Re: A failing experiment
"The West" have created the finest societies that any humans in history have ever been privileged to live in. Which doesn’t mean they’re perfect, but in terms of freedom and opportunity to do stuff, there is no comparison. Particularly as all other options involve much higher poverty and chances of dying early of something awful.
Why is slavery regarded as evil? Because more modern societies decided that I it is. Remember that slavery has been constant throughout recorded history. It had pretty much died out in Western Europe as feudalism evolved in the 12th/13th Centuries. And was taken up again with enthusiasm as Europeans met African and Arab slave traders in the 15th. In fact Europeans were the victims of slavery in the intervening times, villagers from as far north as Ireland and Cornwall were taken by North African slave traders and sold off in places like Turkey. What made the Atlantic slave trade so uniquely awful was the industrial scale of it. I doubt the cruelty or disregard for life was unique at all. I don't think slaves had been taken or moved in those numbers since the final days of the Roman Republic.
The West being a meaningless term now, as it includes Australia, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore etc. But if you want to live somewhere prosperous, free and tolerant, you couldn’t do much better than Western Europe.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
