Actually, the collapse of capitalism as introduced by the Romans did a real number on the economies they left behind after the empire collapsed. Things quickly became a lot worse for almost everyone involved, as 80 to 90 percent of the population were farmers, and very few of those had the luxury of owning the land they worked on.
In Rome, being a soldier was a job you took up. In Medieval Europe, you were a soldier if you owned land, or you were a king. Most people didn’t own a square inch of anything, so there weren’t that many soldiers around, but that sure changed the way the economy worked. Lots of forced labour and essentially slavery going around through serfdom.
For a while, money lost its relevance, and it took up until quite late in the medieval period before most normal people could trade with money. Money drove the economy and everyone got richer real quick.
If anything, Medieval Europe is proof that capitalism is a lot better than the systems that preceded it. Feudalism sucked for everyone but the 1% much more than it sucks under capitalism, and neither socialism nor communism had been invented yet. So far communism has failed to prove itself anywhere on earth, so we’re back to capitalism as the best model we can come up with right now.
Actually, the collapse of capitalism as introduced by the Romans did a real number on the economies they left behind after the empire collapsed. Things quickly became a lot worse for almost everyone involved, as 80 to 90 percent of the population were farmers, and very few of those had the luxury of owning the land they worked on.
In Rome, being a soldier was a job you took up. In Medieval Europe, you were a soldier if you owned land, or you were a king. Most people didn’t own a square inch of anything, so there weren’t that many soldiers around, but that sure changed the way the economy worked. Lots of forced labour and essentially slavery going around through serfdom.
For a while, money lost its relevance, and it took up until quite late in the medieval period before most normal people could trade with money. Money drove the economy and everyone got richer real quick.
If anything, Medieval Europe is proof that capitalism is a lot better than the systems that preceded it. Feudalism sucked for everyone but the 1% much more than it sucks under capitalism, and neither socialism nor communism had been invented yet. So far communism has failed to prove itself anywhere on earth, so we’re back to capitalism as the best model we can come up with right now.