Guns, Greed and the Making of Modernity
Summary
Host Thomas Small interviews historian Clifton Crais about his book *The Killing Age*, which argues that modernity was forged by violence, slavery, and firearms rather than just industrial innovation. Crais introduces the term "Mortocene" to describe this era, detailing how global debt networks and gun trade empowered warlords and fueled exploitation from Africa to the American West. The discussion reveals how everyday commodities like ivory and leather are entangled in this history of mass killing and ecological destruction. Ultimately, the episode explores how recognizing our shared compl…
Topics discussed
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Introduction: The Killing Age and the Mortocene
Clifton Crais's background and the book's thesis
Crais's childhood, education, and time in South Africa
Defining the Mortocene vs. the Anthropocene
Global networks of violence and the rise of warlords
The African slave trade and the erosion of social contracts
Voodoo as a spiritual response to state violence in Dahomey
Counter-magic, Christianity, and the critique of power
The mechanics of the gun-slave trade and merchant complicity
Debunking the liberal narrative of modernization
Moby Dick, Frederick Douglass, and the whaling industry
The industrial slaughter of bison for leather belts
Modern complicity and the spiritual shift around 1750
The paradox of violence and the rise of human rights
Future challenges: Drones, AI, and concluding thoughts
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