Comments
Follow Comments Sorted by time
lucky11
· 3 years ago
· FIRST
Nothing like trying to compare today's cultural standards and morals to ones hundreds of years ago. It was also a time when most of the world held slaves including most of Europe. Not that it's in the same category but let me give you an accurate example. To all most anyone currently living using a car, bus, or plane is completely acceptable and even desired. If in 250 years they have moved beyond fossil fuels and find the very idea revolting and immoral because of the damage it does to the environment there will be people who can't understand why we didn't just all give up using fossil fuels completely simply on principle. Those people would find all of us immoral, horrible people. The fact that people can't understand cultural standards change is just idiotic. And if anyone thinks they would still hold the current day's values if they were raised and lived in a past era they are moronic in the extreme.
5
·
Edited 3 years ago
purplepumpkin
· 3 years ago
(In this precise example, I feel like the fact we're aware of the damage changes the possible moral judgement. But generally speaking of course it's a good point. Cultural changes have to be taken into account while thinking of the past.)
2
lucky11
· 3 years ago
There were many in the past that held similar values we do today. Some of them spoke out but many just didn't get slaves. Just like today there are those that completely abstain from using fossil fuels and speak out against it. Problem is the culture needs to change in order for massive reforms to not only get headway but also become more popular. The industrial revolution was one of the leading forces changing the culture back then which made slavery less important. A single man could suddenly do the work of 10 reducing the need for for such a large single purpose labor force. President Washington even covers many of these concerns in his letters speaking about his will. He didn't really like slavery but couldn't see how to eliminate it with causing massive problems. That's the problem with any system which relies almost solely on one method to function.
