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Originally Posted by wolf
In a feudal society serfs are essentially considered posessions of the landholder and therefore are, in that sense, a form of government entitlement.
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Wait! How did we suddenly leap into a feudal society with serfs? I thought we were talking about nomadic desert peoples who followed flocks of goats and sheep around. But if we are going to talk feudal society and serfs, then the analogy of living offspring/social security makes even less sense. If a person is essentially an item of property owned by someone else, then their children also become someone else's property. Joe Serf Jr. may long to help out dear old Mom in her old age, but if the evil Lord of the Manor has decreed that he go off and dig turnips somewhere a week's journey away, there's not much little Joe or his Mom can do about it, and Mom's sure not secure in her old age.
BZZZZZT!
Next meadow lark, please.