2 ms·

I'd guess it's more that in that time, the amount of incrimination and accusation you could have in a society before you had a civil war on your hands was lower

I'd guess it's more that in that time, the amount of incrimination and accusation you could have in a society before you had a civil war on your hands was lower. So you had more civil wars, but it also pushed people to stay quiet more. I think the reason we have so much criticism nowadays is how relatively limited the consequences are.

hodgesrm 6y ago
Well also there's the notion of freedom of speech, which is a relatively new development in the West. We tolerate speech today that would have resulted in gruesome execution in the reign of, say, the Tudor Kings of England. [1] These were not democracies. (Or perhaps I'm misunderstanding your point.) [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_Act_1351 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treason_Act_1351