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This is a no brainer, the King / Noble in Medieval times for the win....
Both may have short lives depending on environmental circumstances, but the quality of the King / Noble life in respect to peers was far superior and you had other people serving you and pick of the lovely maidens. Basically, everyone worked for you via taxation.
As North Beach Person referenced Mel Brooks, I concur, It is igood to be the King! (or Lord / Noble etc..)
A King is less likely to be run over by a bus and probably got three hits and a cot...at least. He got to order people around and made people give him money and presents. Kings had dangerous enemies who wanted them dead or deposed. A few English kings met awful deaths.
Homeless people are not “bums” in general. Many work at low pay jobs but many also are mentally ill in need of treatment. Lucky ones have access to food and shelters. The “homeless bums” of which OP speaks probably have bodily infestation problems and spend time dining in dumpsters. I would rather be a king or a duke in a minor realm (under the radar of the Vikings or greedy neighbors) than a homeless bum. I’ll take 🇲🇨 Monaco.
They were more sophisticated and advanced than most people realize.
Although they did not bathe like in a bathtub, they washed themselves regularly depending on when and where you are considering).
Depending on the time and location, they had all sorts of foods from all over the world available to nobles.
If someone annoyed you or tailgated your horse, you could turn around and stick a sword or lance in them with impunity.
Your day was more relaxed. No rush rush rush and your boss never called your cell on weekends.
to me the bad part was the pests you had to deal with fleas, lice, and the like.
Also there were a lot of things likely to kill you. People could live into their 80s, but there were way more things that would kill you, especially a king, along the way. If you got a fever, you were likely to die. Fall off your horse and break your leg - die. Have a baby - die. Fall in the privy - die. Tick off a higher level king or your people - die. Let your brothers or other heir live - die. Get an infected cut or burn - die. Ingrown toenail - die. Then of course there were the normal plagues, flu, dysentery, which usually killed its victims.
Being a king would kind of suck for the most part. Maybe a lesser noble or courtier with fewer people trying to kill you.
Obviously it would be deficient at different times and places. Medieval times ranged from about 400 AD to about 1499, or 1599. Life was very different in different places. China was probably the best place to be a king - I think.
We may have this thread all wrong. The OP may be referring to Medieval Times restaurant. In that case, the Kitchiness would drive you crazy eventually, but it would be much better to be there with the job of portraying the king, than a street person.
I agree with Coldjensens regarding all the dangers of living in those times, especially with so many people gunning for you. The quackery of the doctors at the time was just as likely to kill you as cure you.
Also, homeless in Minnesota is very different than homeless in Southern California or Hawaii.
A modern homeless person might have a cheap/donated/stolen smartphone within earshot of a wifi broadcast, which gives them a wealth of information and communication resources. For all the life expectancy and hygiene comparisons, there's no other advantage over being the most powerful person of a medieval domain.
Still, I would opt for medieval Queendom vs. homeless bag lady today. I imagine both lose sleep with worry, but otherwise, the Queen would enjoy a life of extravagant comfort, high education, and relative ease compared to the average commoner in her realm.
This is a far too crazy, drug-ridden, and violent world to be as vulnerable as present-time homeless folk. If you were a homeless beggar in medieval times, your lifespan would be very short indeed.
Given that being the King left a daily plotting which of our followers would gain if you should happen to dissapear, either could likely lead to a rather awful death. Kings were the ones with power, but they were also the chief goal of removing if possible. You can wipe out a lot of lords with their swords in hand and lose a lot of your own. But if you leave the King and especially his key people advising him and keeping him in power then it was pretty much a waste.
Kings were exectued by those who wished to remove them rather often, sometimes by enemies in battle, and sometimes with that wonderful dish they'd made for him at the feast. If you were a king you have to watch out for EVERYONE since if someone had plans for change, you were the one which had to be removed.
A homeless person had a very hard and likely short life, for it depended on nature how much you had to eat and what shelter you had. The castle would feed you well enough, even if not perfectly, but the serf in the field had good years when food was good, and awful years when starvation might be the end of you and your family.
I find the medieval period fascinating, especially since it makes such a good post apoc model, and have used it as one when the Federation lost to the Dominion, but I'd say its a tie unless you can be a servant who is seen and not heard but necessary, where the likelyhood of food and not dying by the sword is possible though life may be far from easy you just might be breathing longer.
Add disease and totally lacking treatment or any understanding of the disease and its an equal opportunity wipeout.
I vote for today being rich
Back then there were little to no technology and wealthy was based on having thousands/tens of thousands of humans on your side paid/mantained by you such as soldiers, craftmen, servants, labourers, slaves, prostitutes, minstrels, cooks etc
today wealthy has lost these "humanly focused" aspects.
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