Read Caro's book. Johnson City circa 1920 had no running water, no electricity, no appliances, the farmers there were dirt poor on the edge of slipping under altogether. It was described as remarkable and extraordinary that Johnson's mother did not maintain cleanliness.
A big part of that is definitely a sense of middle class pride, and servants are something important to think about, but pride and servants were very common throughout history for anyone above absolute poverty. One would invest in a maid long before more clothes or better tools.
In their hospitality, their hovel is described in great detail. They put much effort into cleaning for their guests, varnishing with wax their old wooden cups, leveling their broken table, offering water to wash their guest's feet and hands. Uniform filth this is not. Destitution totally foreign to a modern American, yes, but not a total lack of pride and cleanliness as is complained about in grimdark brown and grey color palettes of tv shows.
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.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
Read Caro's book. Johnson City circa 1920 had no running water, no electricity, no appliances, the farmers there were dirt poor on the edge of slipping under altogether. It was described as remarkable and extraordinary that Johnson's mother did not maintain cleanliness.
A big part of that is definitely a sense of middle class pride, and servants are something important to think about, but pride and servants were very common throughout history for anyone above absolute poverty. One would invest in a maid long before more clothes or better tools.
See also Ovid's tale of Baucis and Philemon.
https://www.gutenberg.org/files/26073/26073-h/Met_VIII-XI.html#bookVIII_fableVI
In their hospitality, their hovel is described in great detail. They put much effort into cleaning for their guests, varnishing with wax their old wooden cups, leveling their broken table, offering water to wash their guest's feet and hands. Uniform filth this is not. Destitution totally foreign to a modern American, yes, but not a total lack of pride and cleanliness as is complained about in grimdark brown and grey color palettes of tv shows.
More options
Context Copy link