A functioning understanding of agrarian life and the political economy of the past is necessary to understand most literature published before the modern era, even if to get an idea of the relative scarcity of goods.I was confused as a kid why the Ancient Greeks made such a big deal of fatty meats for sacrifices and armor descriptions. It took me until adulthood to realize that a serving of meat might be something the average agrarian got once a week at best, and a proper feast was a huge deal. And intricate armor and weaponry was a massive capital investment for them, a full suit of armor and a chariot being propped up by a full agricultural estate. it also prevents you from slipping into contemporary lenses that cloud our vision, mostly from our relative position of material abundance. Even for religious studies it's good, Jesus's farmer parables go down a lot easier if you actually understand a bit about farming.
>>25296565Even now, a full suit of armor and a chariot (and the horses to pull it) would be a massive investment. You don't need to know anything about ancient life to understand that it's expensive shit they're talking about
>>25296609The scale of the investment gets missed though, you know its massive but not whereabouts. People between third world and first world countries today get confused by purchasing power and cost of living differences. it isn't something that's intuitively obvious.
>>25296565>A functioning understanding of agrarian life and the political economy of the past is necessary to understand most literature published before the modern era, even if to get an idea of the relative scarcity of goods.okay, literature for this?
>>25296639I guess The Other Greeks by Victor Davis Hanson
>>25296639The YearlingThe Grapes of WrathLittle House on the PrairieThe Last of the MohicansTrue GritAnne of the Green GablesThe Brothers KaramazovThe Sun Also RisesThese are a few off the top of my head that contain "pre-modern" settings and themes the modern reader would never have first hand experience with.
Then recommend a history book that goes over the political economy from ancient times to now.
>>25296639Wendell Berry
>>25296565TRVTHNVKE >>25298585This
>>25296565Definitely read Cracker Culture if you haven't already.
>>25296565>It took me until adulthood to realize that a serving of meat might be something the average agrarian got once a week at bestNot this Victorian era pop history slop again.... There are literally studied done in both Sweden and Turkey that showed they not only ate upwards of twice as much meat, but regularly consumed 6k+ calories per day like it was nothing. I'm talking about serfs, by the way. Also you completely omitted that people back in the day literally had a body heat higher by more than one degree and thus faster metabolisms in general. Humans are, quite literally, becoming cold blooded animals as a result of dogshit meatless nutrition since the Victorian era.Also consider the fact that they ate nearly entirely salted and preserved meats, almost jerky like in fact, softened up in stews. Not fresh frozen meat full of water like we do today. Imagine if you ate 100 kilos of incredibly calorically dense jerky every year. Most of us would become morbidly obese unless we worked it off.
>>25300678did u ever read the book "americans against the city" it's funny it talks about how americans are all nostalgiac for some yeoman farmer shit or 1950s subur\b but actually everything is objectively better in the city which is why most people live there. actually super good book on american urbanism and it's haters if u into that kinda shit.
>>25300683I haven't lol, but i'll look into it. I just had to delete my post because I spelt manors as manners kek.
>>25300686i should add when i say it's funny i mean funny like paradoxical not humorous
>>25300683>but actually everything is objectively better in the city which is why most people live thereI'll take "What is an industrialised economy of scale" for 500 bucks anon. The reality is a significant portion of people would live away from society on isolated private land if that was an option.What mechanisation did to the countryside is what automation will do to industrial and service jobs, except there will be no new jobs for the workers to move into. Hence why elites are already focusing on mass depopulation as a key cornerstone of every single economic and social policy implemented now even if it damns some of their previous machinations.
>>25300683>everything is objectively better in the cityseems like you've never existed around colored folks
>>25300669I would like to read these studies
