Ancient Greece Hated Democracy, Freedom And Culture

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And so we continue our crusade through the recesses of the internet to find and review the worst articles about ancient history ever made. I hope you enjoy the content and stay noble!
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[@nelsonschneider5443]

The simple fact that ancient ruins are covered in graffiti lends support to the idea that literacy was more widely-spread in the Classical world than many moderns realize.

[@ethanbrinkman3401]

Not just that. They hay had markets and other big gathering places for trading. I bet they had signage as well for goods

[@HappyBeezerStudios]

@@ethanbrinkman3401 Shipping and tax lists are among the oldest documents we have. And a bunch of letters.

[@francescosacca6674]

I remember reading a page from our Latin book in High School (not American system), it was about education in Ancient Rome. It talked about having something similar to public schools for the common pepole during the Imperial age, and how the partents-teachers relationship was pretty much the same as today...

[@DarkLight1133]

So the teachers were predating on the students?

[@francescosacca6674]

@@DarkLight1133 perhaps

[@AngryCenturion576]

The New Testament is written in Greek, Hellenistic cities like Alexandria exist to this day, Homer is read all over the world, we still use Greek words (as you pointed out) like democracy, tyrant, and phalanx, but yes, Ancient Greek culture had no impact. Good job, Cracked!

[@fegeleindux3471]

not to mention Neo-Platonism. Ancient Greece is more vital than ever for our declining societies

[@ShebaFr]

Greek mythology is still used as a frame of reference every once in a while. Oedipus' unfortunate union with his mother and father killing, Herakles' Twelve Labors, Ulysses' long journey home, Zeus' womaninzing tendencies to be put politely, and Athena's wisdom are those that come in mind. Unless you are one of those zoomers who have only ever read those wizard books and watched the MCU movies.

[@TraditionalAnglican]

Greek, like almost all living languages, has evolved dramatically since Classical (or Attic) Greek. The Greek of the Bible & the early Eastern Church Fathers was Koine (or Commercial) Greek. Classical Greek is as different from Modern Greek as Early English (the English of Beowulf) is from Modern English.

[@McHobotheBobo]

Cracked is basically a gag magazine like MAD lol, don't take it too seriously

[@Garry_Combine]

​@@McHobotheBoboproblem is people take them seriously, and quite often they do take themselves seriously. Debunking them is important

[@rotpar757]

I regret not learning about the Greek concept of Xenia until college: the customs of hospitality. Enforced by the king of the gods himself, a traveler had the right to spend the night in someone's home without being pestered by questions until they were provided for. No kicking out the Spartan en route to the Olympics because of the last war--he's a fellow Greek owed a bath, meal, and a roof over his head. So the Greeks had rules which made difficult Bronze/Iron Age travel a little easier. Which makes the Odyssey make so much more sense in hindsight--it's no longer "they're violent, primitive people, so it was right for Odysseus to kill the suitors" but divine judgment on men wiping their asses with sacred custom to claim his throne. Penelope isn't just legendarily faithful to her husband, she is a pious woman who suffers the desecration of her home and estate, the potential threats to her family, and still does her duty as a Greek hostess.

[@gelflingfay]

👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@AutoReport1]

Penelope follows ancient customs shared with other Bronze Age European cultures. Tacitus notes the same customs of hospitality among the Germans centuries later. Also the trial Penelope proposes was also customary in other European cultures. The woman chose and judged the contest (or kept up the appearance that she did). Favoured suitor is the greatest runner in the area? Hey let's have a race! Etc.

[@maralfniqle5092]

@@AutoReport1 yeah man like centuries later. Not even a comparison

[@crusaderACR]

@@AutoReport1 Hospitality is indeed a Proto-indoeuropean thing. From Ireland to India a god (often the main one) dictated terms of hospitality. Receive travellers, give them food, bath, and rations. No questions asked. Might be your enemy, your friend, a stranger, might not speak your language, doesn't matter.

