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It's unfair to judge them exceptionally when comparing among the range people and views of that earlier age, or to hide behind supposed earlier universal standa
by NeedMoreTea 7y ago
It's unfair to judge them exceptionally when comparing among the range people and views of that earlier age, or to hide behind supposed earlier universal standards which often turn out to have been anything but. In the pantheon of world history it is perfectly reasonable to judge, question and doubt. Plenty of people of those ages found such things abhorrent and banded together to end child labour, animal mistreatment and slavery among countless other horrible behaviours. After all that is how we got our hopefully better and more enlightened standards today. The ASPCA was formed in the mid 19th century after the RSPCA was formed in the early 19th.
It also allows us to go further back to more brutal, death ridden times and understand there probably was little place
So it's perfectly OK to pour scorn and revulsion on Edison, and judge him and his peers for electrocuting elephants and family pets, whilst acknowledging Franklin appears to have learnt from and been deeply affected by his (eventually successful) attempt at turkey electrocution.
- WalterBright 7y agoIt appears that Edison's involvement is a bit of an exaggeration: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant)
- NeedMoreTea 7y agoInteresting, so they were much more incidental to events than has entered popular awareness. Also the somewhat inevitable nature of events given publicity hungry keepers who'd mistreated the animal - unsurprisingly it reacted to being badly treated by drunk handlers. Also an early result (of sorts) for the ASPCA preventing a public hanging of the elephant - for spectacle, and thanks to paid admission, profit! As usual it pays to dig a little deeper, thanks. :)
- OnlineGladiator 7y ago> On January 4, 1903, in front of a small crowd of invited reporters and guests Topsy was fed poison, electrocuted, and strangled, the electrocution ultimately killing her. Amongst the press that day was a crew from the Edison Manufacturing movie company who filmed the event. Their film of the electrocution part was released to be viewed in coin-operated kinetoscopes under the title Electrocuting an Elephant. It is probably the first filmed death of an animal in history. The relevant part for people who don't want to search for it.
- WalterBright 7y agoAlso that the electrocution took place 10 years after the end of the "current war". Blaming Edison for it is like blaming CNN for the events in the news footage they run.