Changing Economies Essay Research Paper Changing Economies

Changing Economies Essay, Research Paper

Changing Economies

The mentality of today s worker focuses on not only providing what is necessary to survive for their own life as well as that of their family, but also thrives for a life of luxury and comfort. Society today is based upon principles that promote a strong work ethic that buys us comfort and satisfaction. A capitalistic society, spawned by a growth of industry and a driven force of consumers, is one that encourages luxury and self-fulfillment through material items. On the other end of the spectrum there exists a society of which a person accustomed to the life of free trade and open markets can barely comprehend. This is a life of self-sufficiency, a life in which a community may only produce what is absolutely necessary for survival. This is the self-reliant society where there is nothing to enjoy, the only goal in life is to merely stay alive. There is no surplus, there is no currency used as a means of trade, nor does this society have any consumers trading as they please.

Free and open markets are considered to be the key elements in our current time of prosperity. One who is accustomed to such a life of luxury and wealth potential may find it difficult to understand a life of a worker during the medieval ages in Europe. This is a life of necessity, one in which an individual is not concerned with material wealth and general luxury; rather the concern is survival. Fundamentally, when comparing two different economies such as the current capitalistic economy with the economy of medieval Europe, the main representation must be expressed through understanding the life and mentality of the average worker.

In an economy based on necessity, life is without luxury. There is neither a significant surplus of physical product nor is there a surplus of material holdings or wealth. On the contrary, a capitalistic society is based on entrepreneurship and the drive of the individual to reach a peak of financial wealth; in other words, there is a potential for prosperity as means of obtaining comfort and familial stability.

The Middle Ages lasted somewhere between the fall of the Roman Empire up until the dawn of European Renaissance. Basically, the dark ages were between 476 CE to 1500 CE (Pluta 79). During this time, people lived in absolute poverty, weather was drastic to agriculture, invasion was a constant threat to the King, and illness was a major concern. In these harsh living conditions, survival was the only thing people thought about. In short, life was based on raw necessity. Wealth could only be measured in land, and the only way to gain land was to be a noble servant to the King, and as his servant, land is granted in exchange of military protection, this contract is also known as a Vassalage. Considering the mindset of Nobles, which was to fulfill their vassalage with their King as well as live a life of superiority, there was only one way to maintain land and that was to hire out serfs who were peasants that farmed the land and protected their noble vassal. There is a basic structure that is evident in this feudal life; the economic base of feudalism was agriculture. (86) The land held by nobles was used to produce crops; these crops produced enough food to keep Europe alive. (Oakley 85) In addition to the economic agricultural base of medieval Europe, the …economy was also based on theft. Royalty expanded its wealth, not only by taxes, but by stealing from subjects of other royalty… (Pluta 88) As the serfs struggled to survive, much of their hard labor went to feed the land wealthy nobles and kings. These Kings and Nobles spared no expense on themselves, as they enjoyed plentiful amounts of food and drink. (89) Many peasants starved and had diets that consisted primarily of wheat. Peasants had poor diets and were extremely malnourished. (Roberts 241) The drink of choice in medieval times was beer. Since the water was bad, beer was the best alternative, and also offered a source of protein to peasants, who rarely ate meat. The Feudal Life was extremely difficult, life expectancy for serfs, who represented approximately 95 percent of European population (Pluta 86), was no more than approximately 23 years. (90) Only the elite few lived well.

In the dark ages, Kings and Nobles were the elite. There was an extremely unfavorable balance of wealth. Peasants, not only had very little to eat, they had no privacy. The average worker farmed crops all day and may have slept four to five hours a night. Serfs farmed the land and gave dues to their nobles, these dues consisted mainly of grains, chicken, or pigs. (85) They also had to tithe ten percent of their personal harvests to support the local church. Serfs had very little to begin with, yet they gave up in many cases more than they could afford to. The typical medieval manor was divided into three parts: The demesne (land allotted to the lord), open fields (land allotted to the serfs), and the commons (land that was open to all). (Rider 34) This arrangement allowed the lord to live separate from the serfs and offered an organizational structure for farming the land. Considering the time, there was only enough space allotted for serfs to produce a self-fulfilling crop. The only person who was plentiful with crops was the Lord and the King. In medieval times there was no middle class, you either worked as slave to merely survive or