[@NawniColes]

​@@crusaderACR It goes beyond into-europen cultures. I know hospitality for strangers is mentioned in the Old Testament, kindness towards foreigners is even part of the Law. I imagine it comes up in cultures all over the world.

[@biggerdoofus]

I think it's also important to remember that ancient peoples (and even many peoples today) were dealing with very different threats with very different technologies. Depending on the location and neighboring cultures, democracy could've simply been too slow even when implemented directly.

[@bigguy7353]

Again, differences between ancient and modern democracies. Democracy for them is NOT what it is for us.

[@kveldulfpride]

@@bigguy7353 democracy to us is not understood. even the term is silly. What people mean when they say democracy, they mean representative democracy, but that = republic. So, why not just call it a republic? its brainwashing. At least that's my .02 cents.

[@brokeandtired]

Democracy was for the elites simply because it would be impossible to communicate policy amongst the poor effectively across the state and therefore make good decisions. Democracy spread because information found a way to spread fast due to improvements in communication.

[@kleinesschreckgespenst319]

@@kveldulfpride True, if people and the media use the term "democracy" nowadays, they mean it as "republic + liberal (western) citizen rights". Especially liberal citizen rights are not a necassary requirement of a democracy in the actual sense.

[@luciferhd9859]

@@kveldulfpride many countries even have the name republic in there name instead of Democracy, for example Greece which official name is Hellenic Republic but still people think they have Democracy and not a Republic, they dont even know the difference.

[@Kernwadi]

Every 60 seconds in Africa, a minute passes. But together we can stop that...

[@Kernwadi]

Africa had its chance.

[@endless2239]

the author is probably the kind of person that would say that Greek influence didn't spread too far or whatever while simultaneously writing an article about how "the evil people" colonized Egypt under the ptolemaic dynasty.

[@stg213]

The author is the kind of person that was a twink and grooms twinks.

[@chadsmith8966]

Speaking of Greek influence, the bactrian Greeks (roughly modern day Afghanistan and Pakistan) were first to depict Buddha in statue form. Carved atop a Greek temple with Heracles next him.

[@garrysteffens3040]

@@chadsmith8966 That had to be an interesting religious pairing and blending. Buddha being more than a wee bit peaceful than Heracles.

[@chadsmith8966]

@@garrysteffens3040 it may sound strange to our modern sensibilities, but as far as ancient peoples were concerned the gods were not fixed necessarily in a specific region. Like people, the gods moved around; mingling with foreign gods. Going to battle, conquering and subjugating one another. A perfect example would be the Mesopotamian love/war goddess Ishtar who was known by the Egyptians as Anut and the Greeks called her Astartes. Another being Hittite Mythology which sounds suspiciously like the rough draft to Greek Mythology.

[@arandomgreekfrombactria6302]

​@@chadsmith8966 this comment is severely underrated^^

[@bobbirdsong6825]

minor correction, the pyramids and similar projects in ancient egypt were likely built by respected construction workers based on recent evidence. perhaps such important projects were not trusted to slaves.

[@soccrattes2295]

I admire your courage and patience to debunk those unbelievably false and illogical articles. Also your clarity of thought and your amazingly articulate way of expressing it. Greetings from Greece, take care Italian brother

[@elizabethdaste]

So interesting! Yes, I would be interested in a comparison of the ways a democracy was practiced between now and then.

[@jasonmullagan]

I find this channel consistently well-researched and usually enlightening so I was surprised to hear "the Egyptian pyramids were built by slaves".

[@zer0homer]

Ancient democracy never featured non-citizens and illegal or legal migrants, otherwise it would be called ochlocracy.

[@truemetalwarrior5833]

@Metatron just a minor correction, kratos in ancient greek means power, the translation you gave comes from modern greek. So democracy roughly translates as people holding/having the power.

