Do You Work Harder Than A Medieval Peasant?

We’ve all seen the memes. Tapestries with text proclaiming how great medieval workers had it compared to us lowly modern folk. Claims of vacation day abundance and shorter working days get traction precisely because they sound too good to be true.
Well, are they too good to be true?
Can it really be the case that serfs toiling in muddy fields during a time of the plague were living large compared to office workers stuck in traffic. They say we spent 54 hours a year in traffic but surely that’s more if you live in Los Angeles?
Medieval European society was radically different to our modern age after all, so it makes sense that their attitudes to work and industry would be alien to us. Then again, they weren’t as knowledgeable as us, nor had the higher standard of living we enjoy daily. Things like electricity, medicine, internet and of course all you can eat buffets! So, is the grass always greener on the other side or are 22nd century employees stuck in
Plato’s cave? We’re going to settle the case once and for all.
It’s time to learn how history works as we investigate “who had it better? Medieval peasants or us?”
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#jobs #History #career
Link To My Other Channel: / howmoneyworks
Written By: Sam Ely
Video Created By: Gabriela Gutierrez
Footage Courtesy of: Getty Images
Music Provided By: Epidemic Sound
For sponsorship inquiries, please contact [e-mail]
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SOURCES
• Noam Chomsky - Adverti...
www.oldest.org/technology/adv...
www.petepolgar.com/blog/ancie...
surnames.behindthename.com/
www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK...
bettermarketing.pub/the-contr...
www.bmediagroup.com/news/hist...
clearcode.cc/blog/history-adv...
www.britannica.com/topic/mass...
www.britannica.com/art/soap-o...
www.lcca.org.uk/blog/educatio...
www.simplypsychology.org/litt...
www.apetogentleman.com/behind...
/ getting-started-on-twi...

[@laughinglynx3762]

I feel like the point of the meme is being misunderstood here. The point isn't that the medieval ages were objectively better for most people, no one thinking clearly would argue that medieval peasants led better lives. What they're arguing is that the amount of hours that people are having to work these days is much higher than it should be, and the medieval peasant workload is used as an illustrative comparison. The argument isn't in favor of going back to medieval peasantry, it's in favor of systemically reducing working hours through changing labor laws.

[@Tormod29]

You mean how we work an extra three hours a day (Counting from leaving your house till home) and work an extra 80 days a year?

[@Sintorace]

100% correct. I was coming to say this

[@FunnyBlackHole]

But the argument is flawed because it doesn’t take into account the sheer back breaking workload peasents had to do outside of work. Like, i come home after work throw my dirty clothes in a washing machine and boom 10 minutes i have cleane clothes with no labor on my part. A medieval peasant would spent hours just to get the dirt from the field out of his clothes.

[@Donkeyearsa]

Can you really separate the two? What is the good of working less if there is nothing to look forward to do other than to be thinking that all there is look forward to doing is going back into the field tomorrow? Also people work more hours today because they want to and not that they have to. Lets compare family of the 2020s to the nuclear family of the 1950s. he nuclear family house of the 1950s; two bedrooms one bath with 980 square feet and maybe a carport for the car. The family house of today; Three bedrooms two baths with 2,200 square feet with a two car plus garage. The nuclear family car of the 1950s; One practical car. The family cars of today; Two cars that are designed to perform in conditions that its illegal to drive in aka the car is designed to drive at 150 mph where the speed limit is 65. With a third or more cars, boat(s) of different kinds depending on the activity, motor-home, motorcycle(s) off-road and street-bikes, snowmobile(s), ATV(s), and so on and so forth. The vacation of the Nuclear family of the 1950s; Driving to the local woods for a week to stay in a cabin or a couple of day trip to the shore during the summer. The family vacation of today; getting onto an airplane and flying to some exotic destination for a week or two two or three times a year. Meals of the nuclear family of the 1950s; eating at home where the wife spent time cooking the meal. Meals of the modern family; eating out for a good number of the meals. Daily activity of the wife of the nuclear family of the 1950s; Spending the entire day cleaning the house, taking care of the children when the children are not in school, and sharing the neighborhood gossip with all of the other neighborhood house wives. Daily activity of the wife of today; at work trying to make money to pay for all of the crap that the family demands that they just have to have. Because she has no time for it, having some maid service come into the home twice a week that wife has no time to do, having the children at a day care service because she is gone 50+ hours a week. Electronics of the nuclear family of the 1950s; a radio or maybe a very small 12 inch black and white TV if they wanted to splurge also a vacuum cleaner and sewing machine. Electronics of the modern family; Smart phones and laptops for every member of the family over the age of a toddler. Large screen TVs in every bedroom, living-room, and dinning-room, and maybe smaller TVs in other rooms like bathrooms and kitchen. and smart appliances throughout the entire house. If people removed their heads from out of their backsides and would be happy with the life of the nuclear family of the 1950s but modernized then there would be no issues with the modern family of today. People of today want to have the lifestyle of the rich on the income of the middle class. If the modern family would be content with a two bed one bath 1,000 square foot condo, just had practical cars, cell phones, laptops, and only had only other practical electronic devices and did practical activities being mindful of the cost. stayed home and ate 90% of all meals there would be no issue of the wife staying at home as the husband would make plenty of money to pay for everything. Or both working just enough to pay for just what they need. I am a single man who makes median middle class income for my city and state. I don't have the slightest problem in any way of affording the 1950s nuclear family but modernized lifestyle as I don't see any need to try to live the lifestyle of the rich. If I wanted to have a stay at home wife and have three children I could very easily afford it living as I do on my 1,900 hours a year job.

