Why was Slavery so prevalent in Ancient times ? Why was it so hard to acknowledge other people as Humans with rights...

Why was Slavery so prevalent in Ancient times ? Why was it so hard to acknowledge other people as Humans with rights ? One must have a total lack of empathy to think that submitting others into a life of servitude is no big deal, even a justifiable thing. Does that mean all people at the time were sociopaths with no sense of empathy ?
When you look at different cultures, you notice there are some things that are universally condemned : stealing, lying, murder, incest, adultery... But somehow, slavery was perfectly acceptable. Why so ?

Because it got your people more stuff for free at a time when being fed through the winter wasn't always guaranteed.

And when your two clans fight each other sense "forever" its going to leave you with a taste of disgust for them.

>implying slavery went away just because your masters now give you tokens to buy food and widgets from businesses they own anyway

It's because nothing is wrong with slavery. No major religion or moral code from the ancient world forbids slavery in most if it's forms. The wrong thing, I suppose, would be how you treat your slaves. Not that they're slaves per say.

But I am not forced to work. And I can choose my "master" to a point, and that "master" will not have every right on me.
But they were forced. Kidnapped and forced to work until death. That is what makes it wrong.

.>implying slavery isn't still all over the place

>empathy;
The modern buzzword.
Empathy has jack shit to do with being moral.

> you notice there are some things that are universally condemned : stealing, lying, murder, incest, adultery
Nigga, on what planet have you been living?
Those things weren't immoral in a ton of cultures.
In fact, in certain areas, being a rape-y murderhobo asshole that fucked everyone's bitches was something one would aspire to.

Because there's different forms of slavery, not all of it is Chattel slavery where the slave is treated like total shit.

In most societies, even slaves had some rights and, due to their nature as being expensive commodities, were more often than not fed adequately and treated well enough that they could peform their duties to the best of their ability. A slave whose job is supposed to farm your fields is not going to be able to do that job if you break his ankles for example.

Life forces you to work until you die, unless you rely on the work of others, which in the case of slave owners is its own form of work

>that is what makes it wrong

An assumption not universally applicable

In Athens you couldn't even tell a slave apart from a free man.

Because stupid men dont refuse to be slaves. Thats why high (smart) classes of Ancient Rome and Europeans in Americas and Africa could create slave societies so easy.

The Ancients weren't possessed by the spirit of humanism

>diogenes's famous bones of a slave quote

Diogenes didn't know much about osteology. Any undergrad anthropology student could tell the bones of a slave from the bones of a king lol

>Human rights
>Empathy
>Sociopaths

These are all modern concepts.

Wow, how much of an idiot can you be, OP? Don't tell me you're one of those madtinfoilhatter conspiracy theorists who believe that slavery ever existed before America. Americans actually invented slavery, you ignorant ignoramus.
Pic related.
>Yfw confronted by ideas that contradict your worldview

There weren't mad robot yokes that were better than human labour :^)

>there are some things that are universally condemned : stealing, lying, murder, incest, adultery
>Murder
Murder is fine in many culture. Killing another human can have many legitimizing reasons, such as crime, war, sacrifice etc. Murder can be justified
>Adultery
Adultery wasn't always condemned and some cultures were very open about having other partners while being in a relationship. This is an enlightened christian European view on faithfulness
>incest
There are, to this day cultures that have very strong incestuous strains and according to Freud, European cultures does too in many ways.

>Lying
Even today lying isn't considered morally wrong. Depends on what you define as lying. A comforting lie can be better than a harsh and horrible truth that doesn't help.

>Athens
>kings

Slavery was not a monolith and it was different from place to place. Many places frowned upon enslaving your own population instead of foreigners. However slavery only ended because it was no longer an effecrive economic system not because of increase in human morality.

We think slavery is bad because we're Christians, or at least raised with a Christian outlook on life.

>Why was it so hard to acknowledge other people as Humans with rights ?
>humans
The mistake you're making here is to think that people naturally value humanity, and that it's only by de-humanising someone that society/people can treat them treat them badly.

People are naturally selfish, and if they weren't educated from earliest childhood to not steal, rape, murder, etc, then they would do it as naturally as they eat, drink and shit.

