I mean the reality was that the time “off” was spent farming their own land, taking care of animals, fixing the house and doing the insane number of household tasks that come with premodern living. Spend a few days just cooking in a medieval style, and you’ll quickly realize it’s a LOT of work.
They had horrible healthcare they couldn’t afford and WE have horrible healthcare we can’t afford
They spent a lot of time at festivals and with their communities helping each other and WE spend a lot of time chatting on our phones, but mostly playing games.
They spent a lot of time outdoors doing a lot of work but keeping active, and we can sometimes go for hikes or walks, but we’re Americans, we as a whole, don’t.
They knew how an could fix things around the farm, we can watch youtube videos unless it’s electronic or DRM.
They had witch hunts and misinformation and WE have witch hunts and misinformation.
All of the food they grew was organic but they had to grow it themselves and we have to pay an arm and a leg for non-poisoned food.
They spent all day working for the king and we spend all day working for billionaires.
I mean the reality was that the time “off” was spent farming their own land, taking care of animals, fixing the house and doing the insane number of household tasks that come with premodern living. Spend a few days just cooking in a medieval style, and you’ll quickly realize it’s a LOT of work.
Meh,
When you delve into the details of what those bullet points actually entailed, they were all far far worse in medieval times.
Medieval cooking sounds a little bit fun. Besides, maybe, all the slaughtering of animals and heavy use of entrails.
And gathering your own firewood, and water, and making twice as much to prepare for winter, and the strongly reduced options.
I mean yeah, it IS fun for a bit, I do medieval reenactment, obviously I enjoy it. But doing it every day absolutely sucks.