Caste system - fixed layers in society

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Caste system - fixed layers in society

• Priests
• Warriors
• Merchants
• Peasants
• Untouchables

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Caste System

• Determinants of caste are karma/samsara
• Therefore, caste cannot be changed during human
  lifetime
• Some castes can perform only certain jobs, wear
  only certain clothes...
• Cannot eat, play, or walk with members of higher
  castes...

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Untouchables

• Untouchables often made to sit on the floor in
  classrooms...
• Must take off shoes while passing in front of
  upper caste homes...
• Cannot drink from same well as upper castes for
  fear of polluting it
• Untouchables are treated worse than American
  blacks before the Civil Rights Movement

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Centrifugal Forces

• Caste system remains a centrifugal force for
  obvious reasons, but also because efforts to
  weaken it are met with fanatical opposition.
• India is being swept with a wave of Hindu
  fundamentalism (a "return" to fundamental Hindu
  values).

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Centripetal Forces

• Cultural strength of Hinduism
• Democracy its democratic institutions
• India's (Hindu's) capacity for accommodating
  change (flexibility)
• Strong leadership

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Mohandas Gandhi

• The Mahatma
• Great Soul

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The Mahatma

• Indian nationalism rose in the early 20th century
  - wanting independence from British rule.
• Gandhi promoted non-violent resistance.
• Boycott - refusing to purchase (British goods),
  Fasting - galvanized country in support of the
  cause

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• Gandhi also worked to improve the treatment of
  the untouchables and of persecuted Muslims.
• Gandhi was assassinated by a fundamentalist Hindu.

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India's Population Dilemma

• South Asia's population more than 20 of world
  population
• Population Explosion - Death rates drop, birth
  rates either stay constant or at least take
  longer to decline therefore, there are a lot of
  people.

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Indias Population Growth
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Death Rate Decline in the 19th-20th Century

• improved medical services
• soap became common
• more effective food distribution
• urbanization
• farm production expanded

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India/China

• Why has it been easier for China to stabilize its
  population growth than India?
•     - China has a totalitarian communist
  government India enjoys its freedoms.

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•   Urbanization leading to smaller families. Why?
• cost of living
• less space
• less need for as many workers

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Urbanization in India

• Only 28 of India is urbanized
• however, that equals 300 million people
  slightly more than all of the U.S.

• Indian cities are growing at 5 annually
• squatter shacks (no amenities at all)
• Homelessness
• Rioting (specifically youths who cannot find
  jobs)

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Half of India's population (over 500 million) are
poverty stricken

• Farming Inefficiencies
• more than 50 of India's villages do not have
  motorable road leading to them.
• still more animal-drawn carts than motor vehicles

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