[@vijaz5559]

you'd be surprised how many idiots believes this meme 🤣🤣🤣

[@seanoconnor3233]

At least back in Medieval Times, the elites would call you a peasant to your face

[@PaulVarna]

Oh damn

[@anonmouse15]

They call you a prole instead.

[@naingaung2748]

Make class supremacy great again. 😂

[@MP-ut6eb]

Eat. The. Rich.

[@bigjohn8407]

In parts of the Bible belt the upper class still does. White trash is code word for peasant.

[@pif5023]

I can’t fail to notice the American cut of the video, one big difference is that a Medieval peasant didn’t look at life through a work-first lens. Work was not a ritual for him like it is for us today. He still had work, but it was more “things to do not to die”. There was not an in-work and an out-work mode, there was just life with things to do in it.

[@incurableromantic4006]

Very true - they just didn't have our mentality to things. And that's a hard thing to quantify.

[@ethanoverwatch407]

I agree with this

[@AwesomeHairo]

You misused commas.

[@josecipriano3048]

​@@AwesomeHairoand you missed the point.

[@bruce-le-smith]

I grew up in a farming province and thought it was terrible. I started using tech and moved to a big city. Now that I'm older nothing makes me happier than digging in the dirt and eating fruit and vegetables I grew myself. But please don't ever take away my modern medicine! We are wasting so many resources on social media idiocy. We should be using those resources to improve medicine and create more time to grow food and preserve clean water.

[@stephanietunc2240]

You know I don't use social media except youtube. I have a hard time getting rid of my phone because I have a million questions about everything. I want answers without looking through a bunch of books. I wish I was so dependant on my phone. I'd happily get rid of it if if was for the pictures(taking and downloading), endless library called the internet. And having a clock, alarm, calendar, note pad etc. Like I'd love a dumber phone that let me still use the internet but was as good as Google but not Google (don't mention Bing its not good.)

[@hainleysimpson1507]

Oh please. We both know that doesn't make money for the business lord and their peons, so it will not be done.

[@conradmbugua9098]

Are you talking about modern medicine that treats diseases but doesn't cure

[@blackhagalaz]

My family have been farmers for generations, until my grandparents build their own house and became the typical 50's family, with my grandpa working and my grandma staying at home. Since then we where workers. I have been an academic for a while as well as a worker. But never have I been so happy as when I worked outside and dug I the dirt. And now I wish I had enough money to buy my own land to farm on. There is just nothing like it.

[@ni-9945]

I always assumed the memes existed simply to point out how bad the current work life balance is. I figured everyone knows that quality of life is better now. But why on earth did all of this progress have to come with more working hours? Why did we not cut hours in half when women joined the work force? Why do we keep getting more productive without seeing any of the perks of that productivity? In my eyes those memes exist to point out just how exploited we are, not to say the peasants had better lives.

[@AsdrubaleRossi]

I agree with you on the main points. There's actually a simple answer to the question of why we didn't cut in half the working hours when women started to work. Before men worked to get food, and women worked to manage the house and family. Now both women and men work to build the tools that automate or outsource most house and family keeping tasks (schools, washing machines, etc...). Plus, we also added a lot of other luxuries to our lives, that require people to work to provide these services for everyone else. For example traveling, doing sports, entertainment, etc...

[@ronblack7870]

because the lives of workers around the world got much better . so we compete with those workers . why is it everyone only cares about workers in their own country???

[@Lucretia916]

Because the capitalist class prioritizes profit growth above all else so they demand more work even with our modern higher production capacity

[@benzpinto]

y didnt we cut down working time by half u ask? who are we? the workers or the employers? the workers have no say in this as long as the employers dont allow it. and employers of course wont want to reduce work time when they realise they can make more money 😂. human greed is your answer.

[@Valpo2004]

I'm not saying we couldn't work to find better work life balances but let's be real, a lot of progress happened because people worked more hours on the progress and less labor needed to sustain themselves. Think of the interstate system if you live in the states, without it not only would road trips be harder but shipping stuff would be far more expensive and take longer. The progress doesn't happen nearly as fast if everyone has much lower work hours. My issue is more that the economic benefits of progress need to be distributed better between labor and capital.

[@hans7821]

The thing is that in a purely material sense, we are living better than our ancestors. However in terms of mental health, social environment and bodily resilience (most of the time) we are losing hard against the Middle Ages. We are also less independent due to life and technology becoming more complex and our skillsets becoming more specialized and learning-intensive.

[@incurableromantic4006]

I wish I could upvote this a dozen times - more material wealth only compensates so much for having none of the family, faith, community and traditions that used to keep everyone sane back when people lived objectively harder lives. We really shouldn't be more miserable than people who could die at any moment from drinking water or catching a cold: and yet here we are with addiction, depression and suicide as pandemics.

[@anonmouse15]

​@@incurableromantic4006Not to mention morbid obesity.

