Social Feudalism
I believe there are three ingredients that make up any social group. Together, these ingredients form a kind of feudal system of interaction. The nobles are the founders of the social group. They have the resources, influence, and intelligence to build something that people will gather to. Supporting them is a small group of knights. The knights are the nobles' loyal supporters and will defend their cause at any cost. In any large social group, a mass of peasants extends beyond the nobles and knights. These peasants greatly outnumber the nobles and knights, often times brought together from diverse circumstances, enticed by what the nobles have to offer. It is interesting to note that in almost all social groups, the peasants have no governing power. The only way they can enact change is by pressuring the nobles to change, relying on the sensibility of the royalty to appease their wishes.
A very interesting comparison. I think the last sentence is especially pertinent. Even today you can be dethroned if you lose the favor of your people. In fact in some ways it a more precarious situation for the nobles than ever before.
ReplyDeleteInteresting view point... I'm not entirely sure how this relates to class, maybe to what was in the book "Here comes everybody"? Anyway, it is a really cool comparison. Oh, and I love your beard.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a fair comparison, but it seems to me the changes mentioned in "Here Comes Everybody" makes that obsolete. There are still a select few that contribute more to open projects but everyone has an equal chance to make a change.
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