What Feudalism Looks Like

In my last post, I claimed that feudalism was alive and well in the Commonwealth of Kentucky. If you want details, you need to look no further than the actions of former governor Bevin as he left office this month. He issued 428 pardons. Many of them for violent offenses.
He pardoned a child rapist, because he didn't tear her hymen. That sounds like something a medieval lord would say, doesn't it?
Why would he do something like this? Well, aside from his total disregard for the people of Kentucky and as an example of psychopathic behavior. One need look no further than the following picture.

This image shows the home of the parents of one of the people Bevin pardoned for murder. It turns out that they had donated $21,500 to Bevin. We now know what Bevin considered the peasants under his care to be worth. Can you say feudal lords who are above the law boys and girls? This is why rural Kentucky will always fail and be filled with poverty and misery.
The lesson here is that if you can afford a house like the one shown here, and if you are close to the local lords and ladies, then you can do no wrong. You can do whatever you want and the legal system works as your personal enforcement arm. Sounds good, if you have the money and the consent of the local nobility. If you are missing either of these, your stay here will not be so pleasant.
Now, if you have nothing, are addicted to meth, and have a large extended family, rural Kentucky has a place for you. Kentucky seems to enjoy bringing people like this into the Commonwealth. The last two homes I've had here have had dwellings with outhouses within a mile of me. No they weren't there when I bought, but Kentucky seems intent on spreading impoverishment areas.
If, however, you want to buy a 60 acre farm and retire peacefully, I'd advise you to forget it. Survivability comes from money (and I don't mean middle class here) and connections with the local powers that be. If you just have the money, the local nobility will take it from you. Remember, the law works for them. You will find your property repeatedly stolen and vandalized. You'll find law enforcement who won't respond to your calls, but will be there in five minutes if anyone calls on you, and if you've never dealt with the drug crowd, be advised that they like lying and trying to get people into court. It's fun for them. You'll need to have witnesses and proof of your actions 24/7 to survive this. You'll find yourself suddenly surrounded by meth houses. You'll find your property value drop to near zero. The purpose of this is to get you to sell at a loss. If you can deal with all this, Appalachia just might be for you.
I've even seen members of the local nobility loose everything in the course of power struggles, but that's rare. There are usually enough non-locals to sate their appetites. 

Feudalism

Feudalism is alive and well in Kentucky. I know, it's widely known that connections are what matters in getting ahead, and the value of a degree from a school like Harvard is mainly valuable in terms of the connections that you make, and not in the knowledge gained from your courses. Hillbillies carry the concept to a new level, like they do with everything else they touch.
To the hillbilly, kin is everything. When you first arrive in hillbilly land, one of the things that the more observant notice is that there are family names that run all the way to high offices in Frankfort. These same families have kin that are in and out of the local jail on a regular basis. Now, in a normal place, this wouldn't be a big deal. You'd have two branches of a family that took different life paths and the family branch that "made it" would be rightly embarrassed of the branch that didn't. That's not quite the case in Eastern Kentucky.
In Eastern Kentucky, kin is everything. So the drug dealing branch still has connections with the political office class. It's kind of like the mob, only they control law enforcement and the courts. That, boys and girls, is called feudalism.
I should have known the first time I called law enforcement here and the first question they asked was, "whose kin are you, and whose kin are you calling on". You see, without knowing the family connections, how could anyone be expected to know which law applied. Silly me, I always thought that there was one set of laws, but you soon learn differently in Kentucky.
If you want to witness feudalism first hand, come to rural Kentucky.