Myth: American slavery was more barbaric than other slave trades.
Fact: The American Colonies took in only about 4% of Transatlantic African slaves, yet by 1825, only one hundred years later, the US had a quarter of the black New World population. This boom in the African population is a direct result of the differences between American slavery and that of rest of the New World. For starters, slaves elsewhere were typically worked literally to death. In the American colonies, slaves received conditions that, although abhorrent, miserable, wretched and undeserved, were still far more suitable than those in places like the Caribbean and Brazil.
Part of this has to do with the timelines and how the Spanish and British empires differed. Spain began importing slaves to the New World in the 1570s, at which time the average life expectancy of a slave in the New World was only 3 years. In addition, the Spanish brought few women slaves as they never planned on allowing African slaves to have families. Men were brought alone, worked until they died, and then quickly replaced.
In contrast, the land that would become the American colonies did not start importing slaves until the 1720s, 150 years after Spain introduced the Atlantic Slave Trade to the New World. As a result, most American slaves were generations removed from native Africans, many by 4 or 5 generations. In addition, the American colonies had a balance of men and women slaves, and owners allowed for families and a flourishing population for over a century and a half.
Myth: America promoted slavery and made it worse.
Fact: The United States of America was just a small part of just one slavery movement, the Transatlantic Slave Trade, which was relatively small compared to other slave trades both before and after.
Of the nearly 12 million slaves sold in Africa, only 10.7 million Africans survived the Middle Passage into the New World. Of those, only about 450,000 came either directly or indirectly to North America. That number is roughly 4% of the total New World slavery. To add some perspective, Britain shipped over 300,000 Irish slaves, which, along with the murder of 500,000 Irish, reduced the country’s population by 60%. Source
Even still, between slaves of all races, America’s role in slavery was just a drop in the repugnant, disparaging pond that is one of humanity’s great sins.
From a numbers standpoint, America’s role in slavery is small when compared to other New World colonies and minuscule when compared to the West African countries that exported slaves.
But how about from an ideological perspective? After all, many folks like to claim that American culture and policy embraced slavery. Let’s look at what history says:
First, in the 1770s-80s the founding fathers wrote the US Constitution and the Bill of Rights. These founding documents were among the first to grant freedom to all men, and while it took several generation for this to actually come to pass, America’s doctrine pioneered the end of slavery.
Next, in 1854, abolitionist conservatives form the Republican Party, or Grand Old Party, as we say, for the express purpose of freeing the slaves. And the first Republican president? Abraham Lincoln.
Then, in 1861, Abraham Lincoln declares war on the confederate states that won’t give up their slaves, and on the vampires threatening to topple the union. In fact, the American Civil War is the only civil war that was fought for the abolition of slavery and over 650,000 men died in order to rid our nation of the sickness that is slavery. (most of them were white BTW)
That’s right, more men died in the civil war than were broiught as slaves/
Now before you come at me with the whole “the civil war wasn’t about slavery” bit. Let me read a letter from your personal hero, Karl Marx, addressed to Abe Lincoln .
“If resistance to the Slave Power was the reserved watchword of your first election, the triumphant war cry of your re-election is Death to Slavery….The workingmen of Europe feel sure that, as the American War of Independence initiated a new era of ascendancy for the middle class, so the American Antislavery War will do for the working classes.” – Karl Marx, in letter to President Lincoln
That’s right my friends, Karl Marx called the Civil War the “American Antislavery War.” And if Marx said, well then it has to be true.
Back to the mythbusting, it’s also worth mentioning that even though slavery predates written record and has been a part of nearly every tribe, empire, clan, family and community worldwide, the Christian countries of the Western world (which includes the US) were able to dismantle the practice of slavery and practically wipe it out in the span of only three generations. Not just in their own countries, but worldwide. (Well except for Africa and the Islamic countries where slavery remained common practice and still exists in some places)
America didn’t promote slavery, America destroyed slavery.
In closing, next time one of your SJW friends tries to tell you how America was a slave nation, show them this video and watch the steam of anger fill their head. But be careful, factual overload has its side effects.
The following are ten questions that every American needs to ask before going to the polls and casting a vote. The first few questions address general economic issues and history. Next there are some questions concerning current presidential candidates, specifically, Bernie Sanders. The last question deals with the ethics of income inequality and what we as Americans can/should do to end it.
Question #1. How much does the 1% make?
A. If you make $350,000 or more, you’re in the top 1%. A common misconception is that all one percenters are bringing in millions and millions of dollars per year. In actuality, the threshold to become part of the top 1% begins around $340k/yr. The average income for the top 1% is estimated by Forbes to be around $700k/yr.
Question #2. When was income inequality at its lowest in America?
As shown in the chart above, America was most equal in terms of income during the Reagan years of the 80’s. In fact, we see the recent increase in inequality make a big jump in the late nineties and then completely surge since the mid 2000’s. Income inequality has increased dramatically under the Obama administration and now approaches the rates of the 1930’s.
Question # 3. How much of the U.S. budget is spent on the military?