The other mistake you're thinking is to think of humans as independent entities, making their own decisions on what is right and what isn't. Once you understand that individual humans are only components in a larger organism, no more independent than the individual cells in your body, and that organism is no more sentient than a fox or a jackal, you understand why people behave savagely. Because societies are savage, unthinking predators. It's useful to the society to keep its components from harming each other, which is the social equivalent of cancer, but there's no evolutionary reason for it to prohibit harming outsiders - beyond the threat of retribution from their society, of course.

People don't behave with more empathy today because we suddenly decided to become more compassionate. There were just so many vast, society-killing wars in the 20th century that the more aggressive breeds died out.

>okay yeah, white people weren't the only ones to have slaves - but white people slavery was the bad sort of slavery.
Why do people keep falling for this?

>But I am not forced to work.
Shut up you stupid little fuckboy.

The alternative to enslaving the population of a conquered enemy was extermination.

>In fact, in certain areas, being a rape-y murderhobo asshole that fucked everyone's bitches was something one would aspire to.

Such as?
Obviously it was normal to do it to out-groups, but I can't think of examples where these things were acceptable within your own society.

I can, of course, think of cultures where some of the guy's listed examples were ok, such as incest / killing (though not necessarily murder since the term implies illegality).

this

Why is homelessness so prevalent in Current times? Why is it so hard to acknowledge other people ad Humans with rights ? One must have a total lack of empathy to think that denying surplus resources to the needy is no big deal, even a justifiable thing. Does that mean all people now are sociopaths with no sense of empathy ?

Culture defines your morality. I'm sure future people will gave in horror at our "failings".

>Holy shit. How cold they justify billions spent of frivolity while malaria still existed.
>Holy shit. Why did they allow carbon emissions as such a massive level?
>Holy shit. They actually buried perfectly needed and transplantable organs in the fucking ground based on the wishes of a dead man?

I'm just spitballing, but maybe some of the things out generation will be judged for?

hey guys, i dont need to work, why do you work? where is your mommy? why dont you rely on her if u want tendies? i dont get it?!? arent you a god boy like me?
thats how you sound user if you say that you dont have to work, because nature forces you to work in order to get food..

> empathy
> morality
> rights

> Rights
> Not spooks

Hopefully the future people won't be bleeding heart englishmen like us and will rather judge us for lack of strength and virtues rather than meme shit like failing to adhere to utilitarianism or other kindergarten philosophies

What sort of fucked up virtue system doesn't include utilitarian ideas?

>But I am not forced to work
fucking lmao

Slaves were the machines of their day. We have more cost-efficient solutions now, namely fossil fuels. Without them we'd still be using slaves.

Systems are for systematizers

Really? I thought the alternative was imperialism or demanding tribute from the conquered people in the form of resources.

Which is why slavery was endemic in every society prior to the industrial revolution? Nope.

History resits your silly simplification.

Technically he is but that's only if you get meta; However, if you look at it from a basic point of view, if he wanted to quit his job today and get a new one, live on handouts, or as a hobo, his boss wouldn't flog, lynch, or crucify him for it. That's where choice and freedom come in.

Machine's are properly defined as any object that lowers the amount of work needed to be applied to produce the same amount of energy. I don't think just because you used other humans to do the work for free that they could be termed as machines user...They just made things cheaper. machine may or may not lower costs, they just make life easier.

I can tell you are left-leaning just by the fact you do not understand the difference between voluntary work and slavery.

I can tell you are a /pol/cuck just by the fact that you assume peoples political leanings based on one post

>Why was Slavery so prevalent in Ancient times
Our masters are just getting smarter. I bet the slaves back then didn't think they were slaves back then either. You're still forced into the "social contract" due to property taxes. If there were no property taxes at least you could homestead if you didn't want to participate. But there is no such thing as being non-participatory in the current game we're playing. Slavery hasn't gone anywhere, it might even be more prevalent now than it was then.
>Why was it so hard to acknowledge other people as Humans with rights?
Because the people who get into positions of power have a total lack of empathy like you stated. They care about power, not morals. They're pragmatists who put themselves and their ambitions first. They don't view other people as humans, they view them as dispensable pawns that they will keep are around so long as they are useful, and they will provide them with exactly as much freedom and money is required to keep them loyal. No more and no less.
>One must have a total lack of empathy to think that submitting others into a life of servitude is no big deal, even a justifiable thing. Does that mean all people at the time were sociopaths with no sense of empathy?