[@davidmoura95]

The notion that medieval peasants worked less time than modern people is a myth as well. The 150 days figure comes from research about how many days (some) peasants had to work in the lord's domain. The rest of the year was not for leisure but for working on his own farm so that he and his family would not die from starvation. The claim that the average Westerner works harder than a medieval peasant, who usually worked in agriculture, is laughable and does not deserve a response.

[@gazlator]

Another superb, carefully articulated critique, Metatron! What REALLY worries me is that your average net-browsing bloke, genuinely wanting to enlighten himself, could stumble across the sort of article you refer to, and easily be persuaded that it actually tells the truth!! So, a video on ancient democracy sounds like terrific idea - go for it!

[@SFCzeus202]

Make the video! The concept of democracy in ancient times and the whole political system in general (as it relates to today), is fascinating but not often discussed!

[@lisacook8235]

"Cracked" sounds like a good name for this publication. As a history buff, I've long been allergic to anachronism i.e. presentism

[@anasevi9456]

One thing I really liked about the movie Alexander from 2004; was how it depicted the Greco Macedonian population from top to bottom; you could clearly tell that yes, farmers, herdsmen and tradesmen did bump shoulders with the aristocracy. They were not out in the fields never seen nor herd in the opulent cities.

[@danijelandroid]

I think I saw a KZbin video a few years ago that the Egyptian pyramids weren't build by slaves.

[@cadethumann8605]

I would be interested if you would discuss about sensational claims regarding how knights and samurai treated civilians. While there is some truth to their brutality and cruelty (like samurai having the right to cut down peasants if they had a witness and proof), I wonder how exaggerated they are and especially about if there were examples of noble deeds.

[@andrewk.5575]

I seem to remember samurai in the Heike Monogatari setting peasants villages on fire just to illuminate the way during a night march.

[@ilsignorsaruman2636]

​​@@andrewk.5575 "Ah fuck, i can't see shit in this cloudy night... wait, what is that? A house? Give me a torch... oh, fuck, i dropped it! Oh, shit the fire spread! Ahem... well, at least now we see something How it really went

[@cadethumann8605]

@andrewk.5575 When I Googled that, it just pointed to an animated series, so I can't count that. I do not dismiss the idea of peasants being brutalized. Humans can be royal pr!cks and many of those with great power have done great harm. But still, I am curious about the nuances and especially the positive human aspects of warriors. What I'm interested in is Metatron's take on the sensationalist claims articles have on medieval warriors. (I know he once did a response to the 10 horrific facts about samurai, but I think he could delve more into it).

[@vectorkiloalpha8693]

@Metatron, thank you for your hard work and research. Love the quality of your work and the nature of your content.

[@gouldilox6805]

I'd like to see a video outlining the difference between work in medieval period and modern day.

[@janpahl6015]

I will love to see a comparison of "ancient", "medieval", "modern" and contemporary democracy, republic, etc

[@Sofus.Solivagante]

A big thank you to all modern journalists or whatever they call themselves for such brilliant, entertaining articles.

[@leoghigu]

Sorry to say it Metatron, but while I usually agree with your take, I know that you're completely wrong at the very least in one point in your video - about Greeks not enslaving Greeks. Off the top of my head, I can remember a few cases when "fellow Greeks" have been enslaved by Greeks. One was the city of Eion by the Athenians - destroyed and the population enslaved. Another city in Greece (who's name escapes me atm) was destroyed by Sparta and Corinth, with the survivors enslaved (during the Peloponnesic War). Athenian expedition in Sicily was defeated and the survivors enslaved. Phillip II destroyed the city of Olynthus and enslaved the survivors. Sorry, but any "law" that claims no Greek is to enslave another Greek or somesuch was either ignored or never existed in the first place.

[@oz_jones]

What I assume the law is (or, was) that you couldn't enslave your fellow Athenians or Spartans or whatever city-state you were citizen of.

