It's beyond dispute that totalitarian nations do create technology and science, and it's worth exploring why (I don't think Soviet scientists saw themselves as slaves as such, and great privilege was often connected to performance) but it's also beyond dispute that they do this a lot less successfully than free societies do.
A slave-owning agrarian Confederacy wouldn't have stood a chance economically against an industrialized North. Smart slaves with a lot of initiative would also tend to be the ones who would be most likely to try to escape northward, reducing the resources even further.
Come to that, one wonders how long the lack of equal rights in the South would have withstood a simple application of the free market. A restaurant that serves everyone is eventually going to make more money than one that won't.
Current Events » in reply to Brilliance and slavery
Brilliance and slavery
The whole thread (31 posts)
- On Iraqi civilian deaths.
- To put it into perspective,...
- That number is probably close to correct.
- re: That number is probably close to correct.
- Was the Civil War worth it?
- We didn't invade ourselves.
- And you shed tears for plantation owners too I betcha. (n/t)
- As a Canadian, I have a problem with your perspectives
- "They use US deaths and Iraqis deaths only to serve their own anti-Bush political agenda."
- Interesting question.
- We didn't invade ourselves.