Caste in America?
Equality is an oft-touted principle of American life, but I wonder whether we have a de facto caste system. The Indian model roughly divided into priests, rulers, warriors, workers, and untouchables. America is not a theocracy, so there is no priest class at the top no matter how much people whine about tax-exempt churches. We have a definite political class, though, and their enforcers in the police and military have a very real set of special privileges and a societal expectation for reverence. The tax-paying populace, the recipients of government welfare, and the ever-shifting untouchables used to scapegoat every problem are somewhere at the bottom of this modern social order.
The socialists would say something different, I'm sure. Proletariat vs. bourgeois, right? Too simplistic. Too ideological. Too reliant on imaginary associations where none exists. Too quick to lump political plunder with productive entrepreneurial activity.
Our caste system isn't ossified into something entirely hereditary and endogamous, and I don't buy the conspiracy theories about a small number of families running the world, but I know there are people who want to make that happen, and the circles of political power are remarkably insular and consistent. Military families are definitely a thing, and the police and military "brotherhood" rallies together to shout down anyone who questions their wars and enforcement policies. Meanwhile, the middle class bears the burden of taxation, inflation, debt, and obedience demanded by their self-professed betters. The poor are explicitly denied the dignity of self-ownership, and their opportunities are actively thwarted by the government. As for the untouchables, we have immigrants, natives, and anarchists who question the system.
Am I seeing something that isn't there with my overactive imagination and paranoid outlook on life, or do we have a real caste system growing like a cancer behind a facade of egalitarian rhetoric?
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There's always been a de facto class (caste) system in America. Although not institutionalized as in the UK, it's there.
Governing families..... Not royalty, but it is sort of, in everything but name!
A truly equal society would assume that we all have equal starting points. Hoever, that isn't the case... And I'm not sure that I would want that either...
But without the will to limit these differences in starts, we can't approach a more equal society... However, I say this as an Australian living in Europe. From the outside, US seems to do things much worse than the countries that I'm familiar with. Which leads me to wonder why other countries want to emulate the American model completely... There are things that are good, but we can see what doesn't work!
Equality can't mean equal starting points. People are unique. I mused on this a while ago. However, the principle that everyone is equal before the law and the law exists only to protect against violations of life, liberty, and property has been made into a laughingstock for anyone who understands both the sales pitch and reality of America.
Agreed, flat equality would be horrific in its own right. However, as far as I see from outside, the United States is not even close to that! It as you say, the discrepancy between the ideal and the reality is quite stark.
However, change does mean losers... And everyone is keen to protect what they have, even if it is at the cost of a potentially better future.
And those who rely on political plunder, including welfare recipients, corporate cronies, and government employees, all see their shares of tax extortion as a right in a complete perversion of the concept of rights. They have no incentive to real progress, and the leviathan state instead seeks to seduce more and more people into thinking they are net beneficiaries of the system.
I'd like to see the (presently unlimited) military traded in for the "limitary" you mentioned... ;)
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The smartphone sure isn't very smart when it comes to fixing fat-fingered typos! I'll address that one.
I love the way it "corrects" me all the time... ;)
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