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To gain insight into the state of an economy, most economists rely on a common statistic named the Gross Domestic Product (GDP). The GDP looks at the value of final goods and services produced during a particular period, usually a quarter or a year.

Given America’s history with slavery and eventual emancipation, especially the Emancipation Proclamation and the Thirteenth Amendment, the average person might be left with the impression that slavery was only ended thanks to the efforts of a powerful nation-state. In fact, one might even go as far as to assume that slavery could only be brought to an end through government policy and enforcement.

Since early 2022, the big buzz in the tech industry, and among laymen in the general public, has been “artificial intelligence.” While the concept isn’t new—AI has been the term used to describe how computers play games since at least the 1980s—it’s once again captured the public’s imagination.

It might seem like common sense to say that good ideas should be clear, but the notion that good ideas should be obscure and inaccessible to laymen has long been prevalent in academic circles.

“Speaking truth to power” is not easy when you support that power. Perhaps this is the reason why so few Western historians are willing to tell the whole truth about state crimes during this century.