> The reason the powers of states in the west were limited to a degree - it was because the person was held as sacred. Most of the old judges deeply understand this. The politicians don't.

This conception is more mythos than reality. You should look at some of the early laws passed in many of these countries if you think we had a tradition of "strong" natural rights that are only being abrogated in our modern era.

It used to be illegal to publish content critical of the government [0], not to mention the fact that the franchise was restricted to those holding property, and definitely not considering ongoing active slavery.

I don't understand your connection to demonization of the poor.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_and_Sedition_Acts