Thank god we dont live in the age of serfdom. Slavery has been around for a long time, since way before recoreded history, though serfdom was an extension of the idea of slavery. Instead of slaves you have a fudeal system which justifies the existance of serfs based on the idea that only the educated nobles can have any idea about how best to look after them.

I reckon the whole concept was a self moralising idea crystalised by the thinkers that were involved in the system. Also a good excuse as to why your king dick and everyone else lives in the sh*t.

The Irish and the Scotts got a pretty raw deal, though I suspect that the Irish got it worse. Funny enough I have Irish and Scottish ancestory, though many many generations ago.

I think the thing that is amazing is the ability of people to act so 'inhuman' and be able to justify it with their own brand of logic and moralising. Often its just selfishness to the nth degree dressed up to look pretty.