this post was submitted on 29 Mar 2025
572 points (96.7% liked)
solarpunk memes
3605 readers
355 users here now
For when you need a laugh!
The definition of a "meme" here is intentionally pretty loose. Images, screenshots, and the like are welcome!
But, keep it lighthearted and/or within our server's ideals.
Posts and comments that are hateful, trolling, inciting, and/or overly negative will be removed at the moderators' discretion.
Please follow all slrpnk.net rules and community guidelines
Have fun!
founded 3 years ago
MODERATORS
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
view the rest of the comments
I mean there are some other shitty stuff feudal peasants had to do or had it harder than us, but it is kinda sad that there still are things peasants had that we don't (like shorter working hours and longer breaks). You'd think with the technological advancements we've had since the "death" of feudalism we would have more to distinguish ourselves from feudal peasants. I feel like the only major differences (at least in America) is the mass consumerism and that the feudal lords are capitalists rather than nobility.
I don't think you'd have to work longer hours than a medieval peasant if you were living a comparable lifestyle: a thatched roof hovel, basic staple foods, no electricity or running water, no car, phone, television, computer, or appliances, etc. Plus those working hours are often spent sitting at a desk pushing buttons, instead of sweating in a field.
Technology and industrialization has and continues to increase an individual's productivity exponentially. With increasing productivity we should be living better lives while being able to work less. Not equivocal or even more. The issue is capitalist economics are about over-production and constant growth, not meeting need. We'd still be living in candle-lit brick apartment complexes with your extended family in a studio apartment working 15 hours in the coal mines if it wasn't for labor unions and violent resistance. Then they found out they can pacify people easier through consumerism than they could with the barrel of a gun.
This is all to say, we do not need to work as much as we are to keep the quality of life we have.