Well, if a person wants to integrate with society and make any sort of decent living as society defines it, they already have to pay an enormous amount of money

Well, if a person wants to integrate with society and make any sort of decent living as society defines it, they already have to pay an enormous amount of money to keep various electronic devices like a computer. And unlike a tractor or a car, computers and phones are upgraded so frequently that we are locked into continually upgrading. Several software suites are becoming subscription-only, including Adobe which is required for a lot of creative work, especially in the publishing and illustrating world. The other day I went into a restaurant and they didn't even have a menu but required a QR code to read the menu! Now what if a community didn't want to pay the fee? How hard would it be to disconnect from being reliant on tech companies? N.B. It is important to take into account the sheer power of tech companies compared to traditional businesses you might rely on like the hardware store. The scope and range of their power is what makes it more like feudalism compared to how traditional societies were inter-reliant.