Thread by @adamsmithworks

So, why the heck would anyone want to do something like #WealthOfTweets anyway?--A thread on Smith and Cancel Culture
1/10
@JonahDispatch @robbysoave @jmhorp @kmanguward @jtlevy @bartwilson @PeterBoettke

We wanted to create #WealthOfTweets mostly because we thought it would be a fun way to get a conversation on Smith happening and to drive traffic to adamsmithworks.org. (Give us a click and a share if you haven't lately!) 2/10

But we chose to do #WealthOfTweets rather than, say, #TweetsOfMoralSentiments because Wealth of Nations is so frequently referenced and so infrequently read. 3/10

Everyone has their favorite line or two for classing up a paper or a lecture, but very few of us have read the whole darn thing. AND, Theory of Moral Sentiments seems like it's getting most of the attention in Smith Studies these days. So, #WealthOfTweets it was. 4/10

We wanted to read the whole thing and share the whole thing in the hopes of giving people a fun and lively way to find out what's IN THE BOOK. And maybe that would encourage them to read it rather than just quote it or talk about what they think is in it. 5/10

All that seems more important that ever because we learned yesterday that the @Edinburgh_CC has Adam Smith's gravesite on a list of sites connected to slavery and colonialism that should be reviewed for consideration and...some sort of response/removal. 6/10

As loyal readers of #WealthOfTweets know, this is grade A nonsense. Smith hated slavery. Smith thought the colonial project was a cruel, irresponsible, disastrous MESS. 7/10

Edinburgh should be having a parade in his honor, not talking about whether he should be shuffled off stage like someone's embarrassing great uncle. 8/10

We hope the @Edinburgh_CC will check out the full text of #WealthOfNations available at adamsmithworks.org, or the reading guide, or even the archives of #WealthOfTweets before they wrongly condemn someone they should be praising. 9/10

#ReadMoreSmith, friends. It matters. 10/10