Are there people who actually want to return to feudalism? (Who aren’t conveniently placed as one who would be the exploiter). This isn’t the first time I’ve gotten the impression there’s some kind of anxiety about people wanting to go back, but I’m not aware of people who specifically want to go back to feudalism. I know there’s some romanticizing of European medieval life out there, but that seems to be more like pro-royalty propaganda, than anything to do with comparing the degree of exploitation of the working class.

Personally, I get confused about the pushback sometimes because like, I live in the US and there are aspects of past societies that were clearly better. The US has a pretty piss poor sense of community, for example, undoubtedly in some part due to rabid anti-communism and trying to de-fang organization of the masses, along with its history of racialized slavery, genocide of the natives, etc. Not that everyone the world over has moved on from community, so for some places, it wouldn’t be a thing of the past anyway. But in general, I find the whole “don’t romanticize the past” thing can go too far, to the point that it starts sounding too similar to “primitive savage early humans” colonial stuff and makes it sound too much like human history was: “something something humans miserable for thousands of years, then boom, capitalism, now humans are doing way better.”

I imagine that’s probably not your intent, but I get wary in the other direction, is the point.