HOUSEKEEPING'S PROFILE

author=LockeZ
Well for one thing, the PERCENTAGE of people in slavery today is the lowest it's ever been... there are just almost ten times as many total people in the world as there were in 1800.

But you're also right about the definition changing. For example, during feudalism, by modern standards, everybody who wasn't nobility was enslaved. But at the time they were not considered slaves because they weren't legally "owned," they were just controlled. In modern day NOBODY is legally "owned" as a slave, because that's not legally possible in any country, and so the definition that human rights group use has shifted to not require that any more. In the 1800s sense of the term, there are no slaves remaining anywhere on Earth today, except perhaps in tiny secluded tribes.

Yeah, the important thing is less about applying pre-abolition slavery's definition today than it is applying today's definition to pre-abolition time. I would imagine that total number of slaves would even be higher in the past, percentages aside.

I don't get it; I'm one of the most cynical people I know, but I think we live in a pretty awesome time period overall, and I'm incredibly optimistic about the future. Like, there's lots of bullshit still, Donald Trump is a clown, immigrants get shit on by the ignorant, the rich have too much influence on U.S. politics, etc., but also:

-Violence has been going down over time.
-Our understanding of the universe keeps increasing.
-I'm currently talking about relatively complex subjects with people thousands of miles away from me, whereas my ancestors could only talk to people in their direct vicinity about the merits of burying potatoes in the backyard to combat witches' curses.
-I can jerk off without being excommunicated.
-I can listen to any New Wave song or play any Super Nintendo game within a minute of having the thought about them.
-Our doctors can cure and treat the vast majority of health problems, and every year the remaining list of shitty things that can kill us gets smaller.
-Food is plentiful and cheap.

Like, goddamn it guys, don't turn me into a fucking optimist.

@Dyahalto: Okay, cool. I think that diversifying the power grid is probably the best option, and I don't have too many issues with nuclear beyond waste management. Personally, I think solar's my favorite option, unless there are some drawbacks people want to make me aware of.

I've only seen them in West Texas, which is flat and featureless, so I've got positive feelings towards them. I didn't know they were being forced into unsuitable locations like that; interesting.

I'm not going to argue with you that you shouldn't take in nutrients--you obviously should--but I'm going to be a dickhead and point out that sodium is a nutrient and it's necessary for hydration (though, yeah, we tend to get more than enough). Also, I'm going to continue to be a dickhead and suggest that creating a "processed foods vs. natural foods" dichotomy is reductive; you're excluding several processed foods that provide ample nutrition and natural foods that have little to no nutrition, and, really, you should just follow Sooz's advice and read labels.