Is This Ethical Slavery?

The purpose of this blog is to set free the Shabbat table conversation ....please print, share, and forward.
Do you know how many days until Passover?

So in case you were wondering, the photo last week was indeed of Solotvyn, Ukraine a hundred years ago or so.

(And click on last week's photo for an excellent book on the history of Jews in Odessa.)

In today's photo on the left, you're looking at the latest trend in camel racing.

Evidently the centuries-old "sport" of camel racing is still wildly popular.

As in horse racing, the lighter the jockey, the faster the camel.

The problem is until very recently camel racers were routinely using children as jockeys and in addition to putting children at great risk there was (or possibly still is) an active slave-trade of child-jockeys from all over Asia.

(According to one report, the use of children only began in the 1970s.)

The solution: robot jockeys. 

They're not fully robotic (i.e., independent); they are remote-controlled by a human following alongside in an SUV.

If you have four minutes to spare, watch this well-edited BBC video. You'll get a feel for the appeal.

This invention is obviously a great thing, if it saves children from exploitation.

But it opens up two burning questions for your Shabbat table:

1. If the camels are being jockeyed by robots, is camel racing still a sport?

2. A broader question about sentient robots — would it ever become unethical to treat an artificial intelligence as a slave?


¡ ɯᴉɹnԀ ʎddɐH

and

Shabbat Shalom

PS - The Jews of Ukraine, and Jewish refugees from Ukraine, are still in great need. Click here to help.
PPS - Mr. Arnold Schwarzenegger has created a thoughtful message for Russians - if enough people share it, maybe it will make an impact.
PPPS - For info on current efforts to end slavery and child trafficking, click here.

PPPPS -  This week's 10-minute podcast is called  "To Indulge or Not to Indulge - That is the Question" and there are 10 ways to hear it:

iTunes/iPhone … YidPod … Spotify … Google Podcasts … Pocketcasts … Stitcher … Podbean … Amazon Podcasts … RSS … or just on the web.

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