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There is a great deal of evidence that slavery was related to cotton, sugar, and rice plantations (as well as some other crops to a lesser extent). One could a

by nickff 12y ago

There is a great deal of evidence that slavery was related to cotton, sugar, and rice plantations (as well as some other crops to a lesser extent). One could also make a very convincing, if not definitive argument that imperialism enabled slavery (at the intercontinental scale), and that mercantilism supported it. Politics, as played by wealthy landowners and slave-traders also perpetuated slavery, as can most easily be seen from the (abominable) actions of the American House of Burgesses.[1] There is very little evidence for the argument that capitalism or free trade was responsible for slavery. Economics was called "the dismal science" precisely because its critics thought the proponents of free markets were not taking a (racist) vision of 'social justice' seriously.[2] Later on in the American South, the bus and streetcar companies tried to segregate busses on the basis of smoking and non-smoking sections, but politicians and racist groups forced them to segregate based on race. In South Africa during the aparteid, businesses were taken to task for not discriminating strongly enough against the Africans, and many groups such as socialists and unions held racist policies as a tentpole of their platforms. There are innumberable cases of the market acting against slavery, and even Smith described markets as notable for their lack of nationalism or discrimination.[3] [1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_codes http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slave_codes [2] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dismal_science http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_dismal_science [3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wealth_of_Nations

bobcostas55 12y ago
>There is very little evidence for the argument that capitalism or free trade was responsible for slavery. Not only that; they were and are diametrically opposed. The Beckert quote implies a connection between slavery and industrialization when in fact the relationship was an inverse one. A comparison between the confederacy and the north is illuminating. The concentration of wealth in slaves and land prevented industrialization during the 19th century, and the south fell very far behind economically. I think it's worth nothing that the vast majority of white people in the south were worse off because of slavery, because the system prevented capital from being allocated efficiently. And while the two areas have converged, differences still remain today.
- danbruc 12y ago
  What? Having slaves pick cotton is as capitalist as it can get. You own the land, they do the work, you get the profit. That slaves are not as effective as tractors really doesn't matter for that. Fun fact: I always get my share of down votes for being critical of capitalism but no one attacks my position in a response. Do you have no arguments? (provocative face)
  - grinnbearit 12y ago
    I got into a long discussion with eli_gottlieb here but I don't think either of us got the answers we were looking for https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9335125 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9335125
    - danbruc 12y ago
      I read your discussion there, let me pick one of your early comments. It does this (in general) by giving points to people who satisfy other people's values and proportional to how much they satisfy them. These points can be used to satisfy their own values after and this creates a feedback loop of value satisfaction. IMO a very good thing. If I understand you correctly, you think that what Adam Smith explained with the invisible hand, that all individuals pursuing their best interests will usually result in a beneficial situation for society as a whole, is true. If that is the case I have to disagree, otherwise just ignore the rest of the comment. There is nothing that justifies this assumption, if everyone just tries to maximize its individual gain there is no force that will ensure that gains for society as a whole are simultaneously maximized. Let's just stick with the topic of the article, slavery. If a few people exploit the workforce of a large number of slaves they surly maximize their personal gains but you can hardly argue that it leads to a good overall situation. By the way, I want to avoid the moral discussion and will just take it for granted that we agree that a world in which the slaves are not slaves but receive a fair compensation for their work is a better world.
      - grinnbearit 12y ago
        > that all individuals pursuing their best interests will usually result in a beneficial situation for society as a whole, The very next sentence I wrote disagrees. > Of course there are problems, every system has winners and losers and thats why we have taxation and welfare, to smooth out some of the issues. The choice of capitalism depends on moral subjectivity, its a necessary part of the discussion. As I said before, capitalism is a type 2 system. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338441 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338441 At the end of the discussion I asked a question that eli_gottlieb didn't get around to answering. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9345477 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9345477 This was specific to economic democracy but you can replace that with any other alternative system, the question would still apply and be interesting.

by nickff 12y ago

bobcostas55 12y ago

>There is very little evidence for the argument that capitalism or free trade was responsible for slavery. Not only that; they were and are diametrically opposed. The Beckert quote implies a connection between slavery and industrialization when in fact the relationship was an inverse one. A comparison between the confederacy and the north is illuminating. The concentration of wealth in slaves and land prevented industrialization during the 19th century, and the south fell very far behind economically. I think it's worth nothing that the vast majority of white people in the south were worse off because of slavery, because the system prevented capital from being allocated efficiently. And while the two areas have converged, differences still remain today.

danbruc 12y ago
What? Having slaves pick cotton is as capitalist as it can get. You own the land, they do the work, you get the profit. That slaves are not as effective as tractors really doesn't matter for that. Fun fact: I always get my share of down votes for being critical of capitalism but no one attacks my position in a response. Do you have no arguments? (provocative face)
- grinnbearit 12y ago
  I got into a long discussion with eli_gottlieb here but I don't think either of us got the answers we were looking for https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9335125 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9335125
  - danbruc 12y ago
    I read your discussion there, let me pick one of your early comments. It does this (in general) by giving points to people who satisfy other people's values and proportional to how much they satisfy them. These points can be used to satisfy their own values after and this creates a feedback loop of value satisfaction. IMO a very good thing. If I understand you correctly, you think that what Adam Smith explained with the invisible hand, that all individuals pursuing their best interests will usually result in a beneficial situation for society as a whole, is true. If that is the case I have to disagree, otherwise just ignore the rest of the comment. There is nothing that justifies this assumption, if everyone just tries to maximize its individual gain there is no force that will ensure that gains for society as a whole are simultaneously maximized. Let's just stick with the topic of the article, slavery. If a few people exploit the workforce of a large number of slaves they surly maximize their personal gains but you can hardly argue that it leads to a good overall situation. By the way, I want to avoid the moral discussion and will just take it for granted that we agree that a world in which the slaves are not slaves but receive a fair compensation for their work is a better world.
    - grinnbearit 12y ago
      > that all individuals pursuing their best interests will usually result in a beneficial situation for society as a whole, The very next sentence I wrote disagrees. > Of course there are problems, every system has winners and losers and thats why we have taxation and welfare, to smooth out some of the issues. The choice of capitalism depends on moral subjectivity, its a necessary part of the discussion. As I said before, capitalism is a type 2 system. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338441 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9338441 At the end of the discussion I asked a question that eli_gottlieb didn't get around to answering. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9345477 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9345477 This was specific to economic democracy but you can replace that with any other alternative system, the question would still apply and be interesting.