by Joseph Evans L6P
The year is 1660. The ‘Tenures Abolition Act’ has just been passed by the Convention Parliament. It abolishes feudalism, frees everyone from paying fees to the crown to live, frees men from forced conscription, and paves the way for the competition-driven Industrial Revolution. Now in 2024, feudalism is again rearing its ugly head, as inequalities in wealth widen the gap between rich and poor to such an extent as to return to the social conditions of the Middle Ages.
Following the 2008/2009 financial crisis, the drop in interest rates to 0.5% should have encouraged borrowing and spending. Borrowing and spending cause growth, and therefore interest rates should have come back up. The best economists in the country predicted an interest rate rise in the next few years, maybe by 2014 at the latest.
They remained below 1% for the next 14 years.
But why? Surely people should have been spending? Surely growth should have been happening? No. Because the vast majority of the population had no money. Nobody was spending because they had nothing to spend.
But again, why? Surely the money couldn’t have disappeared? Some people had to have the money, and some people had to therefore be the person not spending it. And that person was - or those people were - the rich. In 2009, the 10 richest people or families in the UK had a net worth of around £47.77 billion. In 2014, it had more than doubled to £96.62 billion. In 2023, it had reached £207.834 billion. So clearly, the rich are getting richer. So why aren’t they spending?
Well, they are spending. But they’re spending on assets. Average house prices have risen from around £155,000 in 2009 to £256,405 today. The FTSE 100 has gone from 3,530 points to over 8,000.
In a real world scenario, what this means is that the rich own everything, or nearly everything. Most crucially, they own the houses which we rent and these make them richer and richer. Young people nowadays struggle to get on the property ladder, so instead are forced to rent from millionaires. The rich get even richer, whilst the young and poor line the already overflowing pockets of the millionaires. And this will continue unless something is done about it. Privilege begets privilege. The children of the rich inherit this wealth and property, whilst the poorest in society inherit nothing. The cycles continue, and the feudal system re-emerges.
Now, what needs addressing is what a feudal system used to look like, and what it is likely to look like in the future. In past feudal times, the land laws operated under a manorial system. The lord owned the land, and the peasants paid him and gave him a proportion of their produce in exchange for letting them live on and farm the land. The future feudal system (unless something drastic occurs) will be slightly different - the land the serfs worked on will be the houses of the proletariat, and the tithes they paid will be rent instead. Property merely replaces land as the commodity that the rich own. And whilst they technically aren’t being forced to work the land, the only other choice is homelessness, so they are instead forced by necessity.
But it gets worse. In the old feudal system, there was at least the concept of noblesse oblige, meaning ‘the obligation of nobility’ to act responsibly and honourably. It included things such as protection for their tenants, providing work and land, and holding feasts and festivals. There is no equivalent, direct or otherwise, in today’s society. The rich’s wealth is arguably not being used to benefit anyone but themselves.
What therefore needs to happen is the introduction of a comprehensive wealth tax. Patriotic Millionaires UK signed an open letter to Rishi Sunak last year demanding a wealth tax on them and others like them. Even those who stand to lose out are in favour of it, which should speak volumes about the clear morality of any wealth tax scheme. And yet the Conservatives are seriously considering cutting inheritance tax rather than raising it. Phil White, a member of Patriotic Millionaires, said ‘To prioritise cutting taxes, especially for the very richest, is dismal decision-making from this chancellor on tax reform. Instead we can increase investment in Britain and take the pressure off working people by taxing the super-rich.’
Rishi Sunak won’t offer that, given that his and his family’s wealth is estimated at £730m. Even a 2% wealth tax would cost them £14.6 million annually.
Keir Starmer appears unlikely to offer it either - Labour’s Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves has previously said of wealth tax: ‘We won’t be doing that’.
So with neither realistic election-winning party willing to offer a wealth tax for fear of upsetting the rich, asset prices rising, and housing becoming less and less affordable, causing people to rent instead of buy, it seems that a return to the two-tier feudal society is inevitable - a divide between the rich and poor, the bourgeoisie and the proletariat, the knights and the serfs.
Unless we do something about it, feudalism is coming.