[zusammen]

You’re probably right. The historical norm is that there are owners and there are workers. We seem to be regressing to that.

The difference is that medieval peasants knew their manorial lords had bigger houses and ate more meat, but the visible local differences were small and religion could operate (for worse or better) as a stabilizing force. People tolerated a caste system because they were information poor.

There’s no reason today, though, for people to put up with the kind of inequality that is not only extreme and senseless but constantly being shoved in their faces via social media. The only way the rich stay out of the guillotines is by creating new, weird cultural spectacles like litter boxes in schools (not even a real thing) for “furry kids.”

[munificent]

They were uninformed then, but people are misinformed now.

I think the latter is worse, because it means those in power now have an information lever they can use to manipulate the masses. When there were no broadcast or network media sources, those levers didn't exist and the powerful had fewer tools to control people.

[eli_gottlieb]

> People tolerated a caste system because they were information poor.

Well no. Peasant rebellions/uprisings happened all the time. People tolerated the feudal system because those rebellions could at best pressure for greater leniency within the system, while it took the later historical developments of urbanization and increasing labor productivity to actually overthrow the system.

[api]

The new way to sell the lower and middle classes on persistent inequality and a caste system is the culture war. You scare them about culture war bogey men: trans people, immigrants, gays, etc. The deal is "let us rule over you and tax you and charge you rent, and we will marginalize people whose existence disturbs you."

A closely related variation is the appeal the current oligarch class is making to men all over the world: let us rule over you and tax you and we will keep women in their place and set things up so you have most of the power in relationships. Men get to rule over women, and in exchange the oligarchs get to rule over men and take most of their productivity in rent and taxes. You're poor, but your wife can't leave.

[thrance]

I would hardly call that strategy "new", it was the same one employed by European autocrats in the 30s.

[rixed]

Or diverting nascent discontentment toward a manufactured enemy (that does the same in his own fiefdom), 1984's style.

[mandmandam]

> The historical norm

By which you mean the most recent 1% or so of human history.

Before that societies were a lot more egalitarian [0].

0 - https://medium.com/inside-of-elle-beau/yes-our-ancient-ances...

[thrance]

Workers have been sold the lie that if they work hard and smart, they too can get to the top and enjoy a life of luxury.

Relentless propaganda on social and legacy medias funded by billionaires succeeded in creating the most overtly pro-billionaire government ever.

They are now giving themselves massive tax cuts, implementing austerity and straight up picking in the treasury, and a lot of Americans are still defending them.