Means to an End

The trio discuss "caste" systems


Means to an End
Euroswydd, Reiki Clown and Mort although disheartened are nevertheless intrigued by human insistence on attaching such importance to an individual’s rank within the caste system that it becomes the sole criteria for evaluating that individual’s worth.
Who or what group makes the decisions that the humans allow to control their lives and why them? Why does a group of people “listen” to one dogma and consider another unworthy?
“It’s clear that systems operating in the human world originated to perpetuate survival. Take the Masai people of Africa. Within their culture jobs are assigned or awarded based on age and a step program. Young men must first show that they are proficient warriors (basically able to provide for a family) before being allowed to marry. Since this is a polygamist society each man has many wives. The hierarchy among the wives is such that the most recently married woman performs the more labor intensive work with the initial wife having the easiest life of all. Each step or level within the community is designed to provide “training” for the next level or in the case of the women, since each successive wife is younger than the previous to provide a labor force physically equipped to perform necessary tasks, be they hauling water or producing progeny.” Mort draws deeply on his pipe giving Euroswydd the opportunity to voice his thoughts.
“Yes, each person must fulfill his or her own task or the survival of the group is placed in jeopardy. We’ve found many examples of how indigenous tribes give specific jobs to individuals. That these individuals are responsible for assigned tasks is recognized and counted upon by the society. Those that do not perform appropriately are ostracized. In theory a reasonable strategy. Yet, as human societies became increasingly more developed, communities became less preoccupied with mere survival and branched out to pursue “leisurely” activities. They developed a desire to “be better than” and “ in control”. The original intent of the caste systems, that of giving individuals responsibility for a task or tasks in order to ensure the best possible chance of the units survival, became corrupted. This corruption allowed for individual and/or groups to achieve control over the masses not to perpetuate survival of the large group-as they pretend to do-not for altruistic purposes- but the enhance the material wealth of the controllers. The more complex the societal structure the more destructive the species.”
Turning to Reiki Clown, “Have you been able to type this all? Do you need time to catch up? Are up sure you wouldn’t rather use the digital recorder we brought instead of that old typewriter?”
Reiki Clown pausing, “I like typing and you know I can always keep up. It’s fun to exercise my mitten fingers and it reminds me of the little girl I was knitted for. She carried me everywhere, usually by my stocking cap. She used a typewriter just like this and it reminds me of her and my role there. As with other lifetimes I spent on Earth children of pre-corruption years still saw life in its simplified uncorrupted form. They were kind and operated to the best of the abilities they had been granted in that particular lifetime. Eventually the lessons of their elders overshadowed primary instincts and they assimilated greed and cruelty. The little girl that I belonged to in my role as Reiki Clown never fully subscribed to the doctrines her parents and teachers tried to instill in her. She kept me with her until the day she exited that life.” Nostalgia mixed with resignation emanated with Reiki Clown’s voice. “I remember when she studied the social system put into place in the country known as India about 3000 years before her birth in the late 1960’s. Those Indian people had implemented their system in order to establish social order. While we’ve-The Forum-been using the word “caste” as a descriptive term designating the social orders established in every society that’s ever existed, the word was originally associated with the social structure implemented in India. That structure involved 4 basic levels the highest being the Purists and the lowest being those deemed Impure. People were born into a level and remained tied to it the entire span of that particular lifetime. Only through death and subsequent rebirth could a particular soul transfer to a different caste. The Portuguese viewing this system dubbed it “casta” which translated means rigid social structure. The final letter changed to an e and the term “caste” became the descriptive term for that structure prevalent in India. While in India it is not possible to move from one caste to another during the course of a single lifetime in other countries it is generally considered an admirable quality to want to ‘better’ oneself.”
“Yes,” continued Euroswydd, “Most of the European societies implemented a caste system of their own under the guise of keeping order but human nature seems to be such that those in the upper levels of the society expect to be treated with deference by those in lower levels. Interestingly speech patterns were and still are indicative of social level. Those successfully climbing to a higher social level continue to go to great lengths to change their speech patterns to more closely emulate those patterns considered appropriate for someone of high rank. The English people, perhaps because their Monarchy is still in existence even into the 21st century, have been loath to relinquish their system of social delineations. A sterling example is portrayed in the play, and subsequent movie rendition of My Fair Lady. As seen in this fictional account, accent is an even more important societal marker than birth status or wealth acquisition.”
“Yes, I remember that movie, it was shown against one of the adobe houses in my village when I was a young boy. Speech patterns and job choice are clearly devices used by these humans to rank each other. Stereotyping is another favorite and highly flawed human trait. It seems that the more “advanced” a society is the more likely that certain jobs and the people that perform them will be viewed as inferior to those that do different jobs. Those performing “menial” tasks requiring less mental acuity are judged to be less intelligent and not equipped to “understand” issues that require a broader mental capacity and therefore the endowment of more money. Stereotypically it’s felt that they have neither the intelligence nor the capacity to understand or appreciate that which those of greater intelligence can. They seem to have forgotten that all jobs need to be done or society couldn’t exist. Providing nutrition and living facilities free of filth-germs, etc. is crucial to longevity and enjoyment of life.”
“They’ve moved far from the original intent of the caste systems.” Reiki pauses in his typing.
“Yes, survival not being a major consideration for the inhabitants of the “developed” countries of the planet, they have the luxury of pursuing more esoteric topics and thus fluffing their own feathers, to coin a phrase. They are still establishing a social order but rather than the survival of the unit being the most important factor the pumping up of the ego seems to have taken center stage.” Mort waved towards Jalisco, “Domestic animals have plenty of leisure time since they are dependant on their human overseer’s for food and shelter but they never developed the means to destroy themselves the way humans have. I wonder why that is.”
Euroswydd with a bob of his head, nodded agreement, “And these humans are so fickle. Take the shoe shine men. There was a time when they were considered lowly servants, useful to have around but not particularly valuable as individuals. Now they are idolized and considered remnants of a more genteel time. There are great efforts being made to preserve the few that are left and to listen to their stories about the “old days”. These earthlings have endowed this group with the all important status of “storyteller” those that preserve and pass on verbal history. A most puzzling group these Earthlings. There are other examples of their inability to stay consistent, particularly when trends change.” shaking his head he continues, “Human foibles seem to boil down to the need for control and their inability to create and maintain their own opinions. Those that wish control tighten the grip while those that can’t think for themselves join the group that appears to provide the most favorable rewards. My human always maintained that humans even in small groups could be problematic but the larger and more convoluted the group became and I use this as an example of societies ‘developing’ and becoming more ‘advanced’ the more corrupt and less functional it becomes.”
Reiki Clown types the final analysis on this subject as such:
The Forum concludes that the rigid social systems or “castes” implemented by the humans on Earth originated out of a need to create an order that facilitated the perpetuation of the society. Observations on the rest of Earth’s life forms show that each form adheres to rules and regulations put in place to ensure the existence of the species. Humans in spite of their perceived mental acuity, unwilling to adhere to the original concepts of the systems, have corrupted them to the point of no return. Engrossed with ego enhancement, neglectful of survival protocol, unless their priorities change with immediacy they will join the list of civilizations that destroyed themselves.