[@catmonarchist8920]

Lots of stuff is against international law and still happens now

[@Madmax-rz5hz]

Reminds me of a joke from my youth, "what do you find in ancient Greece? " " ancient chips"....I'll get my hat

[@DrLotko]

I am confused. I thought that the idea of Egyptian pyramids being built by slaves has recently being debunked. I remember reading that archeological discoveries supported the idea of a workforce of Egyptian peasants working there while the Nile covered their fields and also a class of specialized craftsmen who were not slaves at all. Could you clarify this, please? Oh, and I absolutely love your channel.

[@formwiz7096]

God, I love it that you use presentism to rebut these arguments. You think it through. You get it. Thank you. I love your work.

[@theSemiChrist]

For a website that started out as a magazine that featured a ripoff of Alfred E. Neuman, they sure do think they're morally superior to a lot of people.

[@robertross5201]

Recent archeological findings indicate that slaves did not build the Egyptian pyramids but that the crews were paid for their work and rotated in some fashion so fresh labor was available and the leaving crew could return to their normal lives

[@Zumoari]

Metatron, please keep reading Cracked articles. I used to be a Cracked reader in my younger days and I can assure you there is a wealth of poorly researched historical articles. I can't get enough of you debunking this stuff. Thanks!

[@andrearazzino]

Biting your fist in frustration is peak Italian anger management emergency measures.

[@robertdeelen6685]

"democracy in athens only lasted for 200 years".... many modern democracies are much younger, 200 years is quite a long time in terms of culture and human memory...

[@oliveoil2x]

Articles like this, are the tip of the iceberg. I substitute taught in public school prior to pulling my son & homeschooling. Textbooks are being replaced by google searches in the lesson plans and the skewed information coming to the kids should fighten us. The rewriting and presentism approach to the past as a whole - is why I homeschool. We hand pick our curriculums, we search together online for the resources for his projects and papers. We evaluate the information on the websites to verify the sources & check for the leaning bias that infiltrates so many of the resources we once depended on for Information. It’s terribly hard to find solid, factual information with today’s algorithms and search engine filters. But we must press forward & find the best ways to teach our children. Thanks for the solid content - Metatron. Much appreciated.

[@janviangel7360]

I love Greek philosophy and literature/mythology. I even named my children after Greek myths- Aphrodite and Achilles... Ialways enjoy your videos Metatron Kudos...

[@jansenart0]

The cruelty and inhumanity of the antebellum south, the southern treatment of slaves, has never been seen in human history before. They were literally treated like livestock. No other civilization on Earth had ever done that.

[@tj-co9go]

Also Aristotle said: if there were autonomously acting robots/machines who could do labour for us instead of slaves, then they would not longer be needed.

[@noreply-7069]

17:24 No, pyramids were actually built by paid workers, not slaves.

[@asscheeks3212]

It's a Mish mash, truth is average volunteers, paid workers, and slaves work side by side together. Slave weren't really seen as a bad thing until people realize it's cheaper to not feed and clothed slaves at all abolishing it in some nations in different eras

[@Born_Yashish]

"Reason, logic, and civility ruled...". I'm curious to hear of any society or organization formed and ran in any other way.

[@goldenlore488]

I have noticed that when certain groups and their co conspirators can no longer try and lay claim to a an ancient culture, they then seek to destroy it. Now that the Egyptians are not going along with the blackwashing of Cleopatra I've heard some in America say that we should no longer venerate Ancient Egypt.

[@drvian5660]

"Greeks rarely traveled outside their city-states and thus greek culture never spreaded far" (c) Oh, really? And what about greek sailors and traders, whose ships traveled all around mediterranean sea (and beyond)? What about greek settlements (essentially trading hubs) in Africa, Crimea, iberian peninsula etc. I would say that's pretty large area of influence.

[@ontaka5997]

If this article isn't from a major newspaper or written by a prominent professor, I would just ignore it.

