DandomRude

Yes, I also think that Drump is more of a straw man. He certainly benefits from all these obvious crimes, but I don't think he's actually the brains behind the operation - he lacks the intellect for that.

Either way, the ones who lose out in all this are the US citizens and, as always, the socially disadvantaged in particular.

I think it was mainly about manipulating the stock market so that he and his cronies could enrich themselves illegally. You know, organized crime.

An example of a feudal context: real estate companies that made Drump and his father big.

Blackstone Group, Gray Star Real Estate, Vonovia SE, LEG Immobilien AG, China Vanke, and so on.

These are all multi-billion dollar companies that are still controlled by people. They are not state-owned companies or anything that would be useful to society. This is about profits.

You can, of course, continue to insist that my blanket statement is not entirely correct, but I stand by it. Not much has changed since feudalism: there are still masters and servants — and I think it will always be that way.

So, I'm not saying that it's something new — quite the contrary — I'm saying that hardly anything has changed in hundreds of years.

You don't seem to understand what I'm getting at: we are just as ruled by an elite today as we were five hundred years ago. Regardless of the political system, nothing has changed except the way it happens.

It is not. My statement was that humanity never overcame Feudalism.

You made it there maybe was some time when.

Here is a definition a Feudalism. Pls tell me how anything meaningful has changed beyond the obvious things.

Feudalism is a social, economic, and political system that dominated medieval Europe, roughly from the 9th to the 15th centuries. In this system:

• Land ownership was the basis of power. Kings or lords owned large estates and granted portions of their land to vassals (nobles, knights) in exchange for loyalty, military service, and other support.
• Vassals managed these lands and had control over the peasants (serfs) who worked them. The peasants, in return for protection and the right to work a portion of land for their own needs, owed labor, goods, or services to their lords.
• Obligations and relationships were personal and hierarchical, based on mutual duties rather than state laws or centralized authorities.

Maybe the last point but not really - look at the US.

Can you name any society in which the population is not ruled by some form of feudal lord? In the sense that the population is not ruled, but works together for a good life.

I am not aware of any such society.

Edit: A society that has not long since been wiped out because it stood in the way of greed.

Hear, hear!

...or Drump, or Bibi...

Yes, exactly, the entire US administration is made up of people like that. Apart from their terrible character, virtually none of them are even remotely qualified for their positions.

Those two morons, of all people. We're really screwed.

Merz certainly cannot be expected to work against US monopolies — on the contrary. The man is more of a professional lobbyist and, among other things, was chairman of the supervisory board of Black Rock Germany until 2020—he is a walking conflict of interest.