re: #200 urbanmeemaw

Indeed! In my case, boring old people tales (-:!

Yes, but we shouldn’t overlook oral history if we want to understand how common folks lived, saw and experienced the world. Sure, it’s not academic but even that is not always correct, either. History is written by those who have a stake in writing it, from their own perspective, although that is changing in modern times when education tends to be universal and we’ve become more literate and can challenge assumptions, although modern communications may be having an effect on that, as we see everywhere online. The internet is somewhat like the party line gossip that used to plague people.

When we look for the history of common people in various eras, for instance, we must usually second-guess, since most educated people belonged to the upper class, or could hire academics and others who often did their work for commissions (just as they did others, such as artists) since some who assumed power were themselves illiterate. It’s not surprising that religious institutions, for instance, controlled more than a few kingdoms since they pretty much controlled education. But what was life like for the ordinary man, woman or child, for instance, when money was not available and other means were used to feed, shelter and provide for any of their needs? When you live off the land, and conditions are not always to your advantage, resulting in little or no crops, you are constantly suffering—not surprising that religion and superstition reigned over people. Hard to imagine that there are those who would like to go back to that.