I love history, of all sorts. It’s fascinating, and I believe very strongly that there are admirable qualities to be found in all sorts of cultures and time periods.
… but don’t think for a moment that the past was a pretty place, or superior (or even equal) to modernity. Fun to (mentally) visit, but you wouldn’t want to live there.
Had a recent discussion on here about exactly this because someone said this is the worst time to be alive. There’s no way I’m going back to the past, and I’m not even a minority or one of the oppressed sexual orientations/ genders. Ill take my vaccines, frustrating technology, and unfortunately corporate overlords and oligarchs thank you very much. At least when they ram a spear up my ass they do it in the form of a digitalized bill.
Unless you were rich of course. I feel like if you appeared in any time period and were rich, you would be mostly fine. Maybe not France.
It still wouldn’t be better than preset. Doctors, technology etc…
Oh, of course. Rich and of the right gender and ethnicity and you could have a grand old time - maybe not as grand in most ways as today, unless you have a craving for an army of slaves to wait on you hand and foot.
But hell, propping up your feet and getting fed cooked dormice and lead-sweetened wine in a fancy villa with central heating as a wealthy Roman in the 2nd century AD, or having sorbet on a nice summer day and chilling in a palace with windcatchers cooling the place as a Persian noble in the 7th century AD, or getting absolutely blasted on ‘medicinal’ opiates and cocaine in your massive private garden with a personal hermit for aesthetics as a Victorian gentleman in the 19th century AD probably ain’t so bad.
Still would prefer communication quicker than the post and modern vaccines, but at least there, the wealth fantasy, I get some of the appeal.
Ever wonder how Vlad impaled people? Hint: OP’s pic is demonstrating step 1.
back in my day we had wars so monarchs could do some dick measuring where you had things stuck up our asses, and we liked it
Old people after muskets were added to military skirmishes probably
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They worked like 10% as much as we do. Also, if you had ANY medical issues, you just died. Easy peasy, no fuss no muss.
Neither of those claims are true. Subsistence farmers work all day every day, and it’s miserable work too. Hunter-gatherers have it a bit easier, ‘only’ working about as much as modern folk do, but make the trade for a whole host of stability and convenience issues. Pastoralists would probably be closest to your claim, but even then, you’re looking at spending most of your day in the saddle. Does give a bit more context to the very “What the fuck, you WANT to live like this?” style reactions from pastoralist societies to sedentary farming societies though.
As for medical issues, you could look forward to a long life of parasitic infection and chronic health issues from past illnesses.
You’re really putting a damper on my just dying of things fantasy…
