Thanks for the response, again. Have a nice rest-of-labor-day. 

But we simply can’t do the level of research on every item in every post that would prevent ever having to add updates. I know it’s a shitty answer, but it is reality: this is a blog we do for no pay or other compensation of any sort (no course releases, etc.); I’m working in a state with extreme budget cuts such that we’re understaffed and taking on multiple roles to keep things running. I’ve simply had to accept what I can offer Soc Images readers at this point, without feeling that I’m cutting into time and energy that my students and coworkers, who depend on me, probably have a greater claim to right now. And many days that means putting up a quick clarification/update/note, making a mental note of comments that need attention, and hoping to someday be able to address them. Today I had enough time to actually stop and post a response, rather than just thinking I should try to do it later. The fact that most times I don’t, or don’t get corrections added to the post itself in a timely manner, isn’t a matter of disinterest. It’s the less-than-satisfying outcome of balancing a free, daily-updated product with the increased demands at my paying job, which I think simply must come first, so blogging has to get fit in in whatever way it can, with a willingness to accept being corrected publicly, around that.

That depends wholly on how you compare. Since the industrial revolution maybe, but the industrial revolution also changed a lot in terms of population, and it really was built on previous empires, such as the arabic one that was ages ahead in medicine. And when considering the social part, the western world killed off millions of people in their colonies. We might have become democratic after a while, but from the start it looks like people here got their rights enabled by oppression of people elsewhere.