Quote Originally Posted by Oldwiley View Post
In our previous conversation in this thread, I kinda pointed out that historically slavery was pretty ubiquitous: I mean as well as the infamous colonial era of Europe, by extension there are places that came late to moving on like Brasil and the USA, both continuing in this horrific practise after it was dying out in colonial Europe. Not to mention the much less discussed trade of the East African and Indian ocean centred around Zanzibar and China that was both contemporary and pre-dated the triangular Atlantic trade. We could add in the Mongols or Rome for earlier examples.

Its probably a lot harder to name places where slavery was not rampant than the other way around. This is much to shame of humanity. Its a righty sensitive topic and even peoples of the victims own cultures were involved often between warring factions. The moral code of slavery = bad is a fairly new one and it lurks on the surface even to this day to some extent. Its after effects resonate around the world.
Yes, it was ubiquitous among dominant cultures, but not all the slave trade should be treated equally either: many Roman & Greek slaves were treated far better (hundreds of years before it) than the slaves during the Atlantic slave trade, which is known to be one of the most brutal times on record. "Destroy all Brutes" probably demonstrates this best.

Quote Originally Posted by Oldwiley View Post
So we digress, In the context of middle earth is Gondor morally superior to Umbar, dark lords aside? Probably a more ethical nation? How do the cultures within middle earth view the interlopers settling down a kingdom and claiming all this land. Were the people of Dunland right to have a bone to pick with Rohan?
It would seem that depends on how Chris Pierson decides to write it in, it will have complexity, no doubt. But these things are always only a matter of perspective.

Dunlandings certainly have cause to hate Rohan and Gondor, but those clans are also fighting each other for dominance & slaughtering the more harmonious ones as they did in Trum Dreng.