How often have we, while getting acquainted with the history of mankind, thought about how terrible it was for the poor serfs in feudalism.
Our democracy, the best-known social order, would become even rosier, and we even happier that fate has blessed us with life in it. And today, increasingly hated capitalism, firmly tied to that same democracy, seemed like the best of all known worlds. Not counting utopias. And it still is, there is no discussion, but the rise of tax pressure seems to invite comparisons.
In feudalism, which arose on the foundations of slavery and did not stray far from it, serfs were economic slaves of nobles and kings. They could cultivate their land, but in return, they had to give the feudal lord one-ninth of the harvest. To the Church, a little less, one-tenth. Besides payments in cash and kind, feudal lords also devised labor rent or corvée – free labor for a certain number of days a year. All in all, about 20 percent of property and labor, not counting corvée, was given to the feudal lord.
And what do we have today? Almost the opposite situation. Today, roughly rounded, we give almost 80 percent of what we earn and have to the state. First, from our own labor, we give the state almost half (if you are that lucky) of the amount in taxes and contributions, and then from what remains for each product and service, we pay 25 percent VAT. All other levies and ‘specialized’ taxes are hard to even count, and now our ‘feudal lord’ has come up with another source of income – our real estate. Stocks, paintings, watches, and similar items are irrelevant because there are not as many of them as there are real estate properties. Almost every serf has them.
Moreover, to live on this feudal estate today, one must also pay for drainage waters, public utility functions of forests, tolls, radio frequencies, RTV fees, and countless other things… In feudalism, things were clearer because it was known and seen to which noble 20 percent of what the serf acquired went. Today, we have no idea whom we give all that to and why. In principle, we give it to the State. Essentially, it is a handful of uninterested people who distribute money taken from citizens and entrepreneurs to settle the machinery of those who work for or depend on the State.
And what do those who work and pay for all this, along with everyone else, get? Free healthcare where for almost everything you have to go to a private doctor, free education that is becoming increasingly worse and more expensive, ineffective and arrogant officials, roads for which you have to pay even higher tolls, etc. With the feudal lord, one could fulfill their obligation to give by working for free on his estate. It is hard to imagine that Minister Linić would accept that. If you cannot pay the tax, you can always give up what you have to pay your obligation to the State, and there are also prisons. And do not forget, anyone who has a weekend house is rich. Anyone who has real estate that is not in use is a criminal. Although it may seem to you all the time that you are just a serf. It is a matter of your (wrong) perception.
