this post was submitted on 08 May 2025
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Feel free to add common myths about the East that you'd like cleared up. Or how you've already cleared it up. It might help me or another reader.

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[–] Bolshechick@hexbear.net 26 points 3 days ago (2 children)

Like think about the myth of Thermopylae: 300 brave Greeks sacrificed themselves holding off the countless Persian hordes, keeping the Greeks free of the despotic Persian empire.

(Just ignore the thousands of Greeks that were there who weren't the 300 Spartans, the fact that Sparya wasn't exactly a free society, that Persia was a better society in basically every way, that the reason they didn't conquer the rest of Greece was more that their supply lines were stretched that far away from thier power base, etc)

We tell ourselves the same sorta myths now

[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 22 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Sparya wasn't exactly a free society

back-to-me "Freedom in capitalist society always remains about the same as it was in ancient Greek republics: Freedom for slave owners."

[–] Sinisterium@hexbear.net 8 points 3 days ago* (last edited 3 days ago)

Thats more Athens. Sparta wasnt even a village, it was three hamlets and was almost run neoliberal and build on a perpetual enslaved class. Sparta became a myth and a tourist trap for romans and were defeated by an army of consensual similarly aged gay lovers.

[–] GrouchyGrouse@hexbear.net 17 points 3 days ago (2 children)

The reason Sparta could only send 300 was because they needed to keep most of their army in Sparta to keep the helots, their slaves, from rebelling.

[–] Calmrade@hexbear.net 18 points 3 days ago

It's almost like slavery is inherently unsustainable.

[–] Sinisterium@hexbear.net 8 points 3 days ago (1 children)

They also had a shrinking class of Spartiates, because spartan citizens had to pay for their own training & equipment.

[–] BeamBrain@hexbear.net 9 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Between that, the slavery, and certain sexual proclivities I'd need to CW, I'm starting to think Sparta was the ancaps' dream.

[–] Sinisterium@hexbear.net 10 points 3 days ago

They would call it DEI woke though since Sparta Women were OG Girlbosses (because they became big landladies due to the high death rate of Spartiates).