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There are no perfect people, and I don’t even like the idea of good people or bad people. Everyone has some good and some bad in them. The north were the good team, but that doesn’t mean that they were good people or that the south was evil and full of evil people. Slavery was evil, but that isn’t the only institution, belief, or generally accepted practice that has later been recognized as evil. Nor will it be the last. If you want to evaluate people from the past by today’s standards, then very few will pass. Nobody is born with an inherent and correct understanding of right and wrong, it has to be taught and reinforced by parents and by society, which means that it will vary and change. If we are a product of the time and culture we live in, then it isn’t fair to judge them by our standards and culture.
cattywampas@lemm.ee 3 weeks ago
Probably. I’ve heard arguments about whether to judge people according to modern standards or the standards of their time, and I think it’s important to do both. History is complicated, human beings even more so. I think we should all work a little more towards understanding people without condoning or condemning.
Comrade_Spood@slrpnk.net 3 weeks ago
I don’t necessarily see the issue with codemning behavior based on modern standards. There were people at the time who (while yes were ahead of the majority of people (in the US at least)) opposed slavery. I feel it is entirely fair to extend the belief that those that believed in slavery were morally wrong even for the time.
I feel a modern parallel (not perfect but I mean what is for American slavery, it was that fucked up) is trans rights. Trans rights is a hot button topic that is highly debated, similar to slavery or any other hot button topic through history (civil rights, women’s right to vote, etc). Those that oppose trans rights are yes a product of their time, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t morally wrong and shouldn’t be held accountable for those beliefs.