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[scriver]

But the logistics of keeping that many slaves permanently don't really add up. If you have them there 24/7 then you're responsible for feeding, housing, clothing them, and having a large slave-master apparatus costing you a lot more. Having a few slaves/indentured servants per household is reasonably efficient, or plantation slaves in the Old South, but only because the advanced weaponry of the firearm meant a small number of guards were needed. but there's literally nowhere where for example a "slave factory" is overall more efficient than merely paying people a wage then sending them home at the end of the day. There's a reason that the places with "wage slavery" are economically beating the places with actual slavery.

Also, we don't have any evidence of any archeology that supports the slave-hypothesis, so it's kinda disingenious to assume that the slave-hypothesis is the working hypothesis, until 100% proven otherwise. You should go on "preponderance of evidence" if there are two competing hypothesis, not pick one as the automatic default, without providing a compelling reason why it should be so. "because people used to believe that" is not a compelling reason to continue to believe something, when the available evidence says the opposite of the common-belief.

for example if there were lots of slaves worked to death (which you'd basically have to do, to make it at all economical vs simply paying farmers to come work on the pyramids during the off-season), there should be huge mass-graves full of dead slaves near the pyramids, but these mass graves do not exist. to the best of our knowledge. They would have had to put the dead slaves somewhere. We only have examples of people freely buried along with personal possessions and the typical Egyptian gifts for the afterlife, which would imply they weren't slaves, unless they treated the slaves especially well. Until we find the bodies of the proposed slaves, the working hypothesis should be that the existing, actually found, graves are typical. About 10,000 people at a time worked on the big pyramids over 30 years. Assuming a slave would last 5 years on such a project, we're talking 60000 corpses per pyramid that should be buried around there.

Or, you know, you get farm slaves to work on the pyramids in the off season.

And no, it's not either all slaves or no slaves. The most likely conclusion from the evidence is that it was a mix of both slaves and free workers.

Or, if I was speaking Finnish, I'd call myself Routsilainen and not Svenskilainen, the same way Finns in English call themselves Finns and not Soumis.

"Ruotsalainen", "Suomalainen". Diphthongs are important.

no u

wait, sorry, i meant "nu o"

Though Finland is a pretty poor example, considering we have our own words for a good number of the neighbouring countries

I think that's actually a great example exactly because of that, since what I was trying to say that just because a people refer to themselves as something in a different language doesn't mean it's what they call themselves. A Georgian would call themselves Georgian when speaking in English just as a Swede would call themselves Ruotsalainen when speaking in Finnish instead of Svenskalainen.

Estonia / Eesti / Viro

Wouldn't it be fantastic if Viro meant "South" in Finnish?

Germany / Deutschland / Saksa

Saxony I'm guessing?

Addendum - motion to make Soumi Wrestling into Finland's national sport all in favour say aye?

HOW AM I NOT GETTING ANY SUPPORT FOR THIS

[JoshuaFH]

Us poor Non-Fins don't know what Soumi Wrassling is. We could look it up, but it'd be best if you just put on a demonstration to show everyone. Go put on your thong, we'll wait.

[hector13]

I think it’s just him being cheeky. Finns call themselves Soumi, so it’s just Finn wrestling, basically. This is why scriver, being an East-Norwegian, is unable to demonstrate.

The need to explain it is why it doesn’t get my support :p

[scriver]

#BoilingHate

[Reelya]

And no, it's not either all slaves or no slaves. The most likely conclusion from the evidence is that it was a mix of both slaves and free workers.

Which evidence exactly? Everything that comes up when you google the topic says no.

From wikipedia for example, the earliest references to Egyptian slavery are from the New Kingdom, or around 1500 BC. The stuff we're talking about is 2500 BC. Note the relevance that by 1500 BC, they had an empire and subject peoples. That wasn't the case at all in 2500 BC which was only a handful of centuries since the first known Pharaohs, and it's been argued that it was the centralized works projects such as the pyramids which allow the growth of centralized power in Egypt in the first place. Also, there was no national army at this point in time, each governor would raise volunteer legions (who were poorly paid and irregularly equipped) to be used in times of war, which the Pharaoh would then lead. This situation isn't what you'd need to have mass-scale slavery. You need a full-time army for that.

So, what we do know isn't really conducive to the idea.

[KittyTac]

Georgia / Sakartvelo / Gruusia

And in Russian, it's "Gruziya". Sounds oddly similar.

[ChairmanPoo]

It's not like we lack later examples of major constructions done by hired workers and volunteers. Look at the cathedrals.

[IcyTea31]

Gruusia

And in Russian, it's "Gruziya". Sounds oddly similar.

I believe it is indeed borrowed/corrupted from Russian.

[hector13]

Finns confirmed feeves.

[IcyTea31]

And English isn't?

[Tack]

Well, Hitler being an Austrian and Stalin being a Georgian... I'd like to put my name in the hat for Emperor of America.

[Doomblade187]

Ooh, learning many things Reelya.

But yeah. In the US, cost of living is lower in GA compared to NY. (In many cases much!) Georgia also has no public transit to speak of, tho.

[hector13]

You say that as though any other part of the US has decent public transit.

[Sirus]

A number of metropolitan areas actually have a decent amount of public transit. Buses, trams, commuter trains, things of that nature.

Probably not enough public transit but certainly better than what's available in other areas.

[Eric Blank]

Does NY state actually have public transit outside the major cities too? Because thats a huge area to cover for a small population, and ive never heard of anybody caring about servicing rural populations.