[@KerbalFacile]

I think the line about Ancient Greece lacking influence globally is the point where the article stepped from "edgy hot-take" to "college dropout flounting their crass ignorance like it's a virtue".

[@Ninja-Alinja]

Isn’t the slave pyramid thing not at least contested these days? There are arguments they were built buy free men, mainly off season farmers.

[@wolf1066]

The bit about not travelling bugged me a lot. I can't say for certain about Ancient Greece, but it is demonstrable that people in the Medieval period travelled a lot more frequently than many modern people do - carpenters, stonemasons, smiths etc would travel from country to country building castles, cathedrals and anything else that needed constructing (you can identify their marks in ruins all over Europe) and most people who could went on some sort of religious pilgrimage at least once, I'm sure that the ancient world had its own reasons for travel. Just because _Cracked_ writers have never set foot outside their own -State- mum's basement, doesn't mean it was like that for the Ancient Greeks.

[@jasoncampbell4203]

I appreciate that you noted how each civilization that uses/used democracy did/does so in their own unique way. It makes me chuckle when I hear people talk about the difference between democracy and constitutional republic; not understanding that democracy and republic are synonyms from two different languages

[@dreyri2736]

I like how they mention that democratic Athens executed Socrates (via a democratic trial no less) and then scold Plato (his student) for not being a fan of democracy.

[@bigguy7353]

Again, "democracy" for them is not what it is for us.

[@wesleyfilms]

Well, democracy is mob rule.

[@bakters]

Socrates was given a choice. He chose death over banishment from his country. BTW - one of the reasons Athens tolerated his antics for so long, was because he was a war hero. Literally. So, if you try to use the case of Socrates as a weapon against Athens, it kinda falls flat on its face. Additionally, in my opinion the only reason such an antisocial philosopher as Diogenes could survive, was because they went through this deal with Socrates before, so they'd rather suffer a smartass "pleasuring himself" in public than risk trying to kick him out, because that crazy dude might choose death once again. Athens was awful, I love her to bits.

[@brianmiller5444]

wasn’t the main reason thst Socrates went around telling people like Trump Jr. (or Hunter Biden) and other dissolute aristocratic youths that democracy was bad and they deserved, because of their blood, to rule? Was Socrates really a good guy or more comparable to the january 6 loons???

[@dreyri2736]

@@brianmiller5444 you clearly know jack shit about Socrates. You might also be crazy. The ideal state is not an hereditary monarchy(in fact, there aren't any families in the Republic) but one ruled by the wisest philosopher king. The Republic is also much more Plato's treatise about the soul and psychology since the three classes are set up to reflect the human soul with bronze being the appetite and desires, silver being spirit(thymos) and gold the intellect/reason. Having the state in order is the same as having one's soul in order, reason must rule spirit and body.

[@Airemon]

how did you read that article with out having a stroke, hell I almost had a stroke listening to it.

[@jamesmandahl444]

The hellenistic spirit spread so far and was so impactful that you had kings of totally foreign empires like Persia that prided in calling themselves philhellines. Their impacts in philosophy and the arts were so wide ranging as to strongly influence Buddhist and Vedic kings of the far east. Hell even statues of the buddha as we see them today were influenced by classical sculpting and aesthetics. I could go on and on. It is literally impossible to overstate the importance of the argives.

[@rashnuofthegoldenscales4512]

Pure nonsense. "Philhellene" as used by the Arsacids was purely a political crutch meant for legacy-burnishing in the post-Seleucid era and rallying the remnant smaller Hellenistic states into the Parthian orbit in opposition to the Romans.

[@BS-vx8dg]

I was always taught that slavery was not a thing in Ancient Egypt until the New Kingdom, and thus, since the pyramids were built during the Old Kingdom, the pyramids were not built by slaves, as you state at 17:22. I'd love your thoughts on that.

[@yoloswaggins7121]

You are correct. Slavery was basically non existant in Egypt. Some people did bring their slaves with them to Egypt, but there was no institution of slavery for most of its history and yes the pyramids were not built by slaves.

