Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary

Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (Full Version)

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LadyEllen -> Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 12:03:02 PM)
In 1807, slavery was abolished in the British Empire hooray! Its the 200th anniversary this year and there are a multitude of events etc going on to commemorate it, and to recall the horrors of it all. But - what is really pissing me off about all this is that we have this idea that all we white people are somehow guilty and should apologise. Its been ten generations since the abolition Act was passed - how and why am I guilty? And then, there is this idea that every slave in the Empire was black. WRONG. I wouldnt mind laying a bet, that somewhere in my ancestral background, one of my ancestors was a slave, and white as white could be. Amongst the first slaves in the West Indies and the Americas? captured foot soldiers (white) taken in the English Civil War. And lets just for a moment think that I dont have slaves in my own ancestry. If I had anything to apologise for, ten generations on, then what would it be for exactly? My family are the poor of the poor - labourers and semi skilled workers for generations. I somehow doubt that had we prospered from dealing in human beings, that we would be as we are! And then, there is this idea of how awful we white people are for taking black people from Africa, like thieves and kidnappers. TWADDLE. Ask the Ashanti tribe of Ghana how much they made by warring with others, taking them prisoner and selling them to the highest bidder - whether that was us, the Arabs, their own people or the tribe whence they had come by way of ransom. I know I'll be flamed for this post, but my goodness it annoys me no end. Without detracting from the awful horrors of that time, can we not now look at it for what it was? Just another episode in the ongoing saga of how crap we all can be to one another. E

meatcleaver -> RE: Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 12:21:47 PM)
The slave trade was abolished but slavery wasn't abolished, that took another 25 years or so.One of the ironies of British slave trade which makes you wonder why it wasn't noticed in its day. If a slave escaped and made it to England, the slave would be a free man because slavery was illegal on English soil. Which always had me wondering how slaves could be bought and sold here but there was a court ruling in 1772. http://www.bbc.co.uk/legacies/immig_emig/england/stoke_staffs/article_1.shtml

cyberdude611 -> RE: Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 2:53:18 PM)
I don't know what dream you guys are living in... But accoring to the UN, there are over 2 million people around the world being trafficked across borders as slaves every year. This is occuring all over the world and not just 3rd world countries but also in Europe and the United States. Slavery was never abolished....

seeksfemslave -> RE: Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 3:02:17 PM)
All part of the PC bollux we have to suffer today.

LadyEllen -> RE: Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 3:50:34 PM)
Cyberdude - we know there are thousands of slaves trafficked still today. This was about the Abolition Act passed in 1807 and applicable to the British Empire in general and most specifically (though not exclusively) the slave trade with Africa. For the scum who traffick people nowadays, it might be worth them looking through the Act, as apparently it provides for financial compensation for slave owners dispossessed of their property thereunder. E

meatcleaver -> RE: Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 3:55:05 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: cyberdude611 I don't know what dream you guys are living in... But accoring to the UN, there are over 2 million people around the world being trafficked across borders as slaves every year. This is occuring all over the world and not just 3rd world countries but also in Europe and the United States. Slavery was never abolished.... 95% of us are wage slaves. Most Americans are one pay check away from Skid Row so make sure you get to work and make your boss some profits or you could end up homeless!

LadyEllen -> RE: Abolition of Slavery; 200th Anniversary (3/20/2007 4:07:13 PM)
quote: ORIGINAL: meatcleaver 95% of us are wage slaves. Most Americans are one pay check away from Skid Row so make sure you get to work and make your boss some profits or you could end up homeless! I think thats an interesting point MC; slavery as was would have been abolished eventually anyway in my view, for the same reason it was in the southern states of the US - because its not viable in an economy, once that economy reaches a certain stage of development. Aside from the modern sex slaves in the west, (where a different economy is active anyway), its notable that the places in the world where slavery persists are economically poorest. Once an economy reaches a critical point, then its far better to switch to wage slavery - something which affected my ancestors and my current family (and incidentally identified in a book by one A Hitler) up to the economic decline of the 80s, when a new model of slavery was introduced - credit slavery. The modern world is one in which we are all credit slaves, paying off loans and other credit at interest, and rarely escaping that bondage unless we lose all and drop into the sub class below the credit slave. Very few being able to live without some form of credit (mortgage, cards, finance, etc), and none being able to live without a good credit history (for which you need to have credit!), makes a good system for keeping your slaves working hard, whilst their assets and production belong to you and their welfare is their own burden not yours. Undoubtedly, it is a far better condition than that of a real slave, but are we really any freer than say a peasant of the middle ages, bound to serve his lord and tithe to the church and pay taxes and rent for the privilege of his bondage whilst living in abject poverty? E

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