And yes, I understand how festivals and holidays work in subsistence farming comminuties. I’ve lived in one for years. Doesn’t make the work any less hard.
No, it doesn’t, but you also said that the only time for enjoyment that people had in the past was a single hour a week that they spent going to church.
Are you telling me that bread and circuses were for the wealthy landed gentry and merchants? That nobody outside of the wealthy Western nations pushed a hoop with a stick down a dirt road? That there were no other religious practices such as giving offerings of cooked foods to the gods? I guess the rest of the world was all too busy working 18 hours a day 365 days a year to tell their children fairy tales or create traditions that could have been repeated for generations within small towns across the globe.
If you want to talk about wealthy Western propaganda, let’s talk about the “nuclear family.” That’s probably the biggest one there is. For most of history, multi-generational houses were the norm, and for good reason. Many hands make light work, as they say. Work is hard, but being able to split chores across 3 generations as well as aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and cousins went a long way to making that work more manageable.
Yeah, I was thinking more in terms of day-by-day, single week at a time schedules. You’re taking more in terms of the whole calendar year. So let’s split the difference there, as the reality is somewhat in the middle. I agree with you on things like diversions and holidays.
That being said, you also seem to be focusing on a very urbanized population. The Greeks and Romans both had plenty of very rural communities that existed to provide agricultural products to cities. And slaves. Especially before cars, even being 10km from three edge of a city could make a trip in just got the market a sunup to sundown trip. Ancient people also certainly practiced classicism. While theatrical performances were both cultural and sometimes what we might consider “religious,” the expectation that it was as egalitarian as a football game still excludes a large number of the overall population of whatever empire we’re taking about. That’s just simple logistics.
And we agree as well about the nuclear family with no multigenerational living being a uniquely post-WWII Western thing. One which sends to be fading in practicality.
Ah yes, Dionysus, the Greek god of wine, partying, and theatre, is propaganda created by an affliction of wealthy Westerners.
You act like storytellers, festivals, sports, songs, etc. did not exist before the 1950s.
Tell me more about how rural farmers, slaves and peasant villagers went to the theater in ancient Greece.
https://ajaonline.org/book-review/4169/
Or have you just defended wealthy land owners?
And yes, I understand how festivals and holidays work in subsistence farming comminuties. I’ve lived in one for years. Doesn’t make the work any less hard.
No, it doesn’t, but you also said that the only time for enjoyment that people had in the past was a single hour a week that they spent going to church.
Are you telling me that bread and circuses were for the wealthy landed gentry and merchants? That nobody outside of the wealthy Western nations pushed a hoop with a stick down a dirt road? That there were no other religious practices such as giving offerings of cooked foods to the gods? I guess the rest of the world was all too busy working 18 hours a day 365 days a year to tell their children fairy tales or create traditions that could have been repeated for generations within small towns across the globe.
If you want to talk about wealthy Western propaganda, let’s talk about the “nuclear family.” That’s probably the biggest one there is. For most of history, multi-generational houses were the norm, and for good reason. Many hands make light work, as they say. Work is hard, but being able to split chores across 3 generations as well as aunts and uncles, nieces and nephews, and cousins went a long way to making that work more manageable.
Yeah, I was thinking more in terms of day-by-day, single week at a time schedules. You’re taking more in terms of the whole calendar year. So let’s split the difference there, as the reality is somewhat in the middle. I agree with you on things like diversions and holidays.
That being said, you also seem to be focusing on a very urbanized population. The Greeks and Romans both had plenty of very rural communities that existed to provide agricultural products to cities. And slaves. Especially before cars, even being 10km from three edge of a city could make a trip in just got the market a sunup to sundown trip. Ancient people also certainly practiced classicism. While theatrical performances were both cultural and sometimes what we might consider “religious,” the expectation that it was as egalitarian as a football game still excludes a large number of the overall population of whatever empire we’re taking about. That’s just simple logistics.
And we agree as well about the nuclear family with no multigenerational living being a uniquely post-WWII Western thing. One which sends to be fading in practicality.