Not really. Capitalism is when owners of capital employ workers to use that capital to create goods and services which they sell to generate a profit. In capitalism the capitalists own the means of production. In feudalism they don’t have to care about production, they just own the land and then charge rent.
Adam Smith is notorious for his support of capitalism, but he was extremely critical of rents. The “free market” he talked about wasn’t one that was free of any government regulation, it was free of rents. You don’t have to do any work to get rent, you just have to own something. And rent gets worse when the owners of that something have a monopoly.
Imagine a capitalist who leases a textile factory and fills it up with workers earning minimum wage. Trucks drive up to one side of the factory and drop off spools of yarn, out the other side come sweaters which are sold for a big mark-up. The capitalist can do things like monitor his workers and fire them for taking more than 5 minutes to use the bathroom, or he can demand they work night shifts during holiday season to maximize his profits. The key thing here is profits – the amount left over after subtracting the costs from the revenues.
Now imagine the feudal landlord who owns the land that the factory uses. He doesn’t care if the factory is profitable or not, all he cares about is that it’s on land he owns, and he demands that he is paid rent for the use of his land. Maybe climate change means that sweaters stop selling so well, so the capitalist’s profits start to disappear. The feudal landlord doesn’t have to care. It’s his property, and the person leasing his property has to pay rent.
Feudalism led to the Irish potato famine. Even during the famine, Ireland was exporting food to England because the feudal landlords required their payment, even if the Irish were unable to feed themselves.
The modern world is looking more and more like feudalism and less and less like capitalism. Amazon rose to prominence using capitalism. It made profits when people ordered things online. The cost to buy those goods wholesale then pack and ship them to individual buyers was less than the price people paid for that service. In the early days, every product listed on Amazon’s website was sold by Amazon. Anything else would have been absurd. And, of course, Amazon wasn’t selling search ads on its website. It was in the business of selling goods, so when you searched for “cat beds”, it wanted to sell you a cat bed. Amazon had to compete with other rival websites that sold things online, as well as with physical stores like Wal*Mart.
These days, Amazon has transitioned from a capitalist enterprise to a feudal landlord. They forced local businesses to close. They bought up their online competition. Nowadays, they don’t make much of a profit on their store, they make rent by selling space on their search results page. Amazon makes much more money by selling space on its search results page for “cat beds” than from selling people cat beds. Because Amazon is a choke point through which most online commerce flows, Amazon gets to raise the rent it charges for space on that search results page to absurd levels.
Whether or not you hate capitalism, I think it’s clear that feudalism is much worse.
Of course it’s not “the definition” of feudalism. But, being paid for the use of something you own is a key aspect of feudalism.
the common theme in it is reciprocal obligations
Suuuure… I’m sure that’s how the feudal lords framed it for their subjects. But, when push came to shove, if you didn’t work the lord’s fields he could have you whipped. If he failed to protect you from brigands you could… complain quietly to the other serfs? The lord would only need to fear aristocrats higher up the food chain than themselves.
Everything that you say is feudal about Amazon, is definitively capitalist
No, it may be happening in an economy where capitalism is one of the main economic systems, but it definitely isn’t capitalism.
Real estate companies are still capitalist even though they deal in real estate.
Take away the company from this example. Is an individual a capitalist if they own land and receive rent from people using that land? How is that different from a feudal lord who owns land and demands rent?
Not really. Capitalism is when owners of capital employ workers to use that capital to create goods and services which they sell to generate a profit. In capitalism the capitalists own the means of production. In feudalism they don’t have to care about production, they just own the land and then charge rent.
Adam Smith is notorious for his support of capitalism, but he was extremely critical of rents. The “free market” he talked about wasn’t one that was free of any government regulation, it was free of rents. You don’t have to do any work to get rent, you just have to own something. And rent gets worse when the owners of that something have a monopoly.
Imagine a capitalist who leases a textile factory and fills it up with workers earning minimum wage. Trucks drive up to one side of the factory and drop off spools of yarn, out the other side come sweaters which are sold for a big mark-up. The capitalist can do things like monitor his workers and fire them for taking more than 5 minutes to use the bathroom, or he can demand they work night shifts during holiday season to maximize his profits. The key thing here is profits – the amount left over after subtracting the costs from the revenues.
Now imagine the feudal landlord who owns the land that the factory uses. He doesn’t care if the factory is profitable or not, all he cares about is that it’s on land he owns, and he demands that he is paid rent for the use of his land. Maybe climate change means that sweaters stop selling so well, so the capitalist’s profits start to disappear. The feudal landlord doesn’t have to care. It’s his property, and the person leasing his property has to pay rent.
Feudalism led to the Irish potato famine. Even during the famine, Ireland was exporting food to England because the feudal landlords required their payment, even if the Irish were unable to feed themselves.
The modern world is looking more and more like feudalism and less and less like capitalism. Amazon rose to prominence using capitalism. It made profits when people ordered things online. The cost to buy those goods wholesale then pack and ship them to individual buyers was less than the price people paid for that service. In the early days, every product listed on Amazon’s website was sold by Amazon. Anything else would have been absurd. And, of course, Amazon wasn’t selling search ads on its website. It was in the business of selling goods, so when you searched for “cat beds”, it wanted to sell you a cat bed. Amazon had to compete with other rival websites that sold things online, as well as with physical stores like Wal*Mart.
These days, Amazon has transitioned from a capitalist enterprise to a feudal landlord. They forced local businesses to close. They bought up their online competition. Nowadays, they don’t make much of a profit on their store, they make rent by selling space on their search results page. Amazon makes much more money by selling space on its search results page for “cat beds” than from selling people cat beds. Because Amazon is a choke point through which most online commerce flows, Amazon gets to raise the rent it charges for space on that search results page to absurd levels.
Whether or not you hate capitalism, I think it’s clear that feudalism is much worse.
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Of course it’s not “the definition” of feudalism. But, being paid for the use of something you own is a key aspect of feudalism.
Suuuure… I’m sure that’s how the feudal lords framed it for their subjects. But, when push came to shove, if you didn’t work the lord’s fields he could have you whipped. If he failed to protect you from brigands you could… complain quietly to the other serfs? The lord would only need to fear aristocrats higher up the food chain than themselves.
No, it may be happening in an economy where capitalism is one of the main economic systems, but it definitely isn’t capitalism.
Take away the company from this example. Is an individual a capitalist if they own land and receive rent from people using that land? How is that different from a feudal lord who owns land and demands rent?
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