• Oxysis/Oxy@lemmy.blahaj.zone
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    2 months ago

    I mean the artisans who worked on the pyramids were payed quite well. They even got buried nearby when they eventually passed away.

    And no, slaves were not the ones building a the pyramids.

  • Lovable Sidekick@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Somebody once advanced the theory that the pyramids may have been public works projects, to keep the whole economy from collapsing. The pharaohs had accumulated so much of the available wealth, they spent some of it to put people to work. I think that’s an interesting speculation.

    • RQG@lemmy.world
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      2 months ago

      So trickle down eventually works. You just have to let them get to godhood first. Got it.

      Capitalism probably

  • Lucky_777@lemmy.world
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    2 months ago

    Glory and worship is equally addictive as profit. The whole point was to have a badass setup in the afterlife. So you could consider this “profit”

    • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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      2 months ago

      Of course it’s not necessary. The democracy +capitalism combo is just the least worst setup we figured out so far.

      • UnderpantsWeevil@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        The democracy +capitalism combo is just the least worst setup we figured out so far.

        That’s what the state propagandists tell us, anyway.

      • balderdash@lemmy.zip
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        2 months ago

        The global south would disagree with you.

        Its working out pretty well for the wealthy in colonialist countries though.

        • IrateAnteater@sh.itjust.works
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          2 months ago

          Why does it sound like you think “least worst” is synonymous with “good”? And you are also combining your opinion of the type of system with specific implementations of it. The two are related, but separate. For example, an autocrat can be a fantastic leader, and overall great for their country and everyone in it. That doesn’t mean an autocratic government is a good system in the general sense.

          • balderdash@lemmy.zip
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            2 months ago

            By what metric is capitalism the “least worst” system? Most of the people who defend capitalism have to sell their labor and own zero capital. The result is a two-tiered system where the obscenely wealthy exist right next to a vast majority who don’t have enough savings to survive a minor emergency. This is the situation in rich countries. The ongoing exploitation throughout so-called “third-world” capitalist countries also speaks against capitalism.

            Moreover, if socialism is such a bad system, why did America fight tooth and nail to stop it? Diplomatic isolation, trade embargos, propaganda, political assassinations. It is because socialism actually threatens the profits of the wealthy. The west can’t exploit the land, labor, and resources of nations that place the workers in charge of their own workplaces. Maybe if the most powerful country in the history of the world wasn’t working against it the system could prove its worth.

      • chuckleslord@lemmy.world
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        2 months ago

        All of the democratic socialist countries would like a word. Unfortunately, the CIA already killed them all.

        Edit: To clarify, capitalism + democracy goes out of its way to fuck any other burgeoning system from getting its legs. So, I don’t think it’s fair to state “it’s the least worst”.

  • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    Wasn’t there some archeological evidence that many of the workers and their families were actually compensated?

    • Alaik@lemmy.zip
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      1 month ago

      Im not sure if its the great pyramid but I know some of the Egyptian great works were used as a jobs program during the off season of harvest.

      Im sure the majority was slavery, but there was a tiny bit of good in those.

  • PugJesus@lemmy.world
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    1 month ago

    The profit motive was covered by the Pharaoh’s exploitation of the entire nation of Egypt as his personal plantation and palace; each Pharaoh’s Pyramid was the resulting useless passion project wasting all that accumulated profit. Albeit at reduced cost, considering the widespread use of corvee and legal limits on the ability of worker’s to negotiate contracts with the agents of the Pharaoh compared to with non-government notables.

      • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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        1 month ago

        Who do you really trust on this topic: Lifelong scholars pursuing the truth with hard evidence, or the abrahamic texts?

        • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
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          1 month ago

          The Bible doesn’t actually say anything about slaves being used to build the pyramids or even mention the pyramids (as far I know, there may be an obscure mention in the minor prophets I don’t know about). The idea of Israelite slaves building the pyramids is entirely cultural, and relatively recent. For example, in the middle ages, people believed that the pyramids were actually older than the story of Moses and Egyptian captivity, and attributed them to the biblical character Joseph, who appears in the Book of Genesis. I suspect the idea of Israelite slaves building the pyramids comes from early movies about the Exodus such as the blockbuster hit The Ten Commandments.

          • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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            1 month ago

            So you’re saying the bible claims Egypt enslaved the abrahamic worshippers until after Moses, but because moses came after the pyramids that means the bible doesn’t say the thing that it says.

            Got it.

            • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
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              1 month ago

              Does religion even being mentioned give you people brain damage or something? I am legitimately curious how you could have misread my comment so hard unless you were just foaming at the mouth about religion even being mentioned that you disregarded even the most basic thought about it. I am just saying that the Bible doesn’t actually claim that enslaved Jews built the pyramids and doesn’t even mention the pyramids at all, and I included the other stuff more to demonstrate that this is actually a pretty recent belief based mostly on Hollywood movies. Exodus clearly depicts Israelites being enslaved in Egypt, but I wasn’t trying to dispute that.

              • finitebanjo@lemmy.world
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                1 month ago

                Not brain damage, just forces us to relive trauma because Religion is a foul invention causing immeasurable harm throughout all of human history.

                • markovs_gun@lemmy.world
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                  1 month ago

                  That’s fine but you responded to a comment about facts with just completely unnecessary hostility.