Neo-feudalism in California

Author Joel Kotkin, of The Daily Beast, views the conditions in California as neo-feudal and he breaks down the population into four sections:

"The Oligarchs: The swelling number of billionaires in the state, particularly in Silicon Valley, has enhanced power that is emerging into something like the old aristocratic French second estate. Through public advocacy and philanthropy, the oligarchs have tended to embrace California’s “green” agenda, with a very negative impact on traditional industries such as manufacturing, agriculture, energy, and construction...

The  Clerisy: The Oligarchs may have the money, but by themselves they cannot control a huge state like California, much less America. Gentry domination requires allies with a broader social base and their own political power. In the Middle Ages, this role was played largely by the church; in today’s hyper-secular America, the job of shaping the masses has fallen to the government apparat, the professoriat, and the media, which together constitute our new Clerisy. The Clerisy generally defines societal priorities, defends “right-thinking” oligarchs, and chastises those, like traditional energy companies, that deviate from their theology.

The New Serfs: If current trends continue, the fastest growing class will be the permanently property-less. This group includes welfare recipients and other government dependents but also the far more numerous working poor. In the past, the working poor had reasonable aspirations for a better life, epitomized by property ownership or better prospects for their children. Now, with increasingly little prospect of advancement, California’s serfs depend on the Clerisy to produce benefits making their permanent impoverishment less gruesome... 

The Yeomanry: In neo-feudalist California, the biggest losers tend to be the old private sector middle class. This includes largely small business owners, professionals, and skilled workers in traditional industries most targeted by regulatory shifts and higher taxes. Once catered to by both parties, the yeomanry have become increasingly irrelevant as California has evolved into a one-party state where the ruling Democrats have achieved a potentially permanent, sizable majority consisting largely of the clerisy and the serf class, and funded by the oligarchs..."

Although in this article the new serfs are considered part of the Democratic majority (along with the Oligarchs and the Clerisy), they are kept from property ownership because of high real estate prices, which in turn are influenced by tight land-use regulations. For example there are restrictions on the building of detached houses in favor of concentrating people in high-rises, with the goal of addressing environmental concerns. These issues affect not only the new serfs, but the yeomanry as well, and the article sites the inability of a biomedical engineer earning $100,000 per year to buy a house in Orange County. 

The article ends with the interesting insight that Gov. Brown, being a former Jesuit, is well-suited to run a feudal system, and then sounds the warning that California's class system may influence American class structure in the future.

Daily Beast