A brilliant analysis of caste by my friend Echo Scope. He wrote this as a comment in another convo and I think it worth sharing: Since the very beginning, individuals who were stronger and had more resources (human or material) had an advantage over others. They could buy the services of less fortunate ones or forcibly subjugate them. Slavery (in the western world and the ancient world) and political conquests accompanied by slavery and oppression throughout history falls in this category. To this day, its very common for the upper-middle and upper classes in South Asia to have domestic servants whose only job is to keep their masters happy. The caste system is much more sinister and ingenious. Around 1500-1000 BC, a small group of individuals declared that they were superior than everyone else. Such a declaration could cause rebellion. In order to avoid fighting any rebellion and dying in the process, they assigned the responsibility of fighting and dying to another group of people. Fighting rebellions cost money. In order to avoid paying for the costs of fighting the rebellions, they assigned the responsibility of generating wealth to another group of people. In return for fighting and financing the crushing of rebellions, these two groups were given the divine sanction through scriptures to exploit and abuse the rest of the population. This way the group at the top could perpetuate their superiority without doing anything. The Sikh thought tried to reform this social and political order by merging the functions of all the four castes into every single person. A Sikh is supposed to communicate directly with the divine creator (No Brahmins required). A Sikh is supposed to defend himself/herself and those around them (no warrior caste required). A Sikh is supposed to earn an honest living and support his/her family and the community they live in (no money-generating caste required). A Sikh is supposed to serve the community by cleaning dishes, shoes, floors, carpets, and toilets (no lower-caste for abuse and exploitation required). 3 hours ago ·
Posted on: Fri, 18 Oct 2013 07:41:00 +0000
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