Against all odds, a film based on a 150-year-old, almost forgotten book has generated international acclaim and is positioned to sweep multiple Oscars categories. The recently-released film 12 Years A Slave is based on the autobiography of the same name by Solomon Northrup, a free black man who lived in New York state with his wife and two children before the Civil War. … [Read more...]
The Age of Oil: Every man a master, every man a slave
"If we do commit a sin owning slaves," said one Alabama slaveholder in 1835, "it is certainly one which is attended with great conveniences." You can say the same thing about using energy from fossil fuels — it may be immoral, but it sure is handy. And that's the conundrum that Andrew Nikiforuk examines in The Energy of Slaves: Oil and the New Servitude. Every man a … [Read more...]