
Feudalism: A System of Private Law - jrs235
https://mises.org/blog/feudalism-system-private-law
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pron
Sure, feudalism is a form of decentralized government, but what lies at its
very heart -- the core of feudalism, if you will -- is the ability to own
people via obligations they make because they have no choice, and cannot free
themselves from. Freedom is a continuum, but only a fool would claim that
feudalism brings more freedom to more people than a centralized, democratic
government. What is often absent from reactionary accounts of history, is how
few in number, how incredibly rare were the people who were able to enjoy
those forms of government. The manorial system -- feudalism's economic system
-- is mentioned in the article in passing, but it was only made possible by
serfdom, a form of slavery. The vast majority of people were serfs -- had to
be for feudalism to work -- and they lived on the brink of starvation so that
their lord could eat.

Feudalism is a rather natural form of organization that arises wherever
there's a lack of central governance. In the late 19th century, a form of
modern feudalism emerged in the US, under the control of the robber barons.
Because of lack of regulation, corporations were able to own people, paying
them with non-convertible company currency so that they couldn't leave. It was
only when the population cried for freedom, with the help of some pioneering
journalists, that the US government stepped in with regulation that freed the
people.