[@yummychips_]

Idk about sine of those points Mental health isn't new, just more recognized. People back then def has issues. A local lord could flip out and execute some one. Hysteria was extremely dangerous back then too as its more susceptible to a lower educated groups. Social environment? Back then women were property. Children was a product. Slaves were common. Racism and class divide was enforced. You couldn't own anything like land or homes unless royalty gave it to you. Bodily resilience? Not sure what you mean. But back then a scratch could lead to death. Dysentery was common and you shit yourself to death. People had 5-10 children commonly, because of only a couple would actually survive to old age. I think we have problems in modern day, but comparing to olden times doesn't make sense. If anything. We are basically the same as back then. Same problems, different themes.

[@devinstucky6948]

"Mental health, social environment and body resilience..." Totally agree with that statement but all of that has been brought on by sitting around on social media. Mental health has gone to shit because you compare yourself to hyper successful people online. Social environment doesn't exist anymore because everything is done behind a screen. Body resilience sucks now because kids play video games instead of riding bikes and getting dirty. Getting a strong back should be a sense of pride rather than a sign of being poor. Get off social media and go outside. In a month all 3 of those issues would all but vanish.

[@robertedwards2959]

Yes we are definitely better off than people who didn't have electricity, plumbing, 1000 years of improved breeding of crops and meat animals, the ability to read, unable to go more than a few miles from the same plot of dirt for generations unless conscripted for war, literal witch hunts, almost 50% child and infant mortality rate, and literally everything else you take for granted on a day to day basis.

[@Dannyholt33]

Success depends on the actions or steps you take to achieve it. Building wealth involves developing good habits like regularly putting money away in intervals for solid investments. Financial management is a crucial topic that most tend to shy away from, and ends up haunting them in the near future.., I pray that anyone who reads this will be successful in life!!

[@sattler96]

Starting early is simply the best way of getting ahead to build wealth , investing remains a priority . I learnt from my last year's experience , I am able to build a suitable life beause I invested early ahead this time .

[@mikeroper353]

Exactly ! That's my major concern and what kind of profitable business or investment can someone do with the current rise in economic downturn

[@mikeroper353]

@@Nernst96 please how can i find the lady you mentioned'?

[@Nernst96]

Most likely, you can find her basic information online; you are welcome to do further study.

[@hainleysimpson1507]

No success depends on oppurtunity and being mostly mentally stable. Unstable or stressed minds are not going to make the best decisions.

[@kirstenbass1968]

The context matters so much that I feel it’s hard to compare. Like when it comes to stress… we still have the nervous system to deal with tigers, but instead we’re having panic attacks over things we can’t touch or see. Nebulous dangers. And way too much sitting!

[@annoyingcommentator1582]

I have clean, running water. As I have pointed out elsewhere, nobody is stopping you from being content with the medieval quality of life and working accordingly. MANY PEOPLE DO. Some people in the West even do so voluntarily!

[@mccartneyspencer6347]

That isn't really true. It's not really possible to live as a medieval farmer in the modern day and age. Medieval farming as a lifestyle revolves around communal village life and the hasn't been legally possible since the process of enclosure. And enclosure is a global phenomenon, so while I won't claim to know every details for every country, I'm highly skeptical of that being legally possible

[@bruce-le-smith]

People with clean running water are still privileged, but we often forget that. Don't forget to share some of your privilege with people in poverty.

[@pangolimazul6055]

There are places where communal farming still exists and is legal, like the traditional comunities(idigenous, quilombolas and people that live on the riverbeads) in Brazil and many places in Latin America

[@annoyingcommentator1582]

@@mccartneyspencer6347 I assume you consider communal village life an essential feature of the quality of life in medieval times? What part about it is no longer possible? The ability to use commons?

[@wertywerrtyson5529]

Just housing costs and food and such takes up pretty much my entire salary when working full time. I’ll be paying on the house until I’m at least 70. Bought it at the hight of prices in 2021 and now it’s worth less, heating is much more expensive and electricity as well. Maybe in the US things are better but the inflation and war and everything has pushed me back a decade. In USD I now earn less than 10 years ago despite things costing almost double compared to 10 years ago. Heck my house costed 5x what the previous owner paid 10 years ago. And it was still the cheapest I could find in the entire state and I had to move to a tiny village because the cities are way out of my price range.

[@MayaUndefined]

it's better to ask, do we *have* to work much harder now than in the past. To me, it's a definite no.

[@rusope1050]

i am convinced that, while life in the middle ages was harder, it was way less taxing on our minds and souls. our bodies can grow quite strong to shoulder hard work, but our psyche is not like that and can't adapt to the pressure and demands today.

[@robertedwards2959]

Yes our psyche is so much better now that we don't live with death on daily basis.

[@jamesmccarthy4777]

I would say the best time to be a working man was the post-war era to the early 60s. Strong unions, more connected communities, harder to bug workers off hours due to lack of smartphones, and probably just the right balance of tech. The 70s was when life for a working man went downhill fast and the finance industry worked their way to creating a setup where everyone needs to go into massive debt to have a chance at a decent career.

[@josecipriano3048]

Agreed. Probably the best times in history. Specially if you were a worker in Europe. Then the Soviet Union and capitalism was finally free to run rampant. Mankind probably won't live as well as in the second half of the XX century ever again.

[@meinkek7896]

That is why you keep the ✡️ out

[@garethbaus5471]

I hadn't really thought about it until now, but i haven't really ever worked a job that didn't exist in some form during the middle ages. I have been a cook, a blacksmith, I have taught children, and loaded durable goods onto forms of transport.

