Are We Being Soft-Launched Into Feudalism?

So here’s something a bit weird. A growing crowd of online voices (mostly from the polished, right-leaning corner of Substack) have started pushing this idea that liberal democracy is broken beyond repair. But they’re not calling for reform or revolution. They’re calling for a return to gentry rule. Actual landed aristocracy.
No, seriously.

It’s being sold as “order” and “moral clarity,” but if you read between the lines, it’s a full-on rebrand of feudalism—with better fonts and fewer wigs. First it was trad wives. Now it’s trad lords...

And here’s the thing: this isn’t just nostalgia. It feels coordinated. There’s a soft campaign going on to convince everyday people (disillusioned, exhausted, politically homeless) that inequality is comforting. That hierarchy is natural. That things were better when power was inherited and you knew your place. It's not about fixing the system. It's about shifting blame downward, while the ones at the top keep their hands clean.

(When I went down this rabbit hole) I came across a response essay that clocks all of this and takes it apart, piece by piece. It’s not a rant (more of a clever, historical takedown of the fantasy). The title alone made me snort: "Downton Abbey Is Not a Governance Model" And it tears the fantasy apart.

Genuinely curious: Is this just the culture war’s weirdest side quest… or are we being slowly sold on aristocracy, one nostalgic think piece at a time?

Here is the response to the original piece which also has a link to the original for those interested: https://open.substack.com/pub/noisyghost/p/a-note-to-the-man-who-misses-the?r=5fir91&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web