Can't shake the feeling that a similar rationality was used to partially justify trading slaves "The new master feeds them bread and milk instead of just rice and water! Its a clear win for them!". Yeah I get it, its an improvement for sure but maybe the problem has roots a bit deeper that must be adressed and therefore righfully critized despite being an improvement.
It wasn't true though. The lives of enslaved people were obviously, measurably worse after enslavement and transportation. They had shorter lifespans, less freedom, literally enslavement, etc. The lives of people groups in African captured for slavery were also worse.
Economics is called the "dismal science" because slavers called the economists that when the economists pointed out slavery was both bad and inefficient.
The slavers' argument was that treating them bad taught them proper Christian character.
