15 August 2012 - 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

UNESCO film titled "Slave Routes: A Global Vision"

Introduced By Ian Buckley

Note: You may click on the image to view it full sized

Click here to view Ian Buckley's introduction to the film

Resources

Click here to view the UNESCO page relating to the DVD

Click here to view the Guide for the use of the DVD by teachers

For Adam Smith original texts, and related information, see:

Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Books I-V, (1776) Edwin Cannan, ed.,5th Edition, Methuen, London, 1904.
The Library of Economics and Liberty site for 'Wealth of Nations' is
http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smWN.html

Smith, Adam. The Theory of Moral Sentiments , Glasgow, 1759.
http://www.econlib.org/library/Smith/smMS.html

Schlefer, Jonathan, Today's Most Mischievous Quotation
Atlantic Monthly, Volume 281, No. 3; pages 16 - 19, Mar. 1998.
http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/98mar/misquote.htm

Buckley, Ian. Learning from Adam Smith - Help at Hand Today, or
How the World's Economies Might be Justly Optimised -
https://emeritus.anu.edu.au/members/ian_buckley/pages/AdamSmith_Essay.pdf

Macinnis, Peter. Bittersweet The Story of Sugar. Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, 2002

Ronald, Susan. The Pirate Queen: Elizabeth I, Her Pirate Adventurers
and the Dawn of Empire Sutton Publishing, Chalford, 2007

Abstract: The history of human slavery goes back some thousands of years, spanning the Empires of Greece and Rome. However, it's vast expansion via the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade did not occur until Columbus' voyages revealed the New World's gold, silver and other treasures. For Spain, native American slaves sufficed initially, but decimated by European infection, these were soon replaced by slaves shipped to Hispaniola from West Africa. And this African trafficking grew remarkably, hugely expanded due not only to Europe's hunger for gold and silver, but to insatiable demands for African labour to grow and harvest sugar, rice, cotton and other cash-crops for trade back to Europe.

Thus growing year by year, it is estimated that between 12 and possibly as many as 20 million Africans were shipped abroad under hideous conditions, commonly only 85%surviving the journey. At neither end was census taken, but ships' records reveal these mixed-gender 'property' cargoes included some 50% children.

So, let us ask, how could professedly Christian Europe have descended to such enormities, - and for over 300 years!? Well, as described by Adam Smith, it appears that all of Europe's elite merchant groups held it 'right' that their state-sanctioned monopoly grow in riches and prevail over rival-state competitors even 'though that meant repeated war.(AS_WN, IV. 3 Part 1. 38) And unfortunately that trend, already strong in the 16th century, continued to grow throughout Europe's Industrial Revolution, notwithstanding Smith's sound advice that Europe's and the world's people would gain far more wealth, well-being, stability and peace by trading fairly and cooperatively both at home and abroad.(AS_WN, IV.7.166)

"Slave Routes, A Global Vision", is a very fine UNESCO film, a wonderfully researched and presented reminder of one of 'homo sapiens' greatest crimes against humanity.

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE: Ian Buckley holds Melbourne University degrees, MB, BS (1951) PhD, Pathology (1961). Since retirement, he has concentrated on researching the origins of the overseas wars Australia has been involved in, an interest followed since WWII. He has also continued working with the Medical Association for Prevention of War (Australia), an organisation earlier formed in Britain by Richard Doll and others responding to the threat of mutual nuclear annihilation brought on by the Cold War.