India now has social networks related to caste | Hacker News Reader

India now has social networks related to caste

bakadesuyo.com

17 pointscwan16 comments

I'm Indian, and I disagree with the caste system, but am also cynical enough to think this is no big deal. People will always discriminate against people for one reason or another.

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=black+social+networ...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=muslim+social+netwo...

http://www.google.com/search?sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=arabic+social+netwo...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=rich+people+social+...

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=beautiful+people+so...

I guess the most odd aspect to an outside observer is how incredibly indistinguishable , at least from a physical observation, caste members are from each other. This is in such stark contrast with the societal confinement it locks people into it borders on a parody on prejudice, were it not so tragic.

EDIT: This star trek episode comes to mind (Are you blind?): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vi7QQ5pO7_A

Why should it matter that they're physically indistinguishable? Would it be more excusable then?

Caste is just another uneducated, thoughtless distinction to discriminate against other people.

Caste is as correlated with cultural identity and upbringing in India as religion, nationality, and skin color are in other parts of the world.

No, it shouldn't matter, just an observation it's a dimension of ignorant distinction I'm not used to, is all.

The examples you cite are not comparable to the caste system. The caste system explicitly implies inherent inferiority/superiority in one human being over another.

- I think you should ask Evangelical Christians if they consider other humans inferior otherwise why else do they try to "save" them from their inferiority.

- You should ask KKK/Neo Nazis if they consider Blacks inferior or superior?

- You should ask Chinese if they consider the mixed race Black singer (from the Chinese version of American Idol) inferior?

- Some Muslims consider non-muslims Kafir.

- Shia and Sunni consider each other inferior.

- Some muslim sects in Pakistan, and elsewhere, are considered non-muslims.

- Jews consider Palestinians, and vice versa, inferior.

And so on and so forth...

So, yes, those examples do apply.

I should still point out that in some of your examples, there is a choice. E.g., if a Muslim really holds a non-Muslim to be 'inferior', he'll no longer be inferior if he converts. It seems that there's no such hope or opportunity in the caste system.

To me, that's just splitting hairs. I don't consider religious discrimination to be any better than caste-based or skin-color-based discrimination.

My point is that this is one more manifestation of an inherent feature of human behavior, to consider similar people to be better than dissimilar people. Societies that become prosperous and educated can counteract this urge to some extent, but I haven't seen any society that really stamps it out.

I'm Indian, I'm ashamed at this, but can confirm that people give way too much importance to caste in India. Things are changing, but mostly in cities, and at "not enough" pace. Politics is rife with religion/caste/racism etc, because that is the easiest/fastest way for any politician to get votes.

The saddest part is, many highly educated/intelligent (I am talking about Masters/PHds/Ivy league educated) people get hung up on religion/caste.

I have some Indian friends and they have said much the same thing. I can't say I'm surprised this happened, the markets are not an engine of morality - they just give the people what they want for better or worse.

That is the sad part. In politics at least, the end always justifies the means, however horrible/unethical/unlawful it is.

The sadder/funnier part is, most highly educated Phds etc get hung up on caste mostly because (a) They would rather not argue with their parents about these things (b) Arranged marriage is the easiest way for them to find a partner

The silver lining in this cloud is that, in my observation, most of them don't consider other castes to be inferior in any way. They just don't want to deal with the inconvenience of arguing with their parents, especially when they are dependent on parents for finding them a bride.

It's a pretty faint silver lining though :)

confirmed - and nowhere is this more apparent than when dating/getting married.

I have seen veritable geeks give in to the (strongly family enforced) sentiment of rejecting partners from different castes - it's not so much as marrying into a lower caste, as it is about marrying into a different caste.

I am seeing lesser and lesser people even knowing about the relative positioning of castes - however their cognizance of being a different caste still holds.

I always wondered what they think of foreigners outside of the system. Are we "auto-casted" down?

Maybe duck typing? If it looks like a Brahmin, talks like a Dalit....?

Why, that's backwards! In the U.S. we have castes related to social networks.

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