[@touchstone1682]

I wish history on KZbin could be broader, so we could know the conditions from around that world

[@sidPalma]

Modern life ftw because tap water, indoor plumbing and wifi

[@KawaiiFireMoon]

Beer, hot tubs, and more beer

[@robertedwards2959]

Grocery stores

[@josecipriano3048]

10 hour work days, unleashed predatory behaviour by corporations, traffic jams, government taking from the people to give to the rich, worsening environment, mental health crisis, the gap between the haves and the have nots becoming a chasm, stale cultural industry, workers rights deteriorating, the polarisation of society... Modern life ftw.

[@mickomoo]

Although people idealize the past, think if we’re being charitable the comparison is meant to highlight how for people who literally would starve if they didn’t work, there was a greater sense of community and more time off and a greater sense of owning your own time. They also slept more despite the type of work they did. And maybe you can argue they were less stressed?It probably helps that many of the anxieties (aside from the superstitious ones) were less abstract. Navigating the modern world can be counterintuitive and confusing (as your channels highlight). That doesn’t make the modern world worse of course. I think it just highlights the ways we can stand to improve things. We have the knowledge and technology to do so.

[@AsdrubaleRossi]

We have the knowledge and technology to do it, but we have too much greed to actually do it. I am in my 20s, and the overwhelming majority of people my age trade their personal time and quality of life away for a 10-20% increase in their salary, or sometimes only the hope of that raise in the future. When I ask them what's so good about ending the year with 10 times the stress and 10% more savings in their bank account, they agree with me, but in the end they just end up choosing money over everything else... The more efficient or productive we become, the more we want to get, and that's why the stress will never stop for most people.

[@incurableromantic4006]

They were also more in tune with natural rhythms - they slept when it was dark, they rose when it was light, they ate when they were hungry, they worked around people they knew and trusted, they didn't have to do long commutes to their place of work or write reams of BS about how they were "so excited to utilize synergies to deliver targeted revolutionary disruption in the agricultural sector".

[@robertedwards2959]

You almost had it. The "starve if they didn't work" part is really the key point here. They also starved if didn't rain enough. Or if it rained to much. Or if there was a hole in the barn and moisture ruined whatever they had stored. Or if they missed the one plant that had a disease and it swept through the entire crop. Or if the wolves got hungry or brave and slaughtered their animals. Or they didn't catch the pests before they ate the plants. Or the winter clothes they made weren't warm enough and they froze to death. Or the landlord took more of the crop than what was planned. Or their one scythe broke during harvesting. Or if they tripped and broke a bone while going to the outhouse in the middle of the night.

[@panosdaras2824]

I love these videos. That being said 1 hour working in the fields counts as 5 hours in the office. It is so much hard work. I have done both so I know.

[@robertedwards2959]

Yeah and you spend more than 8 hours a day in the fields most of the year.

[@michaelthayer5351]

This is why a lot of people look forward to space colonization. If you got a land grant on Alpha Centauri IV you'd have the best of both worlds. modern amenities and medicine but the ability to be your own boss and have stability from settling and managing your own land.

[@robertedwards2959]

Why don't you do it now? Homesteading is still a thing.

[@rayden54]

Society at large isn't really the issue. We have food. People are still starving. We have better healthcare. Some people can't afford it. There are better jobs, but some people still have jobs out of the dark ages. At the high end, society's gotten a lot better. At the low end, it's gotten a lot worse. Same problems, but more hours for less returns. More people are on the lower end of the scale than on the higher end though. Half the people who work at the grocery store can't even afford to shop there.

[@herp_derpingson]

You dont need to go to hypotheticals. There are thousands of villagers in India who move to cities, see the deplorable life conditions and move back to the village. Heck, after I get financially independent, I am planning to do the same.

[@robertedwards2959]

Mostly because they don't have the education or skills to get anything but the lowest paying temp jobs.

[@herp_derpingson]

@@robertedwards2959 People who have the education and skills are suffering as well. Employers only exist to suck you and spit you out. If you don't own your means of production, you will always be miserable.

[@robertedwards2959]

@@herp_derpingson maybe, maybe not. Either way those with education and skills aren't leaving the cities for rural villages. If you're going to be miserable either way might as well be miserable in relative comfort.

[@herp_derpingson]

@@robertedwards2959 People go to cities for jobs. If money wasnt a factor most would move to the countryside with greenery and clean air. As Gandhi said, simple living, high thinking. Infact many Indians who have worked abroad for years and have enough to retire, usually retire in the countryside.

[@robertedwards2959]

@@herp_derpingson people go to the city for economic opportunities and stay for the amenities, services, and convenience. Which is why the data generally tells a different story than the tale you're trying to spin.

[@annoyingkraken]

Living in the Philippines, "54 hours a year in traffic" is low even if I worked from home.

[@leonormorais8509]

I would prefer to be a man living in a hunter-gatherer society.

[@KawaiiFireMoon]

Me too i wana gather

[@robertedwards2959]

No you don't. The calorie exchange for hunting using muscles is incredibly thin.

[@SouthPilot]

You’re naive

[@allergy5634]

The point was missed here so hard the medieval peasant wants to make armour out of it.

[@robertedwards2959]

A medieval peasants would unalive you and your entire extended family to live in modern day America.

[@Celis.C]

If we truly had it better today, we wouldn't still live in a master-slave relationship. It's just called 'employer-employee'. "Striking it rich" just means that you can 'join the upper echelons', but only if you exploit other people in the process. And if we'd truly progressed as a species, we'd have used technology to ensure that we wouldn't _have_ to work _nearly_ as much as people are required to today just to have food on the table for the following week. We'd have used that time to progress technology even further, take entertainment further and take culture further. 'Work' should serve the community, not corporate management. All we're doing now is enriching the already (insanely) rich and regressing in all other metrics.

