India vedas talk about “varna” - class system based on ability & skills, not caste system. Modern Indian caste system was introduced by British to divide and conquer. Economist with a long history of Hindu phobia and in the vein of colonial British rake it up every now and then.
Caste comes from Spanish casta, no equivalent term exists in sanskrit for this.
India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
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Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#22This is a real risk when working with offshore teams in India.
We had to get involved in the interview process multiple times as the talent is absolutely there. But left to their own devices a lot of the sites ended up hiring friends or "cousins".
I'm not sure if that came down to Caste or just "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" but it was far from meritocratic.
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#23and how does the govt try to solve? by reservation quota. give college seats , jobs, promotions, etc for people with lower scores and their children and their children & forever.
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#24Can someone help me understand identity politics in India? There are a lot of things I don't understand, for example, there are some people that find it really important to tell others that the caste system doesn't exist, or is like really sensitive to anything negative said about India. Is that just run-of-the-mill nationalism? Because if so, it is hilarious when it's another country's nationalism.
It is defending the current Modi government and hyper-nationalism combined with a bit of ostrich behaviour. The govt. talks about "policy" but in reality elections are fought on caste. It is called "caste equation" and requires delicate balancing act to not antagonise anyone at the same time pleasing everyone. It is playing in Indian MSM right now as important state elections are approaching next year.
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#25It's been a while that I've been to India (last millennium...). Back then, the Times of India had pages and pages of lonely hearts ads in the back, or rather, matrimonial ads. They were sorted by caste, though there were two special categories for NRI (Non resident Indians, i.e. expats) and MBA (yes, Master of Business Administration graduates) - they seem to transcend caste. The ads typically specified the industry…
I am more optimistic that the caste system will die out within our lifetime. Almost all the younger people I know in India are on dating apps and they are dating people who they would not have met otherwise. I do not know how it is in villages of India , which are stuck in medieval times, but kids in small towns and cities have found sexual liberation in dating apps. If the economy of India improves such that kids ar…
I look at western society with a fairly rigid class system (wealthy, middle and poor classes) that doesn’t get talked about but it’s very real.
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#26It's interesting for this white american guy to learn a little bit about other cultures' prejudicial tribal structures. (That's my attempt at neutral language for what american sociologists call "structural racism".)
I suspect it's trickier to learn about those structures in one's own culture.
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#27You know what's really sad about this? The caste system prevent a huge part of the population to contribute to the demographic dividends that made China, SK and Japan the powerhouses they are. India is taking the same path as Turkey and South Africa, and as long as the mixture of the caste system and the religious troubles they have is not fixed, even the Brahmins will pay the price (not even taking into consideratio…
> The caste system prevent a huge part of the population to contribute to the demographic dividends Over the years India has implemented several affirmative action programs (locally called "reservations") that ensures a more level playing field. India has actually done reasonably well economically since 1995. Unless you can point to specific studies that correlate India's less-than-spectacular economic performance to…
Per capita GDP of India is 142 out of 189 countries.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/India_State_Hunger_Index https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_rankings_of_Indi...
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#28Old habits die hard. We abolished slavery and then replaced it with Jim Crow laws: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Crow_laws We have the biggest concentration camps in the world for primarily people of color. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Violent_Crime_Control_and_Law_... https://www.aclu.org/issues/smart-justice/mass-incarceration “ Despite making up close to 5% of the global population, the U.S. has nearly 25% of…
>We have the biggest concentration camps in the world for primarily people of color.
Hyperbole much.
You should worry more about how such a small portion of the population can commit so much crime per capita, much more than any other demographic, even accounting for some bias of law enforcement.
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#29I could see it work out when I was in the DFW area how one group treated another group and how several managers treated me
Re: India’s caste system remains entrenched, 75 years after independence
#30This is a real risk when working with offshore teams in India. We had to get involved in the interview process multiple times as the talent is absolutely there. But left to their own devices a lot of the sites ended up hiring friends or "cousins". I'm not sure if that came down to Caste or just "you scratch my back, and I'll scratch yours" but it was far from meritocratic.
Then dont use offshore.