a_cermak;362355
Someone upthread complained that it was unfair to judge the nation’s founding fathers for practicing slavery due to the fact that the person judging was using a 200+ year old prism to look through.
Regardless, things wer, in fact, much different then. Slavery WAS the norm. Was it right? Of course not, but were the Founding Fathers scumbags, as was suggested, because of it? Well, back then, no. Today, in certain circles, Yes. Long story short: It is over. It’s been over a long, long, time and the system that they built, had major positive influences on us, and the rest of the world. They deserve much credit for that.
An indepth reading of the Torah indicates how slaves are to be treated and it is much more like indentured servitude than it is American style slavery.
And if I am correct, indentured servants evolved into race based slavery in America.
So people knew better, they simply chose expedience over rightness. They can be judged for that.
Sure we can judge them, but should we bypass their accomplishments because of slavery? If so, then how about other parts of the world where it happend too? My whole point is that it is not fair to hate the Founding Fathers because of the system that was in place, since before THEY were born. It is not fair to trash them because of slavery and ignore their other, massive accomplishments. That is one sided, especially coming from someone who was never a slave herself!
And while the Founders were important for creating a post-Enlightenment form of government, that government was very different from what we have today. The system they created allowed each State to have its own established Church, it allowed each State to infringe on its citizens rights to free speech and free press. Check out some of the anti-abolition laws of the Southern states. Those laws applied not to slaves but to “free” people! Why? because a natural consequence of holding slaves has always been slave rebellions.
As opposed to one singular, massive government? I’ll take it. You can always move out of that state. And, absolute free speech/press, can be just as dangerous as none at all.
And to bring the thread back to Feminism, it was lucky #14 that guaranteed equal rights to women. So even if you wanted to unsqueeze feminism back into the toothpaste tube of history, how would you do it without violating #14?
The same way that it was since the 14th, but prior to the 60’s. Have the government stay out of it and let society govern society.
As it says:
No
State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any
State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The STATE, is not society at large.
Even if society has been harmed by Feminism (and I still don’t believe it because of so many other changes that happened simultaneously),
Can you share some examples?
does government or anyone else have the right to rob women of their #14 given rights due to those harms?
Government NO, society, YES.