[@masterdecats6418]

This ^ We have the tech to make everyone’s lives a safe and healthy breeze. The elites chose instead to meatgrind people though still.

[@antoniomoreira5921]

If anyone's interested in hard-core pre-industrial social history content I strongly recommend Schwerpunkt's videos series

[@Alkumist]

Hello, hi. I am the single person that has not had to move looking for work. Ever

[@Adam.3313]

Thanks for your work!

[@josecipriano3048]

The very fact that such comparisons can even be made between our times with all the discoveries and scientif progress, to the medieval times when plague and wars and famines and all that, should be shocking for everyone. Analysing the detail to see who has it better is pointless at best.

[@jimg9820]

"Keeper of the King's Stool" was actually a highly sort after job. You got to spend a lot of time alone with the King - the chap who handed out land, honours and government contracts. People who wanted such goodies would pay handsomely for the right words to be whispered into the Boss Man's ear.

[@getnohappy]

Remember life expectancy was low mainly due to high child mortality. So if you made it past 10, there was a good chance you'd make it to 70

[@tiborsipos1174]

Unless we ignore that being stabbed, murdered, enslaved or become a militia for your landlord and cut down for territorial disputes was "normal" too. A small disagreement in a bar could end your life by a knife, sword or a gun... Guards were the luxury of the elites. Not many towns had policia or guards.

[@lorinkramerone]

This is just false. Ignoring premature deaths, median life expectancy (which is a far better metric in high mortality regions) was 44 for women and 48 for men. Modern life expectancy is 72.

[@Sigma-xb6kn]

​@@tiborsipos1174 Do you have a source for that?

[@blackhagalaz]

One thing I need to comment on: Though medieval peasants didn't have tobacco, respiratory diseases due to smoke where stoll common, due to the fact that everything was done with open fireplaces. Cooking and heating in the home as well as using fire for various industries. I was actually part of an experiment back in my days as an archeology student. We wore electronic devices that measured the carbon monoxide levels while we where working as reenactors in a stone age settlement. You can guess that they where pretty high at times. Also it makes a very big difference if you where a peasant in the countryside or in bigger cities. So yeah tobacco isn't exactly the distinctive factor here

[@DrBernon]

Every time period had it's issues. But the thing that for me made peasants better, is that they knew who was oppressing them, and could do something about it. There are countless accounts of small peasant revolutions going after the powerful that crossed the line of decency. And in those times, a revolution, meant storming the castle and chopping some heads, and the peasants actually won a lot of them. The problem is that nowadays the world is too stable. Governments are too powerful compared to the small folk. As an example... In my hometown there is a story of a novel woman rejecting to pay a tax for entering wine to the town, and after hearing that, the peasants from the town stormed the castle, and she had to pay the tax like the rest from that point onward. Now, something like this in unimaginable. We see politicians and the rich having privileges all the time, and no one does anything, so the elites do as they wish. Back then maybe you had a god given privilege, but if the peasants were angry with you, they had a real chance of killing you, so there was a sort of valance of power that has eroded. You can also see that power in the fact that taxes were actually lower than today. It was pretty common for a peasant to give off only 20% of their yield. And that was generally it. Now we have tons of taxes that combined add up to 50%.

[@therageknight8546]

I’m inclined to agree. The problem is compounding fast with the plan to globalize and introduce Central bank digital currency, where the government literally controls your wealth…

[@DrBernon]

@@therageknight8546 Yes. That is a big issue. They also want to know when you gift money to your children to buy toys or when you pay a small favor to your friend, so they can tax it. It is appalling. And another example of the loss of power by the people. In the past, the coins had the value of their metals. So even if they were not the official coin, you could still use them, giving you some security that if the king falls, your money is still worth the same. Once the Dollar or the Euro are no longer accepted by the banks, they are worthless.

[@kamikaze5528]

Do we have fewer holidays? Yes. DO most people work back-breaking jobs under the scorching sun from sunrise to sundown? No. saying medieval peasants had it better on average is a complete fallacy.

[@robertedwards2959]

Especially since you can find laws and decrees going back to the 700s saying peasant must stop working on Holy Days. Means they never stopped working.

[@cd6583]

we might laugh at sin eaters today but imagine instead of toiling at your job for 8+ hours a day all you had to do was visit some almost dead people or corpses and pretend to be in pain and suddenly it doesnt seem like such a bad deal. I mean there were less people back then so you also probably didnt have to work as a sin eater that often

[@StillGamingTM]

Plenty of scammy jobs you could do today if that’s your thing

[@chrisbarry9345]

In America a lot of us really don't have any better health care than they did in medieval days

[@CMVBrielman]

Hardly the definitive analysis. The amount of work is vastly underestimated for medieval peasants because of a misunderstanding of feast days and a simple lack of experience with manual labor by most people discussing this. Meanwhile, peasants often had plenty to do when the crops didn’t need to be tended to. What, do you think your local lord was going to fight all his battles himself? Also, lets just look at the medieval cities, which peasants were constantly moving to whenever they could, being the closest they had to our modern lifestyle. Counterpoint: there’s increasing evidence that medieval literacy was more common that we often assume.