A. Bernie’s plan involves significant defunding to the military. According to the Federal Budgeting Office, 15.88% of the total U.S. budget goes toward funding the military, with an additional 4.19% towards Veterans Benefits. For context, Medicare and Healthcare account for 27.42% of the budget, while 33.26% goes to Social Security, Unemployment and Labor benefits. More than 60% of the entire US budget is currently spent on entitlements, which literally triples the portion of our budget used for military and veteran expenses.
Question #4. How much does the US currently spend on healthcare?
Dollars and cents aside, the real question is not “cost,” but “value.” The American cancer survival rates rank among the best in the world. Waiting times for receiving care, including elective surgeries are significantly lower in the U.S. than in other nations. The U.S. also has the sixth-lowest average hospital stay length.
That’s not to say that the U.S. healthcare system doesn’t have it’s own massive flaws and failures. Both sides of the aisle agree that our system needs repairs and according to Sanders, Obamacare has come up short.
However, the single-payer model may prove too costly for America. Clause Castonguay, the architect of the Canadian single-payer (socialized) system has since opposed single-payer systems and said,
“We thought we could resolve the system’s problems by rationing services or injecting massive amounts of new money into it,” says Castonguay. “We are proposing to give a greater role to the private sector so that people can exercise freedom of choice.” – Clause Castonguay (Father of Canadian Healthcare)
Question #5. What is the current U.S. debt?
A. The current U.S. debt is just above $19,000,000,000,000 (trillion). The economy is losing value and credibility. For the first time since 1941, America has dropped it’s AAA credit rating with S&P. This graphic explains our debt situation in terms of a family budget. Note: Added debt from Sanders’ plan is on the right. (How much new debt? Just keep on reading to find out):
Question #6. How much is Bernie’s plan going to cost?
The new costs of the Sanders program have been estimated at over $28 trillion for healthcare, with an additional $1.5 trillion in other spending (free tuition, expansion of entitlements, etc), bringing the total just shy of $30 trillion. Simply put, this would nearly double our debt over ten years.
How does this cost compare with anticipated revenue? Well, in earnest, not well. Despite costing an additional $29.5 trillion, all of the revenue collected by Bernie’s plan via taxation, fees, surcharges and the elimination of breaks still comes up about $8 trillion short of covering Bernie’s plan.
The viability of Bernie’s plan as it’s currently laid out been the subject of many American economists. The preponderance of evidence suggests that Sanders’ ambitious plan, as currently written, would not come close to paying for itself. However, some have analyzed Bernie’s plan in principle to answer whether the policies could work if taxes were even higher. The following video provides a satirical but honest perspective, complete with numbers, facts and figures to address if and how Bernie’s plan could work.
Question #7. What is Bernie’s tax plan and how does it compare with competitors?
Now that actual numbers have been released by the campaigns, we can get a picture of how the national tax burden would be spread between the upper, middle and lower classes. Currently, the top 1% of wealth earners pay nearly half of all income taxes despite making only 17% of expanded cash income. In other words, the one percenters’ share of taxes is 2.7 times their share of income. While the wealthiest Americans pay nearly three times more than they pull in, the bottom 60% of Americans pay only 2% of all income taxes. According to the Tax Foundation, the top 1 percent of households collectively pay more in total taxes than all of the tax-paying households in the bottom 90 percent
In addition, Sanders has supported legislation to: repeal housing and wage exemptions for US citizens working abroad, tax capital gains at the regular income rate, increase the death tax, institute a new financial transaction tax and cap the home mortgage interest deduction at $300,000. He also voted “no” on increasing the child tax credit and opposed HR 3081, which provided tax relief for small business owners.
If history is any indicator, Bernie’s plan will likely have even larger tax increases hit the middle class. Sanders has often referred to Scandinavian models as examples of his policies. The Tax Foundation explains that Scandinavian countries raise their revenue largely from the middle class. Scandinavian income taxes are “flat,” in that they tax most people at high rates, not just high-income taxpayers.
For example, the top marginal tax rate of Denmark is 60% and it applies to all income over 1.2 times the average income in Denmark. For American perspective, all income over $60,000 (1.2 times the average income of about $50,000 in the United States) would be taxed at 60% if we were to match the Scandinavian model. A model that has come under increased scrutiny and is currently undergoing significant changes.
Question #9. How much money, outside of income taxes, would be raised in Bernie’s plan?
A. According to Bernie’s website, only $1.5 trillion, less than 5% of the projected costs come from non-income taxes. This places a high burden on taxes in order to raise money sufficient for financing Sanders’ bold plans as roughly 95% of the funding will come from income taxes.
Aside from income tax increases, the Sanders campaign has outlined plans to target offshore tax havens, establish a Wall Street speculation fee and end subsidies for energy companies. Also, Bernie plans on taxing capital gains and dividends the same as work, meaning that money that has previously been taxed will be taxed again. Such a policy dissociates from modern economic research findings which conclude that such rates tend to deflate natioanl GDP and hurt job growth:
“On balance, the evidence supports the economic case for a low rate of tax on capital gains. Recent actual experience suggests that a low rate of tax on capital gains increases capital investment and new business formation. Tax revenues have surged when the capital gains rate has been cut as trillions of dollars of locked-in capital are released to be put to more productive uses.” – Stephen Moore
Question #10. Will you pay your fair share?
