20100803 (J)
Journal: August 3, 2010
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Government

Fiefs Then and Now: Many of us kiss the boot of America as our “fief” for half our crop. All goverment levels, federal, state, and increasingly local take about half the GDP in taxes in exchange for protection and services.

A standard fief in the early middle ages was one thirteen of crops, plus males over 16 or 18 pledged to a month’s military service each year, mostly during agricultural “down” time in winter.