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Good summary - now can you tell me who owns my van? :-).

You hit on one of the reasons why people quoting slave ownership statistics in the south as a reason why slavery could not have been a reason for the rebellion are so wrong. On the fact of it, if only 6% or 7% of the people owned slaves then how could they go to war over it. But those 6% or 7% had families and those families derived benefit from the chattel so that in the end in some states upwards of half the population probably benefitted directly from slavery. Likewise with your car. Only a fraction of your total family may be a car owner but 100% receive direct benefit from car ownership.

Interesting point, although the statistics I've seen on slave ownership generally are by household, rather than by population or even adult population.

However, such a central factor in the economic system effects everyone, along a continuum from those who personally owned slaves, to those who may have been unaware that the system did impact them. A mixture of beneficial and harmful effects.

Similar to the illegal alien situation we have now in the South - a limited percentage are direct employers of illegal aliens, but everyone is affected in some way, whether they know it or not. My house costs less because the illegals have brought down the price of construction. On the other hand, my taxes and insurance costs are higher.