
posted by Decani at 1:01 PM on October 29, 2011 [1 favorite]
So, I got 17 the first time through before discovering that it didn't save my fine-tuned results in the electronics section. So, I went back and fixed that -- only through subtracting objects, mind you, I didn't add anything. Then my total was 25. I don't think this works quite right.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:18 PM on November 2, 2011
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 4:18 PM on November 2, 2011
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posted by dg at 2:55 AM on October 27, 2011