Modern Kingdoms

We are still dealing in feudal systems, with new names

The first time I visited Europe was as a young adolescent, and I remember a sense that a painting had come to life. As my dad manoeuvred the sleeper van through the lanes of the Champs Elysée, the marble arch and the tree-lines Boulevard felt like a mirage.

The second time was during medical school, then a weekend trip with my sister. All quick and playful trips.

Now, as somebody who is better established in the world, there are new insights available when I see the magnificent opulence and decadent lifestyles - in past and present. And I’ve been drawn away from palaces, from manor houses, from evidence of this vast divide.

There should be no kings. Just as there should be no billionaires.

Jewels and treasure stolen from other lands. Sacred artifacts ripped from their legacy. From their ancestors. In kingdoms, but also in museums. This is racism and elitism personified, but we have normalized it.

The ancient markers of inequity are pervasive even today, and we accept them with complacency.

With the promise, unlike the royal lines, that any of us can become wealthy. That false narrative. Too often, this destiny comes from a place of privilege and an inheritance of unearned power.

Let’s look at some modern case studies.

Bill Gates has turned his technical empire into a health one. While we remain trapped in annual subscriptions for the ubiquitous Word and Excel programs, mandatory in modernity, he builds his kingdom. With more wealth and power than most countries, his influence over the health of equity-denied nations in Africa is unparalleled. There is a typical American-style of programming there, with the hypothesis already formulated, that denies the wisdom and innovation of locals. Such a lack of hubris can compound their problems, acting in synergy with the climate emergency that makes everything more difficult to survive. Multi-drug resistant pathogens. Others like malaria outsmarting through replication patterns we are still discovering. Mosquito nets are being used for fishing, because they’re basic needs have to be met first. Contraception worn like an amulet around the neck. Given the propensity of Western researchers to do harm, it’s hard to blame a populous for mistrust.

Likewise, Jeff Bezos has formed his plastic kingdom based on principles of infinite resources that tax the finite planet. Fast fashion, faster delivery, everything at your fingertips with no conscious consideration of slave labor, and fields or warehouses, and the wasted mountains of goods that we failed to buy. Amazon dot com has replaced the actual amazon in our daily thoughts - things we really don’t need compared to air and carbon sequestration that we do. Yet the Amazon forest is the one being sacrificed.

We can’t forget Elon Musk. The paragon of sustainability at one point, touting electric vehicles and solar power, he has taken his kingdom to the Internet. Blocking those who oppose his views, becoming more entrenched in the principles that make billionaires possible, his empire is information. As mega millionaires from the oil industry buy major news outlets, others find alternative knowledge pathways to dominate. Knowledge is power. And the new kings know it.

And we are complacent. Like serfs providing to the fuedal overlords. We propagate modern slavery, from the seafood practises in Thailand to the sweatshops of Bangladesh. We join the hustle, hamsters on a spinning wheel, activated until we die. Noticing that the climate emergency is eminent, that lifespan and quality of life are decreasing with each generation. That we are tired. Many of us are hungry, especially children. The system is not working.

Because it never worked. Kingdoms and empires have always been predicated on inequity and harm. It is time to rebuild systems of care and community, to deny the premise upon which we build “civilization.” It’s not modern. It’s a replica of an ancient practice that needs to be buried.

As I wrote this essay, I found out that my favorite human was writing something simliar, so will link what Aishwarya Khanduja wrote…

From Aish:

“At their core, these tech titans are simply businessmen who've discovered a new frontier for capitalism. They've mastered the art of monetizing our attention, turning every scroll, click, and like into a commodity. Their empires aren't built on altruism or a genuine desire to connect humanity; they're founded on the age-old principle of supply and demand. In this case, they've manufactured the demand - our insatiable hunger for digital content and validation - and supplied the platforms to feed it

Their genius lies in creating products so addictive that we willingly surrender our time, data, and privacy. It's a business model as old as time, just repackaged for the digital age: create a need, then sell the solution. The fact that they shield their own children from these products isn't hypocrisy - it's a calculated decision to give their offspring a competitive edge in a world increasingly shaped by the very tools they've created.

In this light, their actions aren't warnings about technology's dangers, but rather savvy moves to preserve their families' position at the top of a new socio-economic hierarchy. They're not visionaries showing us the pitfalls of the digital age; they're shrewd capitalists ensuring their dynasty's continued success in a world they've reshaped to their advantage.”