The Pharaonic Creed Ruining our Times

Pharaohs and other ancient kings and queens were often buried with sacrificed servants and soldiers to serve them in their purported afterlife. Rulers often had harems full of what we might call sex slaves. There were hierarchies topped by rulers with god status, administrators beneath them, then free men and women, some living well, some like exploited not-really-so-free serfs; and at the very bottom officially-unfree slaves, human beings denigrated to the status of cattle.

How did past populations put up with these huge disparities that scattered people across a spectrum ranging from god-like to animal status? In part, they were controlled through violence. Especially slaves were. However, another very important method of control was mentality, in the forms of commonly held beliefs, both in terms of religion and worldly world view.

As far as I know, today’s pharaohs, known as billionaires*, are not buried with a sacrificed staff, and only some still keep harems. But have things significantly changed in other ways, as well?  

Contribute or Not Contribute, That’s the Question

Recently, when I laid out my thoughts about the most sensible way of arranging our society – solving problems together rather than cannibalizing each other – someone agreed with me on principle but voiced worry that such appeals can preface unjustified raids of our pockets by government. This is my response:

The Questions We Never Ask

Another great Freshtastical video:

 

Title: “The Questions We Never Ask” (in case the link becomes deleted and you need to search for a surviving copy)