The New Feudalism

The kids can't read. As literacy declines and home ownership grows increasingly out of reach, are we moving towards a new kind of feudal society?

An illustration of medieval peasants from Queen Mary's Psalter, ca. 1310-1320. While named for Mary Tudor, the psalter was actually produced about two hundred years before her birth. Via Wikimedia Commons.

It’s grown painfully common: a young, American teacher posts a video on TikTok, lamenting the challenges of the profession. But the focus of these videos is no longer the low pay, the lack of support from administrators, or the explosion of book bans—though these issues undoubtedly prevail. Instead, teachers are turning to social media to warn the public about two major issues: literacy decline and behavioral problems. While the escalating issue of unruly student behavior is acute, and ranges from blatant disrespect of teachers to physical violence, for the purposes of this essay, I’d like to focus on literacy and the wider implications for American society (with an eye to history).

First, it’s easy for some to dismiss learning loss as purely resulting from the pandemic—keeping childr…