[@aliazarmehralparslan6067]

​@@yoloswaggins7121 then who the fuck built them?

[@AscendantStoic]

A small correction, there was slavery in Ancient Egypt but the pyramids weren't specifically built by slaves, the worker burial chambers found near the pyramids indicate a lot of the workers who worked on the construction of the pyramids were paid workers not slaves.

[@lefterismplanas4977]

I imagine a collaboration with overly sarcastic productions would fit you very much

[@adroaldoribeiro4529]

Worth remembering, here in Brazil, slavery was only abolished in 1888

[@DNA912]

8:45 If I remember correctly (it was a few years ago I read it) Aristotles argument basically was that all forms of government has two sides, a good, and a bad. And he recognised the pattern that the best for of government, kingdom(?), was the best, but the corrupt flipside, it always risk to turn into, was the worst form tyranny(?). Democracy on the other hand was the least good, but because of that, the corrupt flipside was also the least bad. Might misremembering details, but I think it was something along these lines.

[@mladenstific2459]

To have modern-day democracy and concept of personal freedom, you need to have abundant energy (not in the form of human labor) and near-instant communication across arbitrary distances. Even today, any place that loses widespread access to those two technologies quickly degrades into slavery and gang rule.

[@surferdude4487]

The concept that democracy exists anywhere outside of certain clubs and organizations is wrong. The closest thing we have is a representative republic. The political parties put forth the candidates they choose. This is the main reason why we get such miserable excuses for human beings as national leaders.

[@Admiralofthedeeps]

Metatron, can we get a video about ancient slaves? I imagine that slavery through the ages has varied from just a general restriction of freedom and forced labour to a particularly brutal existence where no one cares if you are worked to death. But I don't know much about it.

[@Darkgun231]

I second this.

[@toriasygramul7128]

I for one would love to see that video about democracy.

[@litigioussociety4249]

Women didn't have the right to vote in the current era, and still shouldn't in many countries, because full citizenship requires drafting for the military, fire brigade, and such. For example, in America it's not right that men have to sign up for selective service to vote, but women don't. I suspect this same thing has something to do with Switzerland taking so long; they either had to repeal some sort of legislation of misandry, or women can now be drafted. I'm not sure what the case was in Switzerland.

[@deadnextdoor1]

I work in America and the majority of my managers and bosses are all woman.

[@staC-wh6ik]

Expand drafting and working opportunities. Sexism is to blame for all the misconceptions that women can't do those jobs and aren't encouraged to get into them. But I guess it's easier to play the incel role and believe that women shouldn't vote.

[@Cityfounder]

Sometimes I wonder if Romans said before saying their French “Excuse the Gaul of my words”

[@klikkolee]

I'd say "some of the brighter" is correct. If they had said "some of the brightest", the statement would be more specific than the author may have believed to be accurate. "some of the brightest" might also lead some readers to infer that being bright is what they were targeted for, whereas with "some of the brighter", a reader would be more likely to infer that being both bright and targeted was usually a coincidence.

[@charliebadhandz]

Please make that video ! I'm a new subscriber so I'm kind of binging . So far I really like it !

[@alexanderyangov767]

According to The Republic, it seems Plato didn't hate democracy that much but was seeking to create something more stable and reliable, although his proposal was quite insane.

[@Kernwadi]

“God is dead...” -Bilbo Baggins

[@cmdrbnd007bond8]

"Humans are horrible." Truer words have never been spoken.

[@ignaciomoreno9655]

I think that Terry Pratchet nailed it: ... giving the vote to everyone, or at least everyone “who be of good report and who be male and hath forty years and owneth a hosue worth more than three and a half goats a year,” because there’s no sense in being stupid about things and giving the vote to people who were poor or criminal or insane or female, who’d only use it irresponsibly.

[@somepersonalconsiderations]

yes, please, I vote for your help to compare modern and old democracy concept!

