I don’t think you’d want to change places with a Roman slave. The vast majority of people in modern times have it much better, even if they live in poverty.
This is a reductive thought process which only serves the purpose of fostering complacency within the most exploited. “Starving kids in Africa” type argument
I wasn’t in any way implying that we should be complacent about the current state of affairs in the world. But the commonly made claims about how paleolithic hunter gatherers/Roman slaves/mediaeval peasants had a better life than we have today are just ill informed.
Not all slaves were mistreated in the way the modern world mistreats it’s laborers.
It wasn’t all sunshine and roses for sure and rights were limited, but that is true for most people in the ancient world.
Slavery simply existing is mistreatment enough
I don’t think you’d want to change places with a Roman slave. The vast majority of people in modern times have it much better, even if they live in poverty.
This is a reductive thought process which only serves the purpose of fostering complacency within the most exploited. “Starving kids in Africa” type argument
I wasn’t in any way implying that we should be complacent about the current state of affairs in the world. But the commonly made claims about how paleolithic hunter gatherers/Roman slaves/mediaeval peasants had a better life than we have today are just ill informed.
Fair enough
Yes. But the poorest of our poor have it much worse. Didn’t claim I yearned to be a teacher slave.