[@robertedwards2959]

People underestimate just how important modern appliances are. Let alone indoor plumbing and sewer systems. Or being able to go to a store and buy something when you need it.

[@CMVBrielman]

@@robertedwards2959 Hans Rosling didn’t!

[@robertedwards2959]

@@CMVBrielman I'm glad you threw that reference out. I now have a couple of new books to read.

[@CMVBrielman]

@@robertedwards2959 Great guy. Had a few blind spots (couldn’t see the negative consequences of the fertility collapse), but overall, was a good remedy to much of the pessimism felt when things were working well.

[@qmaster1716]

I think that the answer to this question is different for each person. Some people just fare better in this modern society and some would've fared better in medieval times. How hard something is is dependent of too many personal factors in someones life. I think that I myself would've had an easier life in medieval times since that lifestyle would've just been a lot simpler and easier to manage. But I can also see that others may feel differently

[@Zharath]

Some people would indeed fare better in a medieval way of life just working the feeld, but only during the good times. As soon as things went bad because a famine hit, you get a disease, you break a leg or you are about to have a baby, everyone would clearly be better off today. We are exposed to way less catastrophic risks nowadays, and that is why we objectively have it better. The increase in life expectancy and decrease in childhood mortality between now and hundreds of years ago is ultimately all you need to look at to see that.

[@cfri9332]

@@Zharath Yeah but...if you're dead you're dead, you no longer have to worry. Right now I have too many people concerned with keeping me alive. Like bruh, sometimes life just doesn't work out. Let me go.

[@qmaster1716]

@@Zharath We are indeed exposed to less catastrophic risks nowadays, but catastrophic risks only make up a small part of a humans lifespan, even in the middle ages (unless you were really unlucky). I'm mostly talking about the quality of the day to day life. And the lifespan of people has indeed significantly increased, but the time that a person spends being sick is nowadays also way longer. This may lead to someone living a "less happy" life. Whilst in the middle ages you would just die. If you were to treat happiness in ones life as a number of happiness points each day (which I know is not really something you can do). A shorter life would not necessarily be worse. I think that the bad part about dying early is that you leave people behind, but if everyone dies at an early age it just becomes normal I think that is is really difficult to get an objective answer on this matter since there are so many factors that vary wildly from person to person. But thanks for your comment I had fun thinking about this!

[@KawaiiFireMoon]

​@@cfri9332o wow, hugs 🫂 first off. Second its your life your choice just remember its a gift that shouldnt be wasted without consideration humans are remarkably adaptive after all. Theres plenty of wierd ways to make a life these days with but your mind. And even if your ready for the longest rest be thankful for all the energy your loved ones give you despite. Best of luck ~

[@robertedwards2959]

The only people who think "working in the fields" is better have never worked in the fields.

[@MikeStoneJapan]

Tuchman's 'A Distant Mirror' is pretty decent

[@MrDempers]

@2:00, "I had a sin eater, why am I in hell" Devil: *laughes uncontrollably

[@bartvanriel6767]

I’ve travelled to the other side of the workd in less then 24 hours. I have access to a banana and ice. My house has more bedrooms then people living in it. My home is heated. I take a hot shower daily and will probably live for another 50-60 years being in my mid twenties. I have access to more information then any physical library in my pocket. Life’s amazing compared to even 100 years ago let alone the middle ages

[@robertedwards2959]

No kidding. Less than 100 years ago it took 64 hours a week just to maintain a home. Indoor plumbing, electricity, and modern appliances have made it around 4 hours a week.

[@shrinkypants]

The modern world is better because it has yet to be set in stone, you can have total optimism or total nihilism and still be wrong for better or worse in your predictions of its success. You also still have the option of becoming the working class or lower class if you wanted to and try lead a simpler life just with modern day support. People simply refuse to even though with an understanding of modern health you can keep yourself in better shape for the long term in something like the trades or something else labor related. People also down play the significance of a second language and upwards mobility in foreign countries so people only consider America and other first world countries as the best option when you get the same quality of life or better over seas.

[@masterdecats6418]

Most people talk about medieval peasants to show to that exploitation today is reaching openly being slavery. Can’t afford your house, starting to struggle affording food? Damn, even the slaves/peasants got shelter and food (Unless you lived in a colonized country)(I’m talking 1100-1500)

[@zz2999]

Does this guy not know what serfdom was? You didn't decide to farm. You were an asset tied to the land.

[@chieftain5571]

Thank you! These idiots talk like Serf was a post on Linked In. You, your wife, your kids, belonged to some guy. Slavery Lite.

[@diegolikescode]

I asked you there and will ask you here: could you recommend some books on economy and finance?

[@TheNexCat]

If I was living thousand years ago, I would probably be dead by now. As you mentioned in the video, despite job stability, the environment was extremely dangerous. You could die almost from any scratch, or there could be a new virus/bacteria. So if you’re not extremely poor, you’re probably doing better nowadays by a far margin than people who lived before

[@seanburton5298]

I have seen some of this content before. I think he uses content from one storyline to another. That is actually a brilliant way of running a content based information channel 👏 👍 👌

[@mccartneyspencer6347]

I feel like the video really missed the reason why people bring up the lifestyle of the medieval peasant. It not that it was definitively better but that there are certain key anxieties that everyone has nowadays that older systems had answers for. Like im definitely not interested in an economic system without video games, but, I would like more free time to play those games...

