Was Slavery Really A Bad Thing?

Yes.

And that's a very important lesson. Not about slavery... most people with more active brain cells than a hamster have already figured that one out. But that just because there may be two sides to every story, not both of those sides are necessarily of equal merit.

One of the ongoing themes of education is "The other side". We're taught in English class to compare and contrast written works. We're taught in social studies to look at the effects of cultural meetings on both cultures. And this important lesson... to examine a topic or question from as many viewpoints as possible... sometimes leads to a basic logical fallacy.

Just because there may be multiple views on a topic doesn't mean that all of those views are equally valid.

There is little more useful in an argument or a debate than being able to see another point of view on a topic. It enables you to find the flaws in your own arguments, and also enables you to anticipate likely responses to your statements, which allows you to be ready to counter their replies. In that respect, at least, the concept holds great value.

I could even go off for a while on the question which heads this blog post. I could point out that slavery helped fuel economic growth, or that the lives of the descendants of those slaves is far and above what the lives of the descendents of those who weren't slaves, either in Africa or South America. And then I'd counter that the economic growth could have been seen anyway, based on the bountiful acreage available and the open market system in place at the time....

... and all of it gets away from the underlying point. Slavery was evil. Period. All of the arguing back and forth in the world about this effect or that motivation bypasses the big, glaring truth in favor of the argument itself.

Sometimes it's helpful to step back from the small argument, and take in the big truth.