The Journal of John Woolman

I was out of literary fiction on hand that I wanted to read as part of my out-of-genre resolution, so I decided to go back to the Harvard 5-foot shelf. This was the next book, and it was an interesting look back in time if not something I would typically read for fun. It's the journal of an 18th century Quaker abolitionist at a time when even most Quakers were like, “Eh... slavery is probably bad, but us white people are just benefitting a lot, so...” The pro-slavery arguments Woolman deals with are fascinating and often frighteningly close to anti-BLM arguments today. The whole, “Well, their lives were so horrible in Africa, we're actually doing them a favor,” is particularly disturbing. I enjoy Woolman's biblical shutdowns about racial inferiority (you can't believe in the race of Cain and also believe in the Great Flood), and his painful explanation that slaves might be “lazy” due to being horrifically treated and forced to labor in something that benefits them not at all. Seems obvious and yet modern day systemic racism prevails.

Now, I'm not a Christian, so Woolman's attitude towards the morality of dyed clothing is a little much for me, but he does also manage to explore how damaging capitalism can be, how we should really think about where products come from rather than just gratifying our every wish in the most convenient way possible. He also talks about the immorality of paying taxes knowing that those taxes are funding wars against indigenous peoples. These sorts of philosophies are definitely still worth reading about today, and are are probably why this book has a place in a library of modern knowledge. If you are looking for some firsthand moral philosophy and some excellent shut downs of 18th century racists, give it a go.