You know those nights when you can’t fall asleep. You’re bored, staring at the ceiling, so you put on one of your favorite podcasts hoping it will knock you out.
Yeah… that’s exactly what I did.
Somewhere in the late hours of the night I found myself watching an episode of The Shawn Ryan Show.
Normally, Shawn sits across from intelligence officers, combat veterans, economists, and the occasional geopolitical chess player.
People who have spent years staring behind curtains most of us prefer to pretend don’t exist. But this time something felt different.
It didn’t feel like a podcast.
It felt like an episode of The Twilight Zone.
Because the conversation drifted into a strange concept with an even stranger name. Neo-Feudalism.
like a kid with a brand new toy, I had to figure out what this new word meant. So down the rabbit hole I went. What you’re about to hear is my version of what I found.
Before anyone starts yelling conspiracy theory from one side or shouting wake up from the other, let’s slow things down for a moment and break this idea down in a way everyone can understand.
Back in medieval Europe the system was simple.
The lords owned the land.
The peasants worked the land.
And the chances of the average person owning much of anything were extremely slim.
Power sat at the top.
Dependency lived at the bottom.
Now fast forward a few centuries.
Some analysts say parts of the modern economy may be drifting toward something that looks eerily familiar. Not with castles and knights, but with corporations and massive investment funds.
In this modern version the structure looks different but the concept feels similar.
Instead of lords owning land, massive corporations and global investors own large portions of the assets.
Instead of peasants working fields, people rent access to more and more of the things they use every day.
And instead of lifelong servitude, the modern version could look more like lifelong subscriptions and long term debt.
This is what critics describe as Neo-Feudalism.
Then there is the phrase that keeps floating around the internet like a ghost in the machine.
You will own nothing and be happy.
The phrase is often connected to future scenario discussions from the World Economic Forum about how life might look by 2030 if access to services replaces traditional ownership.
And when you stop and think about it, pieces of that world already exist.
You do not buy music anymore. You stream it.
You rarely buy software outright. You subscribe to it.
You do not always need to own a car. You can summon one with an app.
And for a growing number of people, even housing can feel less like ownership and more like a long term rental.
Supporters say this shift is simply efficiency. A smarter economy built on shared resources and reduced waste.
Critics see something very different.
They see a system slowly forming where ownership fades away while access is controlled by whoever owns the platform.
That is why conversations like this keep appearing on programs like The Shawn Ryan Show.
Because when you combine rising housing costs, corporate consolidation, subscription based services, and the growing influence of digital financial systems, the same uncomfortable question keeps showing up.
Are we building the future?
Or are we quietly reinventing the Middle Ages with better WiFi?
To be fair, economists are divided.
Some trends appear to support the theory. Large firms purchasing single family homes, including major investment groups such as BlackRock.
The rapid expansion of subscription based products replacing traditional purchases. And a widening concentration of wealth. At the same time, the other side of the argument says hold on.
Millions of people still own homes.
Access to stock markets has expanded to more individuals than ever before.
And governments still regulate monopolies and corporate consolidation.
So for now Neo-Feudalism remains a theory. Not a guaranteed future.
Maybe it is simply an economic thought experiment.
Maybe it is a warning sign.
Or maybe it is just another internet ghost story.
Which brings us to the real question.
Is this the craziest conspiracy theory floating around the digital campfire?
Or is it something slowly unfolding right in front of us one subscription at a time?
That part is up to you. 🫵
Because sometimes the line between speculation and prophecy can be surprisingly thin.
Especially in a place we like to call…
The Twilight Zone.