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Its absurd that some people claim that oppression and slavery is good for economic development.
Oppression and slavery is terrible for progress. If people were given freedom, America would be far, far better. The biggest slave societies were the Ottomans and the Portuguese/Brazil. They were technological backwaters as a result. Countries like Germany and Austria which did not have any type of slave empire or practiced slavery thrived by giving their people more economic freedom.
I get that some people want to find meaning in cruelty and believe cruelty is good for progress, but its just intellectual hogwash.
First off, before the era of mechanization and using fossil fuel to run machines that could do the work of 20 men, humans primarily depended upon HUMAN ENERGY to get work done. The agrarian era, which the world was in when this nation was born, most certainly broke the economic inertia via slavery. There is no if and or buts about it.
The difference between the Ottomans and Portuguese/Brazil is that they did not use their profits from slavery to finance their industrial revolution into the era of mechanization and MACHINE ENERGY. Great Britain was not a slave holding nation, but it once had slave colonies. Profits from its colonies allowed it to invest into machines and eventually machines made slavery obsolete in places that had invested heavily in machinery...unlike Portugal and Brazil.
Hence, to rephrase your statement "Oppression and slavery is terrible for progress IN THE POST AGRARIAN ERA". However, in the agrarian era oppression was the SOURCE OF WEALTH AND PROGRESS. The agrarian era was the stepping stone to the industrial era. How did Germany rank in the agrarian era? Why did it not have the wealth of nations that had slave colonies? Germany gained its prominence and wealth in the industrial era by focusing on machines.
Last edited by Indentured Servant; 10-31-2017 at 06:34 AM..
Question - once I read this amazing, untold truth....then what? Slavery was one of many cruelties that all governments engage in to achieve progress and amass power, but our geographical blessings (most geographically blessed nation on Earth), our system of government, the power of property rights, etc all had a hand in creating the America we all live in.
Does knowing about slavery's role in the late 18th and early-mid 19th centuries do something for the average American besides expand their level of knowledge a smidgen? This is a book with a political bottom line that anyone can spot if they stare at it for a few seconds. I am curious to see how many people spot that unspoken, but quite obvious and intentional conclusion.
The wealth that was created as a direct result of slavery ceased to exist after the war. America was a backwater place in every sense of the word under that system. When slavery was abolished, it forced a level of creativity and ingenuity for the next two and a half decades that hasn't been matched yet. Slavery didn't contribute to America's prosperity; it was holding it back.
First off, before the era of mechanization and using fossil fuel to run machines that could do the work of 20 men, humans primarily depended upon HUMAN ENERGY to get work done. The agrarian era, which the world was in when this nation was born, most certainly broke the economic inertia via slavery. There is no if and or buts about it.
The difference between the Ottomans and Portuguese/Brazil is that they did not use their profits from slavery to finance their industrial revolution into the era of mechanization and MACHINE ENERGY. Great Britain was not a slave holding nation, but it once had slave colonies. Profits from its colonies allowed it to invest into machines and eventually machines made slavery obsolete in places that had invested heavily in machinery...unlike Portugal and Brazil.
Hence, to rephrase your statement "Oppression and slavery is terrible for progress IN THE POST AGRARIAN ERA". However, in the agrarian era oppression was the SOURCE OF WEALTH AND PROGRESS. The agrarian era was the stepping stone to the industrial era. How did Germany rank in the agrarian era? Why did it not have the wealth of nations that had slave colonies? Germany gained its prominence and wealth in the industrial era by focusing on machines.
Baloney. Oppression is ALWAYS bad for development and progress. You are using the arguments that oligarchs used centuries ago. Oppression is good. Slavery is freedom. The richest area prior to industrialization was probably the Italian states that did not have slave colonies or the Netherlands. Certainly not big slavers like Portugal or Turkey/Ottomans. Germany became a country in 1870 but the separate German states were not worse than off than the average French or Portuguese. Germany was not a united country until the 1870s. You seem to conflate the size of countries/prominence/power with prosperity. They are two very separate things. Slavery and colonization of course created private wealth in a few tiny hands, but this creates an oligarchy resistent to change/developmet at the expense of the public in those European countries.
Both the German states and Russia were agrarian societies with a societal structure akin to slavery. The serfs/slaves were emancipated in order for the countries to progress. Germany did not need any "profits from slavery" to finance anything. Slavery is an institution that hold back human ingenuity. What was needed in order to avoid being invaded, and any elite in those countries could see that, was to give the people more freedom. Thats why they reluctantly did it. The idea that slavery and oppression is necessary for progress is right wing propaganda and absolutely absurd.
Slavery was an economic boost for the US for a short bit, but it was not responsible for the US being so successful.
There are essentially two reasons for our success:
1. Natural resources.
2. The oceans on each side of us.
Also, a broad variety of climates. Not many other countries have deserts, tundras, tropics, plains, and more to work with. That is a definite advantage when it comes to self-sufficiency.
Also, a broad variety of climates. Not many other countries have deserts, tundras, tropics, plains, and more to work with. That is a definite advantage when it comes to self-sufficiency.
None of this is needed though. For national security purposes it is useful but not for economic development. Progress always takes place when the people are given freedom, education and the opportunity to fulfill their potential while the top 0.1% ruling class give up their power, privileges and status. But tyranny, corruption and oligarchy is a tremendous obstacle for change/progress.
Slavery was an economic boost for the US for a short bit, but it was not responsible for the US being so successful.
There are essentially two reasons for our success:
1. Natural resources.
2. The oceans on each side of us.
Also, the fact that US up until 1960 was 90%+ white. Whites are historically the best at nation building and even today countries which have maintained a 90%+ demographic of whites enjoy the highest quality of life.
Please do not forget that a very small percentage of whites owned slaves, and the number of slaves was hardly substantial and was nonexistent in the North. Even today, blacks make up only 13% of our population. Their contributions, with the exception of arts and culture, are negligible.
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