Replies

- Thanks for posting.

Do you happen to know if your great grandfather was a “statare”?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Statare

Translation of the Swedish Wikipedia article performed by translate.google.com:

http://translate.google.com/translate?prev=hp&hl=sv&js=y&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsv.wikipedia.org%2Fwiki%2FStatare&sl=sv&tl=en&history_state0=

I can easily see why many regard this system to be close to Feudalism.

On the other hand, in a genuinely Feudal society the peasant is more or less a slave. In Russia, the aristocrats used their peasants for stakes in gambling. You can't compare that kind of Feudalism to Sweden in the beginning of the 20th century.

I get your point, but perhaps we could agree that being poor and economically dependent on someone else does not equal being a victim of traditional Feudalism.

In any case, what your great grandfaher did is admirable.

I sincerely hope you're not getting me wrong.

Not sure if this is the correct term, however, when our Swedish relatives visited us from Vastevik several years ago, they knew that Gus had also sent money back to Sweden to the landowner he previously worked for to settle his ‘account.’ In the US, this was known as “the company store,” syndrome. (Work your tail off but you can never get out from under the debt owed to your employer.)