Somebody once advanced the theory that the pyramids may have been public works projects, to keep the whole economy from collapsing. The pharaohs had accumulated so much of the available wealth, they spent some of it to put people to work. I think that’s an interesting speculation.
So trickle down eventually works. You just have to let them get to godhood first. Got it.
Capitalism probably
Workers were paid. More interesting to ask why they built the pyramids.
Religion.
The ROI was outstanding if it facilitated their journey to a good afterlife well.
Glory and worship is equally addictive as profit. The whole point was to have a badass setup in the afterlife. So you could consider this “profit”
Motive was someone’s huge fucking ego to be remembered forever.
Death
Wasn’t there some archeological evidence that many of the workers and their families were actually compensated?
Aliens
The profit motive was covered by the Pharaoh’s exploitation of the entire nation of Egypt as his personal plantation and palace; each Pharaoh’s Pyramid was the resulting useless passion project wasting all that accumulated profit. Albeit at reduced cost, considering the widespread use of corvee and legal limits on the ability of worker’s to negotiate contracts with the agents of the Pharaoh compared to with non-government notables.
Slaves
The vast majority of people who built the pyramids were paid laborers.
Nope, well paid workers who got vacation time and sick pay for such horrible conditions "stung by scorpion” (probably a metaphor for hangover), “bleeding wife” (wife on her period).
Oh.
Not slaves, that is a myth.
Oh!
