site banner
PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   2003 thread views

Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 19, 2026

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.

1
Top Bottom Old Controversial Comments
Jump in the discussion.

No email address required.

Have people looked into how necessary slavery was in historical civilizations? While industrialization seems to have ended the necessity of chattel slavery, though not necessarily all coerced and semi-coerced labor, in a country it seems the past required more coercion. An example is that sugar farming is so horrific once Haiti/St Domingue ended slavery, it basically stopped since no one was willing to do it without being forced to. I'm curious how much more economically diversified empires like the Romans and Chinese required slavery.

Maybe a tangent, but I'm reading a novel set in post Roman Briton, and it got me thinking. Why was there slavery in tribal Europe, even after Christianization? They weren't capturing slaves to work on large plantations then. I think it was something like this:

  1. Your warband attacks and burns an enemy village. They kill all the fighting men and maybe capture a few who surrender.
  2. There are a bunch of women and children. You now have several options:
    • Let them go. This was probably not actually very humane, you have just burned everything and killed all the strong laborers and ruined their dwellings and food stores. At best they will starve, at worse they will be prey for animals and men.
    • Kill them all. But why? It's a bunch of extra work for nothing, killing them brings you no benefit, and it pisses off the enemy and invites retaliation. And it is considered kind of bad form even among non Christians AFAICT. You might do this if you are on a revenge mission or are just a sadist I guess.
    • Capture them and take them with you. You can maybe sell them. And also, you can inflict psychological damage on the enemy while still appearing to be an honorable, rational enemy.
  3. You've brought them back to your towns and villages. Now they need somewhere to stay. You're a semi-settled tribe, so you don't have a big facility to house and feed them. So instead you parcel them out to your soldiers and their extended families. Now they have somewhere to sleep. But they don't get to eat for free, so they have to work. And now you've invented de facto slavery.

Edit: @Capital_Room beat me to it

What is this place?

This website is a place for people who want to move past shady thinking and test their ideas in a court of people who don't all share the same biases. Our goal is to optimize for light, not heat; this is a group effort, and all commentators are asked to do their part.

The weekly Culture War threads host the most controversial topics and are the most visible aspect of The Motte. However, many other topics are appropriate here. We encourage people to post anything related to science, politics, or philosophy; if in doubt, post!

Check out The Vault for an archive of old quality posts. You are encouraged to crosspost these elsewhere.


Why are you called The Motte?

A motte is a stone keep on a raised earthwork common in early medieval fortifications. More pertinently, it's an element in a rhetorical move called a "Motte-and-Bailey", originally identified by philosopher Nicholas Shackel. It describes the tendency in discourse for people to move from a controversial but high value claim to a defensible but less exciting one upon any resistance to the former. He likens this to the medieval fortification, where a desirable land (the bailey) is abandoned when in danger for the more easily defended motte. In Shackel's words, "The Motte represents the defensible but undesired propositions to which one retreats when hard pressed."

On The Motte, always attempt to remain inside your defensible territory, even if you are not being pressed.


New post guidelines

If you're posting something that isn't related to the culture war, we encourage you to post a thread for it. A submission statement is highly appreciated, but isn't necessary for text posts or links to largely-text posts such as blogs or news articles; if we're unsure of the value of your post, we might remove it until you add a submission statement. A submission statement is required for non-text sources (videos, podcasts, images).

Culture war posts go in the culture war thread; all links must either include a submission statement or significant commentary. Bare links without those will be removed.

If in doubt, please post it!


Rules


Recommended Posts And Communities

Recommended Realtime Chats