Donald J. Boudreaux, chairman of the Department of Economics at George Mason University, has a must read article on Capitalism and Slavery.
He writes:
slavery had been an ever-present institution throughout human history until just about 200 years ago. Why didn’t slaveholders of 2,000 years ago in Europe or 500 years ago in Asia accumulate wealth that triggered economic growth comparable to ours? Why is Latin America so much poorer today than the United States, given that the Spaniards and Portuguese who settled that part of the world were enthusiastic slavers? Indeed, the last country in the Americas to abolish slavery was Brazil — in 1888, a quarter-century after U.S. abolition. By American and western European standards, Brazil remains impoverished.
And why, having abolished slavery decades before their Southern neighbors, were Northern U.S. states wealthier than Southern states before the Civil War? …
The fact is that slavery disappeared only as industrial capitalism emerged. And it disappeared first where industrial capitalism appeared first: Great Britain. This was no coincidence. Slavery was destroyed by capitalism.
To begin with, the ethical and political principles that support capitalism are inconsistent with slavery. As we Americans discovered, a belief in the universal dignity of human beings, their equality before the law, and their right to govern their own lives cannot long coexist with an institution that condemns some people to bondage merely because of their identity.
The whole article is worth the read.
It should be noted that “a belief in the universal dignity of human beings, their equality before the law, and their right to govern their own lives” has nothing to do with capitalism. Saudi Arabia is a capitalist nation with precious little of the above. I think that it’s post-enlightenment democracy you’re thinking of — be careful not to confuse the two.
Saudi Arabia is not a capitalist nation…not in the sense most people speak of the term. But here, if you doubt the linkage between Capitalism and freedom, what are your thoughts on this article.
I agree with Scott.
Than I would like your comment on the article as well.
My opinion of the article is that I do believe Capitalism exterminated slavery, in ‘part’. When the author of the article says, ‘History supports this truth: Capitalism exterminated slavery’……
……well, suffice it to say that his ending statement is a little extreme for me. That is why I think Scott had truth in his statement as well.
He said, ‘It should be noted that “a belief in the universal dignity of human beings, their equality before the law, and their right to govern their own lives” has nothing to do with capitalism’.
I suppose Scott was extreme as well when he used the word ‘nothing’. I disagree with that.
Capitalism to can mean:
So I suppose my answer is this:
The ideology of Capitalism as I understand it………ended slavery, however, it was also the ideology as Scott mentioned above when he said……
Wouldn’t you agree?
Damn it! The quote function code apparently doesn’t work. I think I used the wrong codes.
Now that you clarified…I tend to agree…but not completey.
Here, html works with the < and > symbols instead of the [ and ] symbols. I fixed it for you.
Why not completely? ‘Esplain’.
You said you agreed with Scott, and he seems to imply that it was democracy that led this…I think democracy is only possible because of economic freedom. In other words, ‘democratic socialism’ is an oxymoron.