[@mccartneyspencer6347]

@user-vo9wd6tx6c but did the have total Warhammer 3, Dark tide and baulders gate in medieval England?

[@kenyonegbert1125]

Comfort and luxury comes at the cost of freedom. Yours or someone else's.

[@robertedwards2959]

You should go look up what serfdom was and how prevalent it was in medieval Europe.

[@gabrielchuede6688]

i think modern age still wins but we have to think: how much time passed and how much revolutions happened and we still thinking if the medieval ages was better, is not a good sign. i think we should be much better than we are now

[@KawaiiFireMoon]

Facts 👏 investing in philosophy and greater group morals has never been lucrative. Money cares not about happyness

[@robertedwards2959]

The only reason people think the medieval era is better is because they have never lived life without modern conveniences or amenities. They have never survived on muscle power or experienced living in a society without equitable means of violence.

[@west221b]

This video was all over the place, never answering the question in its title (the answer is 'yes', we do).

[@tristanfranklin8731]

I think you could start a channel based on movie character evaluations. Bet you have the knowledge on it.

[@gene8447]

"Haha, I missed the point! So get back to work, modern peasants! 😊"

[@Naturenerd1000]

Middle Ages. "It's sunset time to drink. 🍸 "

[@incurableromantic4006]

For all the undoubted hardships of the past (it was far harder than we realize) - people usually had around them families, communities, churches, traditions and cultures that made their lives meaningful. We've thrown away almost of those things in the pursuit of equality, efficiency, modernity, materialism, tolerance etc etc: and the result is that we're living materially better lives, and yet are far more depressed and miserable than people who were a lot poorer than we are.

[@user-rt7lr4sg4b]

Cope

[@yearginclarke]

@@user-rt7lr4sg4b Cope...enhagen snuff. It satisfies since 1822.

[@robertedwards2959]

Imagine thinking you're more depressed than someone who gave birth to 4 or 5 children and only 1 or 2 survived. That you're more miserable than someone who lives one bad harvest or one greedy tax man away from starving to death next winter. I'm not saying things aren't hard for you. And I'm sorry I can't think of a nicer way to put all this, but there is literally no way someone who uses this platform is worse off in any way than a medieval peasant.

[@whatsupcoolbrother]

A photo finish in medieval times was a tie

[@armorbearer9702]

I have to go with modern life because there are no video games in medieval times.

[@johnholleran]

Honestly, each point brought up made me think it was going to be considered a victory for modern life. Did not really expect the points to be distributed this way

[@caesar03]

Let's be honest: no one with a sane mind would seriously claim that the quality of life of a medieval serf was higher than our modern standards of living, specially in developed nations.

[@KawaiiFireMoon]

I want to live off the land and die when the reaper comes.

[@wesleytaylor7419]

You're not talking about Cromwell, you're describing sir Thomas More.

[@saxonsmith1475]

Can confirm I havent had to move towns

[@Mastadex]

Ah weather. It also can ruin a family farm. So your medieval stability has another major factor.

[@rauldeandrade]

Those jobs and lifestyle are still available if you're feeling too constrained by your air conditioned office desk

[@TDMicrodork]

Weirdly this video of work doesn't talk about hours worked per day, amount of breaks during those hours, expectations of jobs during the medieval age. Do I work longer on average than a serf, is the job more difficult, am I expected to do more than your average serf I don't know.

[@titolovely8237]

we have it infinitely better today, no question. the problem people run into is trying to afford all the modern luxury. life in itself is pretty cheap relative to labor in many places in the US, especially outside of the big cities. i earn my entirely monthly expenses in about 42 hours of work, so about a week, which means as long as i dont upgrade my standard of living, for every year i work i can not work for 3 years. that's just wasnt possible in the middle ages. the reason people these days feel like wage slaves is because they spend WAY more on luxuries than they think they do. the peasants didnt really have alot of luxuries available to them, and so didnt really have the same temptation. today, though, most people should be wealthy, and the vast majority of people (75%+) could be millionaires by 65 if they saved, even working relatively low paying jobs. so in short, the major difference i see today vs in past eras for common folk is that today the expectation is to be rich, and so people become poor trying to live like theyre rich. in the past everyone expected to be poor for their entire life, and so valued other things like time off and holiday festivals much more than "the grind".

[@EnilionVeno]

I never moved for work, but i have small cities and big city close enough for public transport, even if i live still in place with around 200 people. Closing to 40, and it seems that i will die here.

[@lucasfcm3078]

I, too, watch Historia Civilis

[@CheLaoTsu]

But why do we compare access to "free time" or "work life balance" with access to disease cure and sanitation?

[@arandmorgan]

Hours worked? Holidays, low light visibility, religious days, travel time. Medieval peasants spent a lot of time chillin.

[@righteousviking]

I think the issue that people really have with this, is that we are 600 years into the future and are only slightly better off!!1!

[@sweetcherry7759]

Maybe watch more BBC about medieval times? Not just a quick wiki search

[@PHRCpvh]

When someone says or shares the quote that "Medieval peasants lived better than us today", that's just another way of saying "my life sucks and I h4te every second of it", or "I wish I was d3ad to not endure this"; I can totally understand that feeling since many are disatisfied with it's own jobs and/or wages in the modern world.

[@JackClayton123]

I was born in the 1960’s. Labour hours in account, still an order of magnitude better that 1860’s.

