How Soviet Engineering Led to Modern Day Cotton Slavery
An ecological disaster, forced labor, and white gold make up this little told story
If you open up a current list of the world’s largest lakes, you will immediately see some familiar names like Lake Michigan, Lake Malawi, and Lake Superior. You will not find the name of the Aral Sea on this list. In the recent past, the Aral Sea was the fourth-largest lake by area in the world. At its peak, it was larger than Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, stretching over 26,300 square miles. Now it is almost gone.
In place of the lake arose a system of forced labor, a booming cotton industry and the hubris of men. While there are many people alarmed over the rapid disappearance of one of the world’s largest lakes, many people are connected to this region, not by an ecologic crisis but rather by the clothes on their backs.
This is a tragic two-fold story that highlights humanity’s ability to rapidly destroy our planet and the specter of slavery which still stalks cotton fields around the world.
