re: #219 Gus 802

If we currently have a “caste” system then it is a very, very loose one. I say that because there is quite a bit of movement between groups, via intermarriage, work, etc.

Because of the vast number of land-holders in this nation from the beginning we’ve not really experienced the peasant class. Yes, laborers have been exploited and often suffer injustices, but this numerically became large in the transition from agriculture to industry at the beginning of the 20th century. This is not to diminish the plight of the sharecroppers etc. that litter American history, but the westward movement of people in 19th century kept opening new opportunities for those strong enough to escape their previous confinement.

What we may experience in this century is the opposite, with decreasing land ownership rates and