Abolition

" The difference between a welfare state and a totalitarian state is a matter of time"

Ayn Rand

While reading a movie review of "Amazing Grace" in The Week magazine I also read their related story regarding the history of slavery beyond the United Kingdom. To put an evil institution like legalized slavery into perspective we need to be aware of the time line related to the abolition of slavery:

1807 - the slave trade was abolished in the United Kingdom

1833 - slavery (not slave trading) was abolished in the British colonies but replaced with Indian "indentured labor" (just another form of slavery if you ask me)

1848 - France abolished slavery

1865 - the USA abolished slavery

1886 - Cuba (a Spanish colony at the time) abolished slavery

1888 - Brazil abolished slavery

1962 - Saudi Arabia abolished slavery

So it has only been 45 years since Saudi Arabia abolished slavery -- the parallels to the the Old South in the USA are interesting. Like the Old South Saudi Arabia is a "one crop economy" - oil instead of tobacco which is not a sustainable model.

For all my readers who feel the USA is a "slave" to countries like Saudi Arabia due to our oil consumption levels I say -- USE MORE OIL -- because the faster we use it up the faster alternative energy sources will be developed.

Todd