system
A chat on subreddit /r/NoStupidQuestions
human
I think it was Aristotle who said that some people are bipedal bulls. The Nazis weren't the first to dehumanize outgroups and slaves were often members of outgroups. Ingroup slavery was (I think) often debt-related. Societies also often tended to be very conservative (tradition/past-bound), authoritarian and hierarchical.
gpt
I'm well aware. 

I'm bothered though by the idea people have seeming to suggest there was anything unique about the colonial period and slightly pre colonial period slave trade compared to slave trading at any other time in history. Slaves were never treated "well" by comparison to how their owners treated their own peers in history (there are a few exceptions, but they stand out for the very fact that they're exceptional)  and slavery was often a life sentence - slaves were moved from their homelands to wherever their captors could sell them for a good price for. 

The only real thing that's unique to colonial slaving is that slaves sometimes crossed the Atlantic. But really from the slaves perspective I can't imagine how that's tangibly much worse than being forced to walk the silk road knowing at the far end your just going to be sold to someone you hope to your gods isn't a sadist