Caste System: A one society controversy?

Summary:

Reflections about The Aryan Caste System and how it suddenly became social nature.

Caste System: A one society controversy?

Kanya Duran 10 Sep 2009 03:38

I was thinking about the Aryan Caste system, and it suddenly popped out the image we have on our book about the caste; the head was for the Brahmins(priests),the hands for the Kshatriya(warriors), Vaisya(peasants and workers) with the feet and at the bottom(legs) the Sudras.
This caught my attention by the fact that if we do inferences with the image and the meaning its really interesting how they worshiped every class,it is exactly the same as we do.
For instance, the ones with the knowledge(head) are priests, teachers, even governers and so on.
Then, I googled this and it appeared to me several entries about how nowadays this caste is racist and how even throughout history its inflicted with the Holocaust and Nazism fundaments.
This was even one of the topics on board of The United Nations Conference Against Racism, Racial Discrimination, Xenophobia and Related Intolerance to be held in Durban, South Africa during August 28 and September 1, 2001"
Indian people complaining about their surrounding society…
Not to be redundant and saturant but this brought me a reminiscence about howI treat, you, they, we, us through poor people,Haitian people,Teachers, the girl from the cashier, the driver,etcetera and etcetera because we consider they're lower than us, they're not like us and vice versa, how people with scarcity of resources are eager to climb to the highest of the status.
My point is, caste system is not an Indian controversy in their society, the caste system is what we do everyday, how we think and how we behave; not Dominican', this is a worldwide issue, this is the waste of a space in our minds in the most worthless and vain thoughts I've ever done and presence in my life.

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Albert Einstein

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"Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts."
-Albert Einstein-

Re: Caste System: A one society controversy?

olandolfi 12 Sep 2009 22:16

Well, the caste system was nothing more than an institutionalization of a natural order. In the ancient times people were divided by either by the function they had in society, or by the Conqueror/conquered differences. In time, as a political tool, came to exist the idea that there were racial differences, that one race was better than the other just because one survived and another got conquered.

I have stated countless times that there is not one single racial or genetically difference to support this argument, all humans are the same. But at the same time we are not. Some people are stronger, others are faster, others are smarter, others are healthier and so on and so forth. Darwinism (the idea that the fittest (not the better) survive) is an undeniable truth in humanity. The problem comes when we have groups like the Nazis, Jews (yes the Jews), believe that THEY are the chose ones, the best ones, and then everything goes to hell from there on.

When we look at somebody that is in a worst economical situation than us or that comes from a "lower" social class, we immediately tend to look at them with disdain. Sadly social stereotypes are in most (not in all) cases truth. And they are like that because you are what you learn, and you learn from the place in which you are brought up. If you are raised in a higher social class you are going to behave in certain matter, but when you are raised in the slums your behavior is going to reflect that of the collectivity.

Education is a key to open our minds and to let us see things from outside the box. Everybody deserves the opportunity to demonstrate that they are more than we might think they are, that they are better human beings, that they are smarter, that they are more educated, that they are in essence more.

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“As human beings, we are endowed with freedom of choice, and we cannot shuffle off our responsibility upon the shoulders of God or nature. We must shoulder it ourselves. It is our responsibility.” Arnold J. Toynbee

Re: Caste System: A one society controversy?

Lily Sanchez 13 Sep 2009 22:21

It's also sad how younger generations are brought up learning how to distinguish people by their race or social status. And as they grow older, they begin to divide them even more [e.g. high school stereotypes]. This is why there is so much social repression in the world, and by 'this', I'm talking about the way people, throughout time, have become intolerant to certain facets of life and everything that has to do with certain cultures, just because given facets aren't the same as theirs.

As Mr. Octavio said, education is a key to opening our minds and letting us see things from outside the box. Unfortunately, depending on the upbringing of the person is how one obtains certain knowledge on different ideas and theories. Not just from how you learn things due to your setting (place which you are brought up), but due to every aspect of your circumstances. It has to do with your parents' upbringing as well, and the way they decided to let society mold their opinions on certain topics. It also has to do with your religion (and we all know that even though it is sad, this is one of the most cruel forms of differentiating people from one another, and it has been since the foundation of religion).

And I agree, everyone and anyone should have the opportunity to prove themselves, because honestly, that's all you need to do. Nobody should be intolerant of anyone else because everyone is created to have the same chances as anyone else. If society anywhere is just one big caste system, I guess we can still have hope that if we want it badly enough, we can change the circumstances for ourselves.