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Do you think a feudal peasant had a better quality of life than the modern labour aristocratic proletariat? (lemmygrad.ml)

submitted 6 days ago by ProletarianLandlord@lemmygrad.ml to c/asklemmygrad@lemmygrad.ml

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I have not looked into any sources on what life was like for a feudal peasant. However, I've heard that peasants had more holidays and rest. I also believe the life of a peasant was more communal and satisfactory with religion being a central feature. This, to me, is a stark contrast to the life of the modern proletariat in the Global North who often lives for work, is more and more isolated, and maybe gets only a month off work. Yes, we have higher life expectancy now (quantity) but I cant help but think that peasants had a better quality of life. Please educate me on this topic and provide some sources to look at. Thank you! 🙏

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[–] MarxMadness@lemmygrad.ml 8 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

The question is about "labor aristocrats." It's an argument I've mostly seen made by westerners for other westerners, speaking about work in a western context. That's what I was addressing.

There's a better quality of life argument for workers in the global south, but still:

Using "hours worked" as a proxy for quality of life leaves out all sorts of important factors (e.g., modern medicine).
As a proportion of all workers, the share of workers in the most strenuous jobs is lower today than it was in feudal times.