It’s like taxes. You work huge part of the year to feed someone else. “from the perspective of everyone who isn’t our peasants is that if the peasantry only does the amount of agricultural labor necessary to subsist themselves and… Read More »Collections: Life, Work, Death and the Peasant, Part IVc: Rent and Extraction
Unfortunately, I am also often guilty of this. “There are those who give good advice but who do not give it well, which is of no use to them nor lifting to anyone else.” https://acoup.blog/2020/03/27/a-trip-through-dhuoda-of-uzes-carolingian-values/
What is law and what is justice? “There is no one of any nation at all, who cannot arrive at virtue when they have found a guide” https://acoup.blog/2019/12/12/collections-a-trip-through-cicero-natural-law/
A lot of stereotypes have deep history. “E.W. Barber (Women’s Work, 29-41) suggests that this division of labor, which holds across a wide variety of societies (though commercial textile production was often done by men in pre-modern societies, something we’ll… Read More »Collections: Clothing, How Did They Make It? Part III: Spin Me Right Round…
What is a revolution?
State craft in old Greece. “Consider modern nuclear deterrence theory as an extreme example – deterrence is maintained not by launching nuclear weapons, nor by being willing to to do, but by the belief of other states that you will… Read More »Collections: A Trip Through Thucydides (Fear, Honor and Interest) – A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
Experimental knowledge is important and not to be dismissed. “That said, our ancient – or even medieval – smiths do not understand the chemistry of all of this, of course. Understanding the effects of carbuzation and how to harness that… Read More »Collections: Iron, How Did They Make It, Part IVa: Steel Yourself
This is why it is good that nowadays you can quit your job and start elsewhere instead of waiting for promotion. “Apprentices, of course, were proper blacksmiths in training and might one day look to be as well respected as… Read More »Collections: Iron, How Did They Make It, Part III: Hammer-time
Iron is not hard to get as most people think. “One of the reasons that the change from using bronze (or copper) as tool metals to using iron was so important historically is that iron is just so damn abundant.… Read More »Collections: Iron, How Did They Make It? Part I, Mining
Inference crops lead to different incentives and different outcomes for societies. “the high productivity of rice production meant that labor was relatively abundant in the countryside, as households could subsist on much smaller farmers. But this in turn seems to… Read More »Collections: Bread, How Did They Make It? Addendum: Rice!