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A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

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Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#31
post #3

Makes one reflect on how much do we take for granted when it comes to ethics. I remember a (googleable) exchange of letters between the former owner and an ex-slave. The former was genuinely hurt by slave's betrayal and urged them to go back. There were people for whom owning other people was so normalized that they were actually angry at their former slaves. I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as…

> I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as barbaric. Contraceptive abortion, especially late term ones. Consider how unusual and horrifying the villain in Cell Block 99 is. Also consider the consider the cognitive dissonance between current abortion laws and the legal consequences for assault resulting in a failed pregnancy. EDIT: "Contraceptive" is probably more precise than "prophylactic"

There is almost no "late term" "prophylactic" abortion anywhere. Late term abortion is usually driven by medical necessity. Denying this reality gets women killed by withholding medical treatment from them. It was the death of Savita Halappanavar as a result of this policy that ultimately triggered the liberalisation of abortion in Ireland.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there a conspiracy of the local school board?

Yes, of course. It's visible in many subtle ways. One example is uniforms. Another is how "social studies" now stands where "history" once stood. Nearly 20% of high school graduates are illiterate. A highs school diploma signals something, but it's not being educated. Some amount of education does occur, but it's incidental to social indoctrination, keeping parents' wages high by forcing kids out of the job market, e…

> Nearly 20% of high school graduates are illiterate

That's America's choice to have a failing system, not a universal property of schooling.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Ethic shifts don't come out of the blue; they start as a growing sentiment within a population, which at some point (whether through growth or things being shaken up by e.g. war) reaches critical mass.

Sure but that's no reason to expect yourself in specific to be on the right side of the shift.

Nor the opposite is true. Both, or i should say all options, are probable, but not sure.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#34
post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If your conclusion is “well obviously, the people of the future will share my ethics” then you’re missing the point of the exercise. The point of the exercise is humility — to think about how people in the future might think your ethics are wrong and evil — not arrogance.

Ethic shifts don't come out of the blue; they start as a growing sentiment within a population, which at some point (whether through growth or things being shaken up by e.g. war) reaches critical mass.

Clean in vitro meat might be the technology that ends factory farming. An interesting question is how future generations will look at us if they still eat clean meat.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#35
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as barbaric. Contraceptive abortion, especially late term ones. Consider how unusual and horrifying the villain in Cell Block 99 is. Also consider the consider the cognitive dissonance between current abortion laws and the legal consequences for assault resulting in a failed pregnancy. EDIT: "Contraceptive" is probably more precise than "prophylactic"

There is almost no "late term" "prophylactic" abortion anywhere. Late term abortion is usually driven by medical necessity. Denying this reality gets women killed by withholding medical treatment from them. It was the death of Savita Halappanavar as a result of this policy that ultimately triggered the liberalisation of abortion in Ireland.

Let's not attack straw men. It's also barbaric to ban medically necessary procedures.

Besides, frequency of an event isn't a defense against charges of barbarism. Lobotomies, the Tuskegee Experiment, and eugenic sterilization weren't all that common, but they were barbaric.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#36

> I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as barbaric. The US jailed 70,000 migrant children this year. I doubt history will smile on that.

The fact that we put other humans in cages for any reason is probably unforgivable on a long enough timeline, especially for non-violent crimes.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#37
post #3

Makes one reflect on how much do we take for granted when it comes to ethics. I remember a (googleable) exchange of letters between the former owner and an ex-slave. The former was genuinely hurt by slave's betrayal and urged them to go back. There were people for whom owning other people was so normalized that they were actually angry at their former slaves. I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as…

> I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as barbaric.

Here we go again, everyone posts their pet not-actually-barbaric thing under the moral authority of people from the future.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#39
post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as barbaric. Contraceptive abortion, especially late term ones. Consider how unusual and horrifying the villain in Cell Block 99 is. Also consider the consider the cognitive dissonance between current abortion laws and the legal consequences for assault resulting in a failed pregnancy. EDIT: "Contraceptive" is probably more precise than "prophylactic"

There is almost no "late term" "prophylactic" abortion anywhere. Late term abortion is usually driven by medical necessity. Denying this reality gets women killed by withholding medical treatment from them. It was the death of Savita Halappanavar as a result of this policy that ultimately triggered the liberalisation of abortion in Ireland.

Actual “Medical necessity” is extremely rare, but since it must be stated on paperwork a strained excuse is normal - giving an official need where none actually exists.

Re: A Database of Fugitive Slave Ads Reveals Thousands of Untold Stories (2018)

#40
post #3

Makes one reflect on how much do we take for granted when it comes to ethics. I remember a (googleable) exchange of letters between the former owner and an ex-slave. The former was genuinely hurt by slave's betrayal and urged them to go back. There were people for whom owning other people was so normalized that they were actually angry at their former slaves. I wonder if any of our current practices will be viewed as…

wow, you've just opened a pandora box :) from the school system, to vegan diet, to parenting, to immigration...
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