There is definitely a nostalgia for feudalism. The Japanese can't get enough of their samurai past, and the craze for European royalty and nobility extends even to the US. Our fairy tales, fiction, movies and much of our folklore comes to us from an idealized medieval past that never existed. It is no surprise Rennaissance faires are so popular.

But the sad truth is that feudalism delivers. When empires collapse and barbarians ravage the land, the feudal system offers stability, order, and some measure of peace as well as a systematic protection for those who work the land...at a price. Today, large parts of the world still are run by feudal regimes (although we call them "tribal" as in Afghanistan). Even large tracts of Latin America are still ruled by el latifundismo, the great landowners, who operate pretty much independently of the petty princelings in the capital. When things fell apart, as in China a few centuries ago, it was the warlords who took over. And is there really that much difference between a criminal gang and a feudal fiefdom?

The strict hierarchical order of kings and nobility, and a two-tier society of sturdy yeomen (impoverished and exploited serfs, actually) and noble knights and nobles (thugs and bikers on horseback, actually) is a pretty and appealing fantasy that dies hard, especially when propped up by all that chivalric nonsense of lords and ladies and courtly love. Still, it can't be denied, there are worse alternatives, and if civilization ever collapses, this is what we probably have to look forward to.