samurai sometimes owned land and were part of the aristocracy, at the very least being retainers of lords and thus being a more privileged class and caste.
And furthermore, this is feudalism, a political and economic system defined by rigid social hierarchy crafted under a might makes right framework. The peasant class was generally considered disposable. Like, you can’t kill too many, and crap like this is considered bad form, but if you’re a samurai/knight the people with the power to enforce laws see you as one of them and the people with power over them see you as simply more valuable given that you’re a serious investment in training and equipment while they’re primarily manual laborers who replace themselves and produce the food they consume. But more than that they’re so far beneath them socially that their individual humanity is invisible.
samurai sometimes owned land and were part of the aristocracy, at the very least being retainers of lords and thus being a more privileged class and caste.
And furthermore, this is feudalism, a political and economic system defined by rigid social hierarchy crafted under a might makes right framework. The peasant class was generally considered disposable. Like, you can’t kill too many, and crap like this is considered bad form, but if you’re a samurai/knight the people with the power to enforce laws see you as one of them and the people with power over them see you as simply more valuable given that you’re a serious investment in training and equipment while they’re primarily manual laborers who replace themselves and produce the food they consume. But more than that they’re so far beneath them socially that their individual humanity is invisible.