[@dr1742]

Presentism in small minds is ruining the processing of knowledge and the acquisition of wisdom.

[@lissadawes4243]

14:56 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼 17:22 actually the consensus of Egyptologists is that they weren’t. The workers were free labor farmers.

[@12Prophet]

"Everyone had slaves" It's funny and sad how this very simple concept is still beyond the "educated" class of people in this era. Is anything of merit even being taught in universities these days?

[@greatestcait]

To a modern person, "tyranny" means "someone ruling over the land with an iron fist." To an Ancient Greek, "tyranny" just means having a king.

[@Γνώστηςτωνγατών]

Early Greek tyrants were similar to early Roman or even (partly) modern dictators, and kings themselves were usually called "basileis" as well as early Roman "reges".

[@johnnyplatis]

I admire you for engaging in the Herculian struggle to debunk stupidity. A man with guts of steel you are. Greetings from the slavery ridden, ex war zone (Greece).

[@TheCrimsonAtom]

Hey Metatron, about the last sentence, "The pyramids in ancient Egypt were built by slaves." As far as I know, we have wages specified for workers in those days, including for the Pyramids themselves (Like beer and bread per day if I'm not mistaken). Got any other sources I'm not familiar with that talk about the fact that slaves built it? Thanks.

[@Justin-pe9cl]

The pyramids were not built by slaves.

[@SheyD78]

Given all this, I feel the need to say that a reasonable description of modern democracy is that 'It doesn't work, it just doesn't work slightly less badly than every other form of government we've tried.' Present day democracys have many, many flaws. It's just that other forms of government generally speaking are worse. This doesn't mean our government is good, just that other possibilities are less good.

[@TraditionalAnglican]

9:00 - “I need a drink.” Yeh, a good stiff one with lots of alcohol, what the Brits call a “Stiffer”! 😂

[@semagicus693]

A small correction - pyramids were not built by slaves, but rather by hired workers, it was considered way too important and honourable of a job to let slaves do it.

[@bobancholich7693]

I knew Ancient Greece was very primitive but I didn't expect this.

[@esgrimaxativa5175]

gotta deconstruct everything in order for the reset to work, even things such as classical culture and its merits.

[@practicalguruconcern]

i paused the video just to say yes, i would love to hear about differences between ancient and present day democracy

[@WritingFighter]

The first thing I noticed with the article's flawed thinking is assuming Greece is somehow special compared to anywhere else. Several points were virtually universal in concept to every major civilization prior to the Industrial Revolution. It would be like stating Greece was technologically pathetic because they didn't have automobiles or airplanes.

[@jamesgordley5000]

17:21 - "The pyramids were built by slaves in ancient Egypt." Hmm... Haven't historians concluded otherwise, and said they were built by regular Egyptian citizens? Or would it be fair to say that Egypt was so totalitarian, that the expectations placed on it's regular citizens were comparable enough to slavery?

[@eutytoalba]

As an American woman, it eventually got SO annoying that activists bragged about winning for women the right to vote as if all American women now and forever OWE that team team their vote that I eventually began to disbelieve their motives. No, I no longer think that it ever had much to do with Right or Wrong on principle at all, but rather inducting a new group of people to campaign to actually was just another sleezy tactic to manipulate outcomes in a candidate's or proposition's favor; meaning that my creeping sense is that, in some places, women weren't given the right to vote because it's equally our country too, and equally of interest to us, but because the most vocal activists actually thought women were universally stupid enough to vote for their agendas on command like a legion of robots. 🤔 I only recently found out that the uber deplorable State of Wyoming boasts the first female governor in the US, and that assuring its female citizens the right to vote nationally was actually one of its terms set as conditional for joining the union of States; I need more information to make up my mind on this, but a factor could have been that its population has always been so small that Wyoming couldn't actually afford to set aside half of it, which *kind of* very-generally bolsters my working theory that inducting new groups of voters was more about shifting power presences then it ever was about fundamental equality of citizenship and human worth wholly regardless of future polling outcomes. 🤔 I still don't understand the association of white garments with the suffrage era, but every time activists try to bring it back in America, it's just a behoovingly bad look that makes everyone not-on-the-in scratch their heads with bewildered wonder....... 😅😝

[@fred1barb]

More of something is not necessarily better, but more of your thinking and perspective, shared in more of your videos is certainly a good thing. Keep up the good work sir!