[@jamez6398]

I mean, being a medieval peasant was simpler. I can see why that would be more appealing to some people.

[@robertedwards2959]

Simple doesn't mean easy.

[@sourabhmayekar3354]

Nice

[@johnsuckher3037]

these guys could as easily get food to eat, warm the house without doing anything? their work was survival. right now we chill on reddit and have our houses warm with god tier quality of food always fresh from all over world

[@hainleysimpson1507]

And most of the food. Is not food, but food substitutes, full of chemicals we commoners don't understand. Especially US food.

[@hillariat2147]

Id prefer medieval life if modern medicine was included. If not, id die at the age of 12 from food poisoning for sure 😂

[@lunchbox6576]

Columbus landed on what is now called the Bahamas. He never discovered America. He made four trips and never got further than central America.

[@Sun-Tzu-]

I mean most of the things stated here are not mutually exclusive or competing outcomes. We can have all the benefits of both today if it wasn't for capitalism.

[@masterdecats6418]

This ^

[@masterarthius8752]

I have never had ro move to another town to work on a single occasion.

[@Bonserak23]

I would argue most people don't work in a office. IDK where this weird narrative in the media comes from that everyone works in a office. Like on yahoo news when ever your reading article about work or the job market it always has some narrative of all millennials work in tech or financials, I it's guess because its clean, flashy and the person writing it lives in some world of uber eats Panera Bread lunch, craft cocktail evenings so it makes the aesthetic of the article seem professional.

[@i_i8924]

The timeline where Harambe doesn't die.. thats the one 🦍

[@isaachouston3899]

Ever heard of being SELF-EMPLOYED? This is a lot more attainable than most realize if you are willing to do it.

[@Patangy]

Wait, medieval peasants had the freedom to choose whether to farm or not? I thought they all had a lord who was the judge, jury and executioner...

[@cat_alyst6306]

I would rather be a poor person today, than a rich noble person in medieval times. And I love medieval times! 🏰

[@jameshughes3014]

rags to riches stories are everywhere. so are ghost stories and bigfoot sightings.

[@thewewguy8t88]

The thing is while we may work harder then people in midevil times we also live like gods compared to any human in the midevil times lol.

[@nobody4y]

There many things we take for granted in modern age that people might not think about. Something as simple as water back in the day meant that you have to go to nearest well or riven to grab a bucket and take it to your home , if you want hot water you had to boil it which means you needed firewood and firewood you need to chop tress. Nowadays we have so much free time and your average person life is much easier , we don't have to worry about famines thanks to plant fertilizer and massive machinery that plows , hydrates and harvests massive fields. We have central heating , gas , electricity , tap water both in cold and hot water , pluming for everyone and not just for the elite and rich , modern medicine , huge variety of cheap food , spices and salt aren't weight in gold , entertainment for everyone in any social level or hierarchy , retirement and pensions and the list goes on. I feel like people who are saying that life in the past was better are oblivious to the history or didn't pay attention in class.

[@pif5023]

My theory is that modern way of working is making life more complex for the average person and I am also not sure the economic system is what we should thank for our increased quality of life, science did the heavy lifting there and those kings and queen reaped the most benefit to the point of not caring if the peasants now were decently paid. All I am seeing now is that we are moving towards a social credit score, whether we want it or not. Mass data collection is conducive to that, whether done by the State or by private corporations offering “trust evaluations”. What we have lost is the perspective on life we had that made life worth living even if you were poor. We are losing the sense of community which was very important for a medieval peasant. We are ultimately losing the freedom to choose what life is for us, even if we could afford it now more then ever. The modern world is worse in wasted potential.

[@erickottke9673]

Two words: Air Conditioning

[@dastard12]

💀 81 likes and 18 thousand dislikes. Talk about interaction farming

[@potapotapotapotapotapota]

am eternally grateful for and to Juleus Cesar for inventing the Caesar salad

[@srksii]

Man are you sure that sin eater job is not active today? I think that every billionaire and politician have at least 2 of those hires!

[@oneproudbrowncoat]

Nomadic life is overrepresented. I've lived and worked in a 35-mile radius (averaged out) my whole life.

[@robertedwards2959]

Some of us enjoy seeing what comes next over the horizon.

[@jameselliott216]

What an unforeseen existential crisis to be compared to a medieval peasant! You work 50 hours a week and you make just enough to be considered a peasant.

[@Argenswiss]

Nah, there is absolutely no way the peasants score even one point.

[@ProjectCOOP]

Playing in the mud is way more fun than stuck in traffick. We think we're some advanced time of human history when we're more stupid than ever before.

[@Jan_2000]

6:55 "there was no chance an outside industry could screw your over" except it would have been the constant wars, raids by neighbouring nobels etc.

[@robertedwards2959]

Couldn't be screwed over, but you couldn't be in thst industry if you weren't born into it. Depending on which industry and when and where, if you weren't the eldest son you couldn't be in it either.

[@inuendo6365]

KZbinrs are the modern Town Criers

[@Kimjongun19841]

the 1840's had it all

[@baronvonjo1929]

I feel like medieval times would be so incredible dark and quiet. They might have liesure time. But I wonder that the did. Most couldn't even read right? Just turn off all the lights in your home. Light some candles. No tech. No books. It would be so quiet and dark. They definitely had a better community spirit than we do now. So they probably had families. But still. I enjoy all our tech. But tbh i think its so hard for most of us to drop the tech and do none tech related joys at home.