The final question is a personal question regarding income inequality, and how far we are willing to go in order to end income inequality worldwide. It comes from author and historian Tom Woods, featured in the video below.
If you have answers for any of these questions or disagree with something here, comment below and tell me where I’m wrong.
Following the LDS church’s update to policies regarding families of same sex marriage. I’ve had many friends ask me lots of questions. Until now, I wanted to keep my thoughts to myself, however, I felt impressed to share my thoughts from what I’ve gathered regarding the change. Below is a list of 6 questions I’ve received over the last few days. If you have anymore, please comment below and ask them. If you think I’m wrong about something, please comment. If you haven’t yet seen it, please watch this video which explains the policy.
Is it even legal?
Not only is the policy legal, it is almost purely legal. In fact, the change actually reinforces the legality of recent supreme court rulings same-sex unions. For those unfamiliar, the LDS church and proponents of same-sex marriage have an interesting legal history filled with ebbs and flows of a unique nature. Some of it has been received positively by the LGBT community. For example, when a Utah judge overturned the state’s ban on same-sex marriage, the LDS church helped author an anti-discrimination bill known as, the “Utah Compromise” which received national attention for how well it was received by the LGBT community. Not long after, the church offered a sizable donation to a local LGBT charity. However, many LGBT people were livid on the stance the church took during California’s via “Proposition 8.”And while this recent policy is merely a byproduct of the continued legal back and forth between the parties, it has reopened wounds for many members of the church and for others who feel affected by it.
A major part of this policy is to provide legal protection for the church: “By categorizing same-sex relationships as apostasy, the Church puts itself in a strong legal position should a same-sex couple sue in order to be married by a bishop or in the temple.”Similar precautions are being taken by many churches in the US. This situation may sound hyperbolic on it’s face, but such extreme cases are certainly not unfounded. In 2013, a group of wealthy men sued the Church of England to allow their gay sons to be married.
What this change mainly consist of is a re-categorization of how the church deals with families of same sex couples. Where before there was no legal policy on families of same-sex couples, the church has now reclassified such couples in a way that acknowledges their legal status. Homosexual activity has always been banned within the church and subject to discipline, including excommunication. This is not a change in how the church views homosexuality, it is simply a new legal categorization of it.
To use biblical terms, same-sex unions are no longer deemed “fornication,” which is sex outside of marriage, but are seen as “apostasy” which is open rebellion to church doctrine and policies. The attitude of the church has not changed. When the supreme court, despite public push back, changed the laws making same-sex marriage legal, the church had to respond in order to reflect the new legal environment. No supreme court change, no change in church policy.
Why punish the children?
The children are not punished. Contrary to some reports, children of same sex couples can still attend church activities and congregational meetings, visit with missionaries, receive priesthood blessings and even receive financial assistance from the church. So can their parents.The policy of the church when baptizing children has consistently been that no children of any circumstance can be baptized in the church without approval from their parents. I personally witnessed people sacrifice baptism for years because one or both of their parents did not allow it.
This policy respects the law and legal rights of same sex marriage families by indemnifying the children. It protects the children from dealing with the consequences of a family in contention. A child is in a difficult position when their faith contradicts their own familial structure. This would be further exacerbated with the lifestyle of full church membership, which includes engagement, activity and visitation from other members. Lots of it. Mormons are generally nothing if not involved, engaged and uber outgoing. The church would rather wait until children can make their own legal decision to avoid potential family problems. Yes, in a way, this policy is almost strangely pro-gay family.
How unique is this policy?
The church actually has similar policies for a number of groups, a few notable examples include: citizens of communist countries, Muslim converts, and children from polygamous families or who have parents that were excommunicated. Each of these groups has a certain reason that they are given special treatment within the church. In all cases, it has much more to do with protecting the individual than preserving church doctrine.
Should we be surprised?
No. The church has long held to this stance and unlike many faiths today, the LDS church is not known for changing key beliefs for the sake of assuaging the public. Many church policies throughout history have faced severe criticism. Despite the external pressure placed on the church over the years, church leadership has maintained its principles. Even when their views seem antiquated or even as bigotry by outsiders.
I’m LDS and have trouble reconciling my feelings regarding this policy, what should I do?
The solution can be surprisingly simple. It’s the primary answers we all know:
Review James 1:5, “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God…”
Bear in mind that the church’s doctrine and beliefs regarding homosexuality have not changed even after this policy.
Ask your self, “Who do you believe leads this church, a cabal of old men, or the King of Kings Himself?”
Be cognizant of the fact that there are many people trying to harm the church through deception. Don’t fall for it!
Lastly, if answers through prayer seem nebulous or untenable, I would encourage you to remember the words of Isaiah 55:8-9
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”