--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "John" <jr_...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "ShempMcGurk" <shempmcgurk@> wrote: > > > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "John" <jr_esq@> wrote: > > > > > > In the vedic varnas, the brahmanas are the smartest of all > > > the four groups in society. However, they don't rule the > > > people, nor do the hard work. The brahmans are responsible > > > for the priestly or advisory duties in society. The kshatreyas > > > are in charge of the executive and enforcement work. For > > > busines and mercantile work, the vaishas perform them. The > > > rest of the hard work is given to the sudras. > > > > > > So in this system, everyone benefits for the sake of forming a > > > society or a community. Anyone who doesn't fit in the system > > > becomes a chandala, or the "untouchables". > > > > Is there upward or downward mobility between the groups during > > one's lifetime? Can a sudra become a Brahman or a kshatreya > > become a Brahman? Or can a Brahman who messes his life up end > > up a sudra by the end of his life? > > In an ideal varna system...
Which has never existed. > ...the status in society is earned not inherited by families. > Those who have the aptitude for intellectual pursuits and > education should be considered as brahmanas. It should not > matter whether he or she was born under the other groups in > society. But it does. In India everyone knows your caste the moment they hear your last name. You are consigned to the "position" allotted to that caste *no matter what*. It controls your entire life -- how you are treated in restaurants and hotels, who you can marry, where you can work, everything. John's claim above is a fantasy, an "ideal" that has never once existed in the entire history of the caste system. If John had been born a sudra, he could get 20 Ph.D.s and never be allowed to work in an intel- lectual capacity in India or even in an Indian- owned company in America. I've seen it happen in programming. I worked on a large programming project for Pepsico, one that was staffed largely by an Indian company. The first step of the resume review process was to put all resumes with last names that were not Brahmins straight in the trash bin. I sat in a room and listened to a few of these "more evolved" Brahmins brag about how they had beat the shit out of an Indian guy of another caste who had dared to ask a Brahmin woman on a date. This was in New York, not Delhi. John is defending barbarism and institutionalized bigotry as if it were holy. Says a lot about his concept of religion.