Not everyone, just the people in power. There were most likely then, as today, people with good hearts and morals who detested the way things were done around them.
>When you look at different cultures, you notice there are some things that are universally condemned : stealing, lying, murder, incest, adultery. But somehow, slavery was perfectly acceptable. Why so?

Slavery is perfectly acceptable because every society runs on slaves via necessity. There isn't a single society that doesn't have slaves. There are perhaps some primitive tribes who don't have slaves, but there is no society I've ever heard of that didn't have slaves. Slavery is the like the air we breath, everywhere around us, necessary for live, and invisible because it is so common.

Slavery had the same connotation as servant then

Reddit: the thread

Is this why compared to their northern cousins the Confederacy saw far greater use of the steamboat, without doubt the greatest example of industry in the day?

Because believe it or not our parents are responsible for the majority of our morals. It's was in the best interest of both slave owners and slaves to believe slavery was OK so that's what they instilled. Till the majority of society was involved in slavery on some level it was beneficial to coldne it. As soon as the majority had nothing to do with it did the morality of the situation become unburdened by personal gain or loss and we were able form a consensus.

most ancients considered slavery an unfortunate necessary evil. just how did those empires get so large and with such impressive architecture? slave labor allowed for the incredible inventions and tools of antiquity. how genuine were their feelings is up to debate but they definitely understood slavery as a demeaning and "immoral" system. i am an ass and cannot provide sources but a quick google search should do the trick.

Where did that comment state anything about white people?

Because wage labour wasn't a thing or very unworkable until later.

>but I can't think of examples where these things were acceptable within your own society.

just like how many if not most cultures with slavery had provisions at the very least making it much more difficult for a citizen to become a slave while making it much more convenient to be emancipated.

they belonged to asshole groups of people with asshole ideologies and beliefs, also no one wants to move shit around or plant shit

Even the most average family in Rome could afford at least 1 slave. That's a fact.

Slavery was an attempt to compensate for the fact that population densities in antiquity were much, much lower than today, and labor productivity was minuscule. State-condoned slavery began to fade from the world when population densities skyrocketed and labor productivity rose to match it i.e. industrialization.

Slave jobs tended to be very basic, very simple jobs that nobody else wanted to do. Working the mines, for instance, or tending furnaces/bloomeries, or agricultural work. This made them susceptible to mechanization.

Humans are pack animals that are prone to categorizing others to ingroup or outgroup members. Members of outgroup, or in other words strangers are effectively seen as less human.
Brown's Group Processes is an interesting read, for example two sections of a single company are willing to take smaller absolute increase in salary if the other group doesn't get larger relative raise. The dynamic works only if it's a two group interaction, but it's a universal phenomenom.

Slavery was in most of these cultures not the same which people have in mind when they think slavery in the modern period. Slaves had certain rights and slave owners were expected to fulfil certain standards. Also, slavery was often not a permanent thing but something you got yourself into due to financial troubles and which you could also get out of.

In fact I would argue that many social systems in Europe nowadays have elements of antique slavery. A slave owner was usually required to provide enough food and living space to his slaves, in turn the slave had to work for him.
European welfare services provide people who don't have a job with food and housing but they don't allow them to live their lives freely, expecting them to show up at certain dates, apply for any job available to them, do certain kinds of community work for free, etc.

>"But I am not forced to work."
>"Shut up you stupid little fuckboy."
>"But I am not forced to work"
>"fucking lmao"
Pretty easy to assume political leanings when they start comparing having to get a fucking job to people who were forced to pick cotton or they'd be whipped to a bloody pulp

this must be one of the most retarded troll threads iv seen on his in a while

Are you actually autistic?

Corporal punishment is not the only punishment that exists you fucking inbred.

You ARE a slave. I AM a slave, everyone ITT is a slave, just because you're not being beaten to a 'bloody pulp' does not mean you're not getting punished for not doing your job.

No, we are not. Don't you know that you need to be over 18 to post in Veeky Forums?

Sympathy and empathy are universal cognitive abilities, but how often we quickly dismiss them.

What about poor people who are hungry? We will often choose our own satisfaction over the needs of others.

>can't build shit without slaves
>finally industrialize
>now slaves are people

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Wow you liberals are hilarious!