In today’s tumultuous times, life in America and the rest of the world is becoming more and more like life in medieval times, as described in The New American Middle Ages by Gini Graham Scott, PhD, just published by Waterside Press.
Here is a short 2 minute introduction to the book:
There is also a popular song: Are We Back to the Middle Ages?
The book is based on the premise that today’s growing split between rich and poor is like the divide between royalty, nobles, and rich merchants versus the medieval peasants and artisans. The book makes comparisons between the rise of the medieval kingdoms and the battles between the high tech titans, the division of labor then and now, the parallels between different institutions and lifestyles.
It concludes with some recommendations on what to do about the problem.
The book raises a number of important issues that can bring new insights about what is happening today and what to do about it. These include:
– Why it is it important to know why America is like the Middle Ages in many ways and what we can learn for today about what happened in medieval times?
– How the growing inequality in society is becoming a major source of division today, as it was back then, with the superrich like the nobles and royalty of medieval times and the growing poor and middle class like the peasants and merchants of the past.
– How the peasant rebellions have parallels with the rebellions we are experiencing all over the world today, and just like the royalty and nobles cracked down on the peasants so the police and military are cracking down now/
– How today’s pandemic is like the Black Death that swept through Europe, the UK, Middle East and Asia in the 14th century which wiped out about a half of the population and much like today had the most severe effect on the lower income groups.
– There are also parallels between the courtiers in the courts in the Middle Ages and the retinues of publicists and advisers around celebrities now.
– Another comparison is the role of the Church in medieval times and the media today.
Yet the Black Death in the Middle Ages prepared the way for the Renaissance which followed because of the many social changes that resulted – suggesting we might similarly experience an inspiring renewal as well as come up with ways to heal the great divisions and conflicts in our society.
Dr. Scott did extensive research to write the book, and was inspired by noticing the comparisons with modern society as she viewed a series of historical documentaries about medieval times in Europe and the Ottoman Empire on Netflix and Amazon Prime.
If you are interested, let me know, and I can send you more information, including a PDF of the book and arrange for an interview.