capitalism’s worst enemy has been socialism, most vocally communism.
what was the counteracting -ism to feudalism during the ages? was the counteracting -ism a different one at some point?
all replies welcome, serious textwalls and unserious oneliners alike vice versa
feudalisms biggest enemy was capitalism. it perfected slavery and organized everyone willingly in exchange for stable trade of goods and services that they otherwise would not have access to. it lead to the industrial revolution, and its fast growth quickly convinced formerly feudal countries (like japan, as an example) to modernize their technological standards, as welll as their economies, so they could participate in that same system. out of fear of being left behind.
obviously capitalism has its flaws, its a horrible system with an expiration date that seems to be only a few short decades away now. and ironically its likely going to be surpassed by techno feudalism, or if a miracle happens, some form of democratic socialism.
Yes you can see this culturally in the old stereotypes about “old money” versus “new money.”
Rich family with a hereditarily passed down fortune, lands, and control = old money = feudalism.
Entrepreneur who came from nothing but tok advantage of emerging economies to become wealthy overnight = new money = capitalism.
Old money hates new money because capitalism dethroned feudalism.
I wouldn’t say that feudalism “perfected” slavery. It can be argued that chattel slavery a few centuries later made it more effective.
However, feudalism did well in controlling the food surplus and paying the military at a time when the organizational ability to control wide swaths of land had diminished. Mentioning Japan as an outlier in time, feudalism also brought a lot of political stability by locking down society.
However, as you noted, capitalism was the enemy of feudalism. Capitalism could organize itself in ways that feudalism never could and made capital investments both easier and more lucrative.