Let’s imagine some feudal serfs.

They’re told by their lord to pay him a share of their crops each year as rents in exchange for permission to live on and farm his estate—his “property.”

The serfs sustain both their lord and themselves by their own labor, living off whatever product is left over after they paid their rents.

Now let’s imagine feudalism is suddenly abolished and the lord’s manor is converted from feudal to private property. The serfs are suddenly free to do as they please!

But the freed serfs find themselves in a pickle: all of the nearby productive land they could farm is owned by the ex-lord and his ex-lord buddies. “Get off my private property,” he tells the ex-serfs. They are, after all, trespassing on his private property.

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#capitalism #anticapitalism #wages #rents #wagelabor #feudalism #capitalistcritique #property #privateproperty #theviolenceinherentinthesystem