At the end of the 20th Century, being a peasant means being ignorant of technology and the information revolution sweeping the world. That used to be cute, a curmudgeonly Andy Rooney-ish reaction to a difficult new invention. Nowadays it's a little embarrassing, like admitting that you still smoke Camels or that you've never learned to read. They are be-fogged by clich s, terrified by the future and easily stampeded into bonehead technologies by sharpies and charlatans. Worse, many technopeasants are older managerial types with power and influence over younger people who really do know what's going on.
Willful ignorance is no virtue.
Unless you're are a monk or a swami and have a theological excuse for not being a part of the world around you, living through this particular fin de si cle means booting up, logging on and mousing around. In the publishing business, it's almost impossible to explain interactive media to people who don't know how to search a database, edit a picture file or post to a bulletin board. They are peasants by choice, and God bless 'em. But as a society, we're responsible for manufacturing a growing number of technopeasants who are doomed to their peasantry not by choice but by schooling. These are the kids graduating from rotten school systems where they're not even taught to read and write properly, let alone type fast or use a computer.