[@circaen]

So did the founders of America. And me too. It gives the illusion of choice. What really happens is people with very limited time / knowledge get propagandized into positions they have no business having opinions on, But they will fight to the death defending. Instead of voting for people you trust to make good decisions, we vote for those who espouse whatever it is we want. One of the most damaging things to happen to American government is when people started voting for senators instead of our State governments doing it.

[@pv6212]

Keep up the fight, Brother!

[@bringer-of-change]

Ahhh the pyramids actually weren't built by slaves according to new archeological discoveries. Not only have they found documentation of the wages of the workers who built it, but they even found documentation of health insurance.

[@j0nnyism]

I’ve always wondered to what degree the peloponesian war was about political ideology as opposed to Athenian hegemony and the increasing influence of the Delian league

[@TheGigashadow]

Hey Metatron, loved the video as usual! Just one quick point, it's now believed that the pyramids weren't built by slaves, which is backed up by substantial evidence!

[@granudisimo]

Slave owners were compensated yet the descendants of the slaves that weren't compensated are still called every name in the book for asking their due part. I mean, you compensate the people that owned the slaves for potential profits lost, yet berate the very slaves for asking compensation for being used as slaves to make those profits to begin with. People don't know how to study history, and it's a lot more than just presentism.

[@Daaoyi]

Salutations from Terra Maramorensis!

[@emerydarby4463]

Love your content Noble One. Keep pushing back against ignorance.

[@agpaok0704]

My probably hasn't read what science fiction has been created in fyrom and Albania. In their country, they call it history.

[@maddogs1989]

People aslo forget Athens was a true Democracy, and unlike to the basterized modern understanding of what a Democracy is, Athens was a true Democracy.

[@castertroyt]

You got me at Presentism

[@benjamintherogue2421]

9:25 It's funny, because no one asks when men were allowed to vote as a universal group. The regular man wasn't given the franchise to vote in Britain until after women. Men in the US have never been given the unrestricted right to vote except for a very brief period of time in the '80s, but it was taken away very shortly afterwards. The fact that Cracked keeps harping on about when women got the right to vote while ignoring that shows their ideological roots.

[@johnvenator7221]

Oh by the way, our Republic is less than 2.5 centuries old and it's in rough shape

[@pawelpap9]

As far as I understand, pyramids were not built by slaves, at least not exclusively.

[@kurtslavain]

"Presentism" is a term, made up to justify the wrongness of the past. "Oh, they lived in the past so they didn't know any better/You can't judge the past from a modern moral perspective." That's not an excuse. The basic emotional concept of empathy remains the same, no matter the era. You don't need to live in modern times and be taught modern values to be able to imagine being the other person and what you'd feel if you were in their place. You just have to be emotionally intelligent.

[@Ggdivhjkjl]

@14:00 The 13th amendment to the US Constitution specifically DOES allow slavery! It explicitly states that prisoners may be enslaved. What are the demographics of the incarcerated population again?

[@turdferguson7686]

people who committed crimes is the main demographic in prison. most of them multiple crimes none the less. pretty stupid question to be honest.

[@JamieZero7]

I reeally hate presentism. And I always say the best thing to do is read the graffiti at Pompeii it's so eye opening just how alike we are. From their jokes. Humanity really hasn't changed. But not only that these people had to invent stuff we take for granted. Stuff like languages. The idea of schools, trade, writing tools, letter and mailing systems, etc.