patrick.net

Serfs lost about 25% of their wages to the landowner, we lose closer to 50% to taxes...

NuttBoxer says

Serfs lost about 25% of their wages to the landowner, we lose closer to 50% to taxes...

Only the rich lose 50% to taxes.

Even the medieval King did not have good dental care. What good is it to rule the land and have an abscess tooth?

Even the poor of today have better teeth than the rulers of yore.

WarrenTheApe says

you keep posting shit out of admitted ignorance on your part

@WarrenTheApe please stop with the personal attacks and stick to the point being argued.

I'm deleting a bunch of those personal attacks right now.

I said this to my lady yesterday. When did slavery become the general standard of living? This is crazy.

What is "work"? Maybe I spend more time "at the office" than a medieval peasant spent "in the fields" working. However, if one includes all the other chores needed to survive, I spend a lot less time thatching my roof, sewing my own clothes, keeping the fire going to keep warm, washing my clothes, etc.

A better measure would be how much leisure time could I have if I chose to optimize for leisure time. On this measure, I think modern day people are way ahead of the medieval ones. For example, if you flee California, work a part-time job (20 hours a week), and live modestly, you would have an enormous amount of leisure time. For those complaining about taxes, if you drop your income to $20k/year, the government pays you! Also, if you don't earn a whole lot, social security is a pretty good deal.

Medieval peasants' life expectancy is something like 60 or 65 years. Americans, if they budget and plan, would be retiring by then and spend the next 15 to 25 years not working. That's a lot of leisure time.