Hoisted from a Swamp of Marxism

Brad deLong is trying to make sense out of Marx's Critique of the Gotha Program. That inquiry may or may not be worth your time and effort, but you will want to consider these questions that a 12th Century X would ask about a 21st Century Y:

The questions a twelfth-century peasant would have asked about twenty-first century economics institutions would have been things like:

• Who will be my master?
• On whose demesne will I work, and for how long each week?
• How will land be redivided in the village if I have three sons who survive to adulthood?
• Will my master have the High Justice, or just the Middle and the Low?

The questions a twelfth-century knight would have asked about twenty-first century military institutions would have been things like:

• What share if a typical lord's mesnie will be made up of household knights, and what share of sub-tenants?
• How will bailiffs be selected for manors and other honours that the lord has retained and not granted in sub-fief?
• Will auxilliary troops--bowmen, spearmen, et cetera--be primarily mercenaries or primarily members of knights' households?
• Will the Truce of God cover just Sundays alone, or extend from Sunday to Wednesday?
• The crossbow: overrated toy or dangerous menace?
• Will there be a place for light cavalry on the twenty-first century battlefield?

Only one afterthought: I don't know about "spearmen," but the craft of archery required great skill so the class of "bowmen" in whatever guise tended to be cosseted and used with discretion.

Okay, two afterthoughts: the crossbow is both an overrated toy and a dangerous menace. Floor wax and a dessert topping.