It would be terrible to be a serf. Working all day long in the fields. Being basically enslaved by their lord. Forced to work 5 maybe 6 days a week. Living on just the bare minimum. And never able to get ahead.
But thankfully we’re not serfs. We’re modern citizens. So instead, we work all day long in the office. Being basically enslaved to our employer. Forced to work 5 maybe 6 days a week. Living on just the bare minimum. And never able to get ahead.
A serf was tied to the land through a contractual obligation. Essentially the serf was owned, in a way, by the land, and not necessarily by a person. So it wasn’t slavery on paper.
You on the other hand, have a house, which you contractually control based on a loan you took with the bank. You have to pay that loan off for the next 30 or so years. So you aren’t technically enslaved. But you are in a way also owned by the land as well.
Now you could sell your house. But so could a serf transfer or sell his obligation, except maybe in some places like Russia.
They probably won’t though, because they’re broke, like most of modern society.
So what is the main difference then between being a modern citizen and a serf?
Well it’s obvious. We have democracy, and serfs did not.
A democracy that charges us up to 45% in income tax.
An Egyptian slave was only charged 20% of their production.
A democracy who’s leaders are elected based on how well they can talk.
Medieval societies were ruled by merit and the descendants of those who proved their merit.
A democracy that gives you a direct say in what happens in the country.
Except of course if it’s anything to do with policy. As that’s the work of the people who know how to speak good.
Dictated by the donors who have the money to back the policies they want enacted.
In medieval Europe. Taxes were rarely raised higher than 10%. Many taxes were only on goods, with widely varying rates.
But they had autocratic kings and queens which is naughty.
So I suppose the difference between being a serf and a modern citizen is not all that much.
Besides of course that we can vote and they couldn’t.
We dodged a bullet there.
Alex James.