This a speech given by the abolitionist (and former slave) Frederick Douglass on July 5, 1852. It has been described as the "perhaps the greatest antislavery oration ever given."
Historia
The world is on loop, and to prove it, Historia serves up old, dusty pieces with immense contemporary relevance.
This is Chapter 4 of Alexis de Tocqueville's classic book, 'Democracy in America', first published in 1835. Here's a question: how much have things changed since then?
Milton Friedman once said about this classic essay from 1958, 'I know of no other piece of literature that so succinctly, persuasively, and effectively illustrates the meaning of both Adam Smith’s invisible hand—the possibility of cooperation without coercion—and Friedrich Hayek’s emphasis on the importance of dispersed knowledge.' Nuff said.
This classic piece by BR Ambedkar was written in the mid-1930s, and relates a childhood experience that made him acutely aware of his caste.
This essay by Friedrich Hayek, first published in 1945, is in our view the most important essay in the history of economics. It argues that central planning cannot work because the knowledge of people's needs and capacities is dispersed throughout society, and the most effective mechanism to put that knowledge to use is the price system in a free market.
Walter Lippmann's seminal book, Public Opinion, was published in 1922, but reads like it was written for 2017. Here's the opening chapter of the book, which describes, long before the advent of social media, "the insertion between man and his environment of a pseudo-environment."
Bad language and poor thinking are often both the cause and effect of each other. George Orwell's classic essay illustrates why, and explains what we can do about it.