Stockholders Replaced Landowners as Political Axis

David Hume’s 18th‑century critique of public credit anticipates a durable political shift: as debt‑capital and tradable claims grew, political cleavages realigned away from feudal landowner interests toward conflicts structured around mobile capital and credit claims. That change helps explain why modern Left–Right divides do not map neatly onto simple worker/vs‑owner class models and why elites can cultivate progressive redistribution while still defending capital‑friendly institutions. — Recasting ideological conflict as a historical shift from land‑based to capital‑based authority reframes debates on populism, tax policy, corporate governance and who counts as ‘the establishment.’