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Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 6, 2025

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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I have read (but not sure of its veracity) that people who owned slaves had a carrot and stick approach rather than a punishment only approach for motivating people. It's also why sometimes there was a price set that could earn you your freedom if you managed to pay it. It allowed people to tell their slaves to go off and labor on their own and earn money, of which they would take a cut, so that the slaves would do the maximally productive task.

Time on the Cross has details of this.