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“We are somebody and we are from somewhere,” said Abru Razak, 35, a Nigerian with two daughters, 2 and 5, at the airport.
This struck me. This kind of poor might be a characteristic of our age. These aren't farmers tied to land, or laborers tied to a lord. It's as if these people are currency. It's like slavery in some sense, but no master needs to look after them as individuals, they are abundant and expendable. No humanity in their situation.
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There are always suffering poor. Poverty is actually decreasing globally, this process definitely slowed during the recession but the trends are definitely going in the right direction. Africa's growth has been growing at a higher rate then Asia's if you take India and China out of the numbers. Getting rid of the last of the Kleptocratic Despots like Qaddafi is probably one of the biggest hurdles for seeing that people get to share in some of the wealth.
Going to work to get money to pay your bills is like slavery in some sense, these workers made a bet that they could improve thier condition by working in Libya and they got caught up in something way bigger then they can cope with.