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>feudal-like state of society Do you have a source for this? People keep repeating this over and over, but I have never seen a shred of evidence for it. It see

>feudal-like state of society Do you have a source for this? People keep repeating this over and over, but I have never seen a shred of evidence for it. It seems some people have just decided that they hate inheritance and thats just it, no evidence required. I would encourage you to look at the most unequal countries in the world by wealth. You may find it surprising that none of them are "feudal". https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_inequality https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_wealth_in... Edit: I don't mean to be snarky, apologies if it comes off that way. Unfounded ideas just bother me, and I would love to gain new perspective forming info.

scottLobster 5y ago
He said "feudal-like". One of the key aspects of feudal society is an aristocratic elite that controls almost all the property and rents it out to the rest of the population. Take a look at the current housing market craze where wealthy/institutional buyers are taking advantage of low interest rates to buy properties with all-cash, inspection-waived offers above asking price, in some cases whole neighborhoods at a time, so as to rent them out. This is a privilege unavailable even to the upper middle class, and could very well turn into a sort of neo-feudalism if left unchecked. It's also not unprecedented for companies to own entire towns and pay employees in company "scrip" that was only redeemable at company stores, a practice which lasted well into the 1950s and (after some googling) apparently was tried by the Mexican subsidiary of Walmart as recently as 2008. Looking at the broader state of the economy, wages have been stagnant for decades; property, healthcare & childcare (at least in the US) and education are more expensive than ever. With the exception of food, everything that matters in life is more unattainable for the average person, and everything that doesn't matter is super-cheap, with no signs of those trends reversing. How does that not turn into a form of neo-feudalism if left unchecked? The last time we "checked" it (in the US) it took decades of labor protests/riots that often turned bloody and the effects of a couple of world wars. Historically plagues (that actually kill a lot of people indiscriminately) and wars are just about the only re-distributive methods that have proven successful in the long term. Unless we want a repeat of some real nasty history, we need a historically unprecedented way to redistribute wealth.
JAlexoid 5y ago
You should sort the list to notice that at the top of the list are countries that are aristocratic monarchies or pseudo monarchical aristocracies. The Netherlands topping the list has average house prices at EUR 400k(massive spike in prices in the last year), while average annual income(pre tax) is EUR 60k.

scottLobster 5y ago

He said "feudal-like". One of the key aspects of feudal society is an aristocratic elite that controls almost all the property and rents it out to the rest of the population. Take a look at the current housing market craze where wealthy/institutional buyers are taking advantage of low interest rates to buy properties with all-cash, inspection-waived offers above asking price, in some cases whole neighborhoods at a time, so as to rent them out. This is a privilege unavailable even to the upper middle class, and could very well turn into a sort of neo-feudalism if left unchecked. It's also not unprecedented for companies to own entire towns and pay employees in company "scrip" that was only redeemable at company stores, a practice which lasted well into the 1950s and (after some googling) apparently was tried by the Mexican subsidiary of Walmart as recently as 2008. Looking at the broader state of the economy, wages have been stagnant for decades; property, healthcare & childcare (at least in the US) and education are more expensive than ever. With the exception of food, everything that matters in life is more unattainable for the average person, and everything that doesn't matter is super-cheap, with no signs of those trends reversing. How does that not turn into a form of neo-feudalism if left unchecked? The last time we "checked" it (in the US) it took decades of labor protests/riots that often turned bloody and the effects of a couple of world wars. Historically plagues (that actually kill a lot of people indiscriminately) and wars are just about the only re-distributive methods that have proven successful in the long term. Unless we want a repeat of some real nasty history, we need a historically unprecedented way to redistribute wealth.

JAlexoid 5y ago

You should sort the list to notice that at the top of the list are countries that are aristocratic monarchies or pseudo monarchical aristocracies. The Netherlands topping the list has average house prices at EUR 400k(massive spike in prices in the last year), while average annual income(pre tax) is EUR 60k.