I think you could certainly argue they’d have been abolitionists if they weren’t mostly rich hypocrites but they quite literally took the next step on the ideological evolution that led to socialism.
The rise of liberalism was radical in a world of absolute monarchies. The rise of capitalism was radical in a world of merchantilism and protectionism.
Demanding that people who lived in that world just invent socialist thought is about as reasonable as me demanding that you personally make the final breakthrough on fusion reactors.
Even if you were capable of being a part of it, at this point in time you are working on the technology that will enable those future discoveries.
Later thinkers will build on your work. Marx both criticised and built on the thoughts of Smith and Locke.
There is not a continuum of political progress. Looking back at historical records, it is easy to create a narrative that political progress, like time, is linear and progressing toward some goal.
Systems without heirarchy continue to be an option. Prefiguring such a system without a monopoly on violence is the tricky bit.
I think you could certainly argue they’d have been abolitionists if they weren’t mostly rich hypocrites but they quite literally took the next step on the ideological evolution that led to socialism.
The rise of liberalism was radical in a world of absolute monarchies. The rise of capitalism was radical in a world of merchantilism and protectionism.
Demanding that people who lived in that world just invent socialist thought is about as reasonable as me demanding that you personally make the final breakthrough on fusion reactors.
Even if you were capable of being a part of it, at this point in time you are working on the technology that will enable those future discoveries.
Later thinkers will build on your work. Marx both criticised and built on the thoughts of Smith and Locke.
That’s just how fucking time works.
There is not a continuum of political progress. Looking back at historical records, it is easy to create a narrative that political progress, like time, is linear and progressing toward some goal.
Systems without heirarchy continue to be an option. Prefiguring such a system without a monopoly on violence is the tricky bit.