re: #82 HappyWarrior

Right. Agh. It just amazes me that people who think the government is evil have no problem with corporate power getting too much.

It’s usually because they think they won’t be serfs too.

Peasants

The lowest social rank in the Middle Ages were the peasants. The peasant class included Freemen, who had some rights and land, serfs, who had no rights, and slaves, who were bought and sold.

Freemen

Freeman were poor farmers who had control of small portions of land. Freeman usually made just enough money to live on. They sold their crops and may have worked with a trade. Wives of freeman sometimes did “stay-at-home” trades, such as brewing ale.

Serfs

Serfs had no political power and were not allowed having control of property. They lived on the property of a noble vassal, and, in order to repay the vassal for letting the serf live on his property, the serf worked the land and was at the disposal of the vassal. Serfs were slaves in all but name.

thefinertimes.com

So no-one in the village of the manor was really free - free to leave, free to marry who they wanted, free to follow a different job, etc. The Miller’s got that name cause they ran the Baron’s mill. Nothing else. Smith because of the blacksmith shop. And so on. Coming soon to your town! And don’t forget to practice at the range all Sunday afternoon so you’ll be ready when you’re required to go to war for your master. But there’ll always be cheap beer/weed/whatever at the tavern every night and circus games on telly to keep you easily amused.

Meanwhile the richest will fight over who gets the crown and the biggest spoils from the corpse of America…