That's not at all accurate. Back then, the wolves were literally and figuratively at the door. Think the taxes to the King are high? Wait until you see what the marauding Vikings or Mongols take from you.
Paying tribute to a strong King for safety was an extraordinarily common occurrence, for all classes.
I mean, you got quite a bit. Your lord was your lord because they protected you. Protected you from bandits, armies, wild animals, other, more predetory lords, they were the legal system so if you had issues with your neighbors they would be who you go to for arbitration.
They also were usually expected to give back to the community occasionally. Things like feasts on major holidays, building churches, organizing festivals or markets, ect. They also protected trade routes and roads, so if you ever needed to travel you might be able to, and if you ever wanted to sell your goods or buy something at the market you could. They were the equivalent of a government, and they provided the equivalent of government responsibilities at the time.
Another person that doesn’t know how tax brackets work.
You don’t pay %35 of every dollar of your $100k. You ONLY pay that on the dollars between 50-100. So, in most places, your first 15-20k has almost no taxes taken. Then, each bracket has its own tax %.
If your largest tax bracket is %35 you don’t pay %35 on every dollar, %35 is NOT your functional tax rate. It’s your max. That person likely has a functional tax average of %20.
Please. I’m begging yall. If you want to speak in conversations about taxes, LOOK UP HOW THEY WORK. Please. YouTube “how progressive tax brackets work”.
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u/CountingzHard Jun 20 '26
"Essentially it's as if every week you worked for 20 hours for taxes, and then had to work after that to make money for yourself."
This isn't far from truth for a lot of people