Pure gray area

Originally posted by whodey
For how many centuries?

The bottom line is, we can guesstimate, are limited in our information.

Even so, the majority of people in ancient times were slaves. Do you at least admit this?

Your claim that "the vast majority of men who have walked the earth have been slaves" is nonsense. Why did you claim it when it doesn't stand up to even the scrutiny yourself could have chosen to subject it to?

Originally posted by whodey
Slavery is but one side of the coin. There are also wars being fought with essentially slave labor, and genocide etc.

I am opposed to any and all sides of the 'slavery coin'. I think we agree on this, don't we?

Originally posted by whodey
A better question would be, what constitues a slave? In ancient times there were Christian slaves who would have attested to being set free by the power of Jesus, even though they were still a slave.

A slave is a human who is considered to be property and is owned by another human. The decline of slavery is a clear case of moral progress.

Originally posted by whodey
Baaa, sheeple.

I still don't get how you can cite mankind turning away from the practice of slavery as an example of people being "sheep" or "sheeple"?

Originally posted by FMF
Your claim that "the vast majority of men who have walked the earth have been slaves" is nonsense. Why did you claim it when it doesn't stand up to even the scrutiny yourself could have chosen to subject it to?

We don't have the numbers. We can speculate, but we don't have the numbers.

My point being was that in the ancient world the majority of people, like in the Roman and Greek empires, were slaves. Do you dispute this?

The modern era is different in that populations have grown exponentially. It is also a blink of an eye in terms of time compared to antiquity.

Originally posted by FMF
A slave is a human who is considered to be property and is owned by another human. The decline of slavery is a clear case of moral progress.

So when would you say that this "progess" began?

Would you consider Christianity having anything to do with the change?

Originally posted by FMF
I still don't get how you can cite mankind turning away from the practice of slavery as an example of people being "sheep" or "sheeple"?

The point being is that there are a myriad of ways to control people. Slavery is just but one.

Originally posted by FMF
Your claim that "the vast majority of men who have walked the earth have been slaves" is nonsense. Why did you claim it when it doesn't stand up to even the scrutiny yourself could have chosen to subject it to?

Take it up with Milton Friedman. He would agree it seems.

Originally posted by whodey
The point being is that there are a myriad of ways to control people. Slavery is just but one.

The end of the institution of slavery represents progress. Steps taken to eradicate human trafficking represent moral progress too.

Originally posted by whodey
Take it up with Milton Friedman. He would agree it seems.

Milton Friedman is not here on this forum to defend your arrant nonsense. 😉

Originally posted by whodey
So when would you say that this "progess" began?

Would you consider Christianity having anything to do with the change?

There were of course many Christians behind the abolition movement in places like the UK and I am sure that in most cases their Christian faith animated them on this issue. Slavery has been tackled also by secular institutions and multi-laterally at the international level.

I note you put the word progress in quotation marks. Do you see the demise of slavery as moral progress ~ yes or no?

Originally posted by whodey
We don't have the numbers. We can speculate, but we don't have the numbers.

You made the claim, whodey. And you can't back it up because it's gibberish hyperbole. Even your own offering about "half the population" being slaves being "the norm" back when there were a relatively tiny number of people in the world makes nonsense of your assertion that "the vast majority of men" who have ever lived have been slaves.

Originally posted by whodey
My point being was that in the ancient world the majority of people, like in the Roman and Greek empires, were slaves. Do you dispute this?

I dispute the claim you made that "the vast majority of men who have walked the earth have been slaves". You then made a claim that it was only "half the population". And now your latest claim is that it was the "majority". Of course there was widespread slavery in the past; how else would one be able to welcome the end of legal slavery as moral progress if it hadn't been ended having been widespread in the past?

Originally posted by whodey
The modern era is different in that populations have grown exponentially. It is also a blink of an eye in terms of time compared to antiquity.

Blink of an eye, or no blink of an eye, the vast majority of men who have walked the earth most certainly have not been slaves.

Originally posted by whodey
We don't have the numbers. We can speculate, but we don't have the numbers.

My point being was that in the ancient world the majority of people, like in the Roman and Greek empires, were slaves. Do you dispute this?

The modern era is different in that populations have grown exponentially. It is also a blink of an eye in terms of time compared to antiquity.

No we don't have all the numbers.

But the world population at 1AD was about half a billion.

And slaves in the Roman Empire represented 10-20% of the population.
(An historically high figure - other civilisations would have had lower percentages)

So I don't see how most people through history could have been slaves!