<<Koan, some of this is generally true but a lot of it is Monday morning quarterbacking. The concept of freedom as we view it today didn't mean squat when people had to fight to survive, knowing that disease, illness, famine, or war might occur at any time. A powerful ruler who could ensure order and protect people from outside attack meant a lot more than "freedom." And though it's true that people did not vote in the way we do now, but in pre-modern times a ruler did have to have support from others in his tribe and eventually in his territory/kingdom, otherwise they would rebel against him. "Uneasy lies the head that wears a crown", you know. >.
We see an entirely different world. Right or wrong, my ideas are the culmination of a life of reading many peoples ideas on these subjects to learn.
No, it was not a matter of survival. They didn't understand. After the ancient Greeks, mankind fell back into a world of almost total illiteracy.
The first folks who understood the abstract ideas of demcoracy were the ancient Greeks. Then when Rome destroyed Greece and 99% of all their writings were burned, we slipped back into the dark ages for over 1500 years. There are very few thinkers to compare with the ancient Greeks for almost 2 millenia after the fall of Greece.
Science pulled us out of the dark ages because it allowed us to test the myths e.g. the value of sanitation. There is a reason every major university in the world uses the words Dark Ages and Age of enlightenment and teaches the subject.
Muslim Women had no rights at all until very recently as they shed their rigid culture and female circumcision. Still goes on. Men could legally beat their wives and did. A raped women was to be killed byt the father and brothers. A manner of honor. And women have very little of the worlds wealth.
The destructive impact of income inequality is a well known fact verifed by social scientists. My own daughter, a science student gave me a great lecture on its destruction of society by income inequality and Joe Stiglitz just worte a book on it. He is the most referenced economist in the world and nobel prize winner.
I don't think our life experiences were anything alike. |
