In a way we associate tithes only with churches, but as the first sentence of that Wikipedia page states: "[...] paid as a contribution to a religious organizat

In a way we associate tithes only with churches, but as the first sentence of that Wikipedia page states: "[...] paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government." However, I think you bring up a much more important point, which deserves highlighting - the confiscation of surplus. The feudal lords at least understood that a starving peasant is not going to produce much surplus. Whereas we live in our respective modern societies and see concepts such as "working poor" as perfectly normal. IMO the world is seriously bent when people who work their arses off still have to rely on charities to sustain themselves at all. Something is being confiscated but it sure isn't surplus.