The Unpopular Stands of Wilberforce and Volcker That Changed History

During their recent episode, Taylor, Carlisle, Daniel, and Collins discussed: The Unpopular Stands of Wilberforce and Volcker That Changed History. Here’s an excerpt from the episode:

Jake: All right. So, I have something a little special prepared for knowing that the Seawolf guys were coming on. Of course, we have the first presidential debate this evening. We’re all in the mood to soberly evaluate leadership and principles and policies, I’m sure. Yeah, right, it’s probably just going to be a lot of watching pigs roll around in the mud.

So, I’ve long respected you guys as seeming very principled and willing to speak your minds even if it wasn’t popular. It doesn’t necessarily fit the base rate of finance to be that, as frank as you guys are. So, that’s something that I appreciate and why I wanted to have this segment today.

We’re going to be exploring two other men who had exceptionally strong character. One of them you’ve no doubt heard of, but the other perhaps not. We’ll start with the first mystery man. His name was William Wilberforce. Have you guys heard of his name before?

Vincent and Porter: No.

Jake: So, he was a British crusader against slavery. I should quick give a shoutout to my friend, Russell, who inspired me to research Wilberforce more. So, rewind the clock. It’s Britain, the 1780s. Stuffy shirts, guys wearing wigs. There’s this young, charming and wealthy gentleman named William Wilberforce. He’s landed nobility, the toast of the town. He’s known for his wit and charm. Pension for late night parties and gambling clubs. Maybe a few women of ill repute thrown in for good measure.

He’s the Victorian equivalent of life in the fast lane. He’s this big hit on the social scene, but then something really extraordinary happens. At a very still young age, he undergoes a profound spiritual awakening. He embraces Christianity with a passion that changes the course of his life.

This transformation led him to this shocking realization that the slave trade is not just a distant injustice, but it’s a profound moral outrage. He sees these slave ships, and he reflects on the suffering it represents and his conviction is crystallized. It’s not like he was just bothered by the injustice and he goes back to swiping on his phone or whatever. He was driven to do something about it. But you have to think of like, what’s the audacity of this mission at that time? Like, it seems obvious today for us that, “Oh, slavery is bad.” But at the time, advocating for abolition was, it was almost absurd. It’d be like someone today saying like, “We shouldn’t use computers anymore,” or something.

To his contemporaries, his cause seemed chaotic and really impossible. But he was undeterred, he dedicated his life to this and he sacrificed his social standing, his leisure, even eventually his health. And for decades, he poured every ounce of energy, every shilling he had of inherited fortune into winning converts and pushing legislation forward. He really exemplified this level of sacrifice and dedication that we might not see at this evening’s debates.

So, anyway, he faced this fierce opposition, obviously, because there were so many fortunes that were tied to slavery. Imagine the pushback of the merchants, plantation owners, political figures. They’re all staunchly against him. They’re all saying at the time like, “This will end and wreck the British economy and disrupt the empire’s wealth.” You’re trying to pull out a key Jenga piece here in the tower. Like, the status quo must be maintained. It was so entrenched that it was the social fabric at the time. So, how could one man tear at that entire fabric?

Well, for two decades, he just would introduce motion after motion in parliament to end the slave trade. Many years, nothing, no progress. But like this constant drip of water, he erodes the resistance, and finally, the Slave Trade Act of 1807 was finally passed. It made it illegal for British ships to carry slaves. It didn’t completely abolish the slavery. But he didn’t stop there. He kept fighting and pushing, and eventually, the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833 was passed just days before his death. So, he had this legacy of unwavering commitment. Even though it stressed him out to the point of basically killing him and took all his fortune, and of course, the social ostracism of his entire life shutdown, pretty much. But for his reward, he’s buried in Westminster Abbey as a testament to his profound impact.

So, let’s fast forward a century in a bit to another man of great personal fortitude, who you guys will know much more, which this is Paul Adolph Volcker, who was born September 5th, 1927. He was a giant in finance, quite literally. He was 6’7”. His biggest mark, obviously, was chairman of the Federal Reserve from 1979 to 1987.

Porter: We personally knew Paul Volcker.

Jake: Oh, okay. Well, definitely save a story for us when we get to that. So, as everyone knows and remembers, he had these very aggressive measures to combat high inflation that plagued the US economy in the late 1970s, early 1980s. He raised rates in June of 1981. He put the Fed funds rate up to 19.1%. So, everyone who’s crying about 5% these last year or whatever, this is barely in the same financial universe as 19.1%. At the time, it was highly controversial. High rates led to a severe recession in the 1980s. Everyone was saying, “You’re crushing the economy.” It’s almost the same argument that where people are making about slavery. He was going against the popular opinions at the time.

So, you’re going to destroy the status quo basically. He was in the hot seat. He had to deal with critics from both sides of the aisle. But it ended up working. He set things up for a run that then of price stability of economic growth that was really unparalleled after that. And then, the last thing was after he left, he continued influencing financial policy. He played this key role in the creation of the eponymous Volcker Rule, which aims to prevent risky trading activities by the banks. I’m being a little cheeky here, but it’s basically saying like, “Don’t let the banks prop trade out of the public’s checking accounts.”

Hopefully, we’ve drawn some parallels between Wilberforce, who you might not have known, and Volcker, who you already know, and made some obvious connections. Both men have strong conviction. They didn’t take the easy path when it would have been much easier to just go with the flow. They both paid high personal prices for their principles in the short run, but history looks fondly on both of them.

Tobias: Good one, JT.

Vincent: That was great.

Porter: Awesome.

Jake: Thanks.

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