Serfs Up
October 8th, 2008 at 10:44
As you’ve probably noticed, these are tough times for the world economy, so consequently, everyone has been rather understandably moaning about it. There is a balance though – with capitalism, a crisis can also been as an opportunity – though the banks are all down, alliterative news headlines are up, as are photos of stressed-people using telephones.
All of this turbulence, though, has led to some pundits drawing comparisons with Marx and calling all of the bailouts and nationalisations “socialist” – in fact, it was this reason why many American congressmen wouldn’t vote for the $700bn bailout first time round. What I think is interesting about this is it isn’t too far from the truth. I accidentally attended a socialist party meeting last week (don’t ask) and the speaker made the interesting point that it isn’t Cuban President Raul Castro or Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez being the best socialists and nationalising everything – it is in fact George Bush, and it’s the American government who now own some of the world’s biggest banks and insurers, and bizarrely, sponsor Manchester United. Next time they play Newcastle United, sponsored by Northern Rock, it’ll essentially be a proxy-war between America and Britain.
It has made me think though. Maybe it was that socialist meeting warping my mind, but maybe, just maybe, Karl Marx was right, that the revolution is just around the corner? Capitalism doesn’t seem to working out too well, so maybe we do need an alternative. Obviously, if Karl were here now he’d probably suggest communism as the new economic system… but I’m not so sure. I hate to disagree with such a renowned, historical icon and possibly the most famous Marxist intellectual out there, but maybe there’s another system we could bring back that will keep the world economy in check?
Why don’t we bring back the feudal system? We used the system for hundreds of years in the middle ages before, so I can’t see why we can’t use it again. If there’s one thing the banks need at the moment, it’s stability in the system, less of the ups and downs associated with capitalism… and what could be more stable than a rigid system of class-based subservience and subsistence farming? Sure, there could be some minor issues with, say, lack of social mobility, or the vast majority of us becoming peasants who will die at 30 only to have our kids replace us in farming the same plot of land whilst paying tribute to a tyrannical baron, but the environment for big business will be perfect for trade – businesses, or the barons that will replace them, will be able to make big long term decisions as they’ll know what the conditions will be like in ten, fifty, even one hundred years on – because conditions will be exactly the same. The other upshot is that no one will have to worry about job security, as under the feudal system, everyone is guaranteed a job for life – as a peasant farmer.
The Feudal System: It’s not only the past, it’s the future.
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