[ExI] Famous Scientists saying Racist Things.

[spike at rainier66.com]

> On Behalf Of Adrian Tymes via extropy-chat
Subject: Re: [ExI] Famous Scientists saying Racist Things.

 

Yes, but the rewriting to be done there adds in major things that were omitted: the opposite of erasing history.

 

For instance, yes George Washington was a slave owner - and he could not have done what he did had he set his slaves free as soon as he gained ownership of them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ja we get that, and we get Jefferson for the same reason: both those guys were slave owners and got rich (by the standards of the day) as a result.

 

Why are we tearing down Lincoln?

 

We have some kinds of ethical love/hate relations with historical figures, such as Leland Stanford.  He risked a ton of money, built the transcontinental railroad, made skerjillions (which some consider wrong) but on the other hand, it enabled east/west travel and movement of material which is good, but it converted indigenous people’s hunting ground into farmland which is bad for those who hunted there but good for those who eat the crops grown there, so… Stanford is simultaneously a good guy and a  bad guy.

 

And what are we doing now which will be considered scandalous in 200 years?

 

spike

 

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