Caste
“As we go about our daily lives, caste is the wordless usher in a darkened theater, flashlight cast down in the aisles, guiding us to our assigned seats for a performance. The hierarchy of caste is not about feelings or morality. It is about power—which groups have it and which do not.” In this brilliant book, Isabel Wilkerson gives us a masterful portrait of an unseen phenomenon in America as she explores, through an immersive, deeply researched narrative and stories about real people, how America today and throughout its history has been shaped by a hidden caste system, a rigid hierarchy of human rankings. Beyond race, class, or other factors, there is a powerful caste system that influences people’s lives and behavior and the nation’s fate. Linking the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany, Wilkerson explores eight pillars that underlie caste systems across civilizations, including divine will, bloodlines, stigma, and more. Using riveting stories about people—including Martin Luther King, Jr., baseball’s Satchel Paige, a single father and his toddler son, Wilkerson herself, and many others—she shows the ways that the insidious undertow of caste is experienced every day.
Stats for nerds
11recommend
19mentions
19people
2020–2024years
58% recommend42% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Just a thought, based on a loose synthesis:
I think the book Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson offers a lens to look at why "anarchism" is betrayed. There is something about being human that creates hierarchies. There is also something about being human that takes these hierarchies and pushes them to any given horizon. My idea being that any given utilitarian hierarchy, over time, becomes a differentiation to create class divisions. I think this lens can be used to resolve the focus of Graeber's criticism of "anarchism" and what it means to remove inequality from a human system.
My own thesis is that when you remove any given inequality from a human system, a power vacuum is created; some other inequality expands to take the place of the removal. This happens when an inequality is reduced, as well. I am unclear as to why and the mechanisms of how.
This does not mean that inequality should not be addressed. It simply means that cognition of the effect of removing or reducing the inequality needs to occur and any action taken be adjusted to address it. The only system, so far, that seems to be dynamic enough to handle this is "small-d" democracy in its various forms. These approaches are not without their criticisms.
- Isabelle Wilkerson’s book, Caste, really opened my eyes on this subject. Highly recommend for Americans looking to learn about our own caste system.
- Isabel Wilkerson’s book Caste has a really good overview of the caste system in India and how it’s very distinct from class issues.
- > And the slaves love to get food and shelter for their work.
We’re skirting awfully close to Godwin’s law here aren’t we?
One of the deepest insights I found in Caste by Isabel Wilkerson was that most people, when put in the position, would capitalize on the opportunity to subjugate their fellow humans. I’m not saying I want to do that, I’m just saying that is reality as I have seen it play out.
> Or do you just want to throw tour hands in the air
Quite the opposite, see my reply to your sibling, I think we can do get farther by working in the systems we’ve evolved vs throwing them all away. I’m not sure anarchism is a good approach to avoiding path dependency in the search for an optimal government, which may not even be possible –as you said, no system is an end itself. We’re going to keep discovering new problems to solve, and I think we’d be better equipped with advanced forms of government. That doesn’t mean they can’t be made simpler or be organized better than they are today.
- > One of the deepest insights I found in Caste by Isabel Wilkerson was that most people, when put in the position, would capitalize on the opportunity to subjugate their fellow humans. I’m not saying I want to do that, I’m just saying that is reality as I have seen it play out.
Isn't this basically because they feel forced to, since they're subjugated to someone else?
- > ... if they have no interest and you turn around and blame it on men that allegedly discriminate
The very first programmer was a woman, and in the early days of computing history they were over 40% of all programmers [1]. The idea that "they have no interest" is bullshit [2]; talk to women in tech (and the ones who quit) and you'll quickly learn why that is the case.
> I reject the analysis that there are systemic issues, there is no evidence at all.
That's the same argument used by folks who deny systemic racism in the US, despite decades of historical context [3]. It's a convenient position, particularly for those in a place of privilege. Of course you're free to believe in whatever you want, but if you don't want to put in the effort and learn from other's perspectives, then you're part of the problem.
[1] https://www.npr.org/sections/alltechconsidered/2014/10/06/34...
[2] https://www.amazon.com/Brotopia-Emily-Chang-audiobook/dp/B07...
[3] https://www.amazon.com/Caste-Origins-Discontents-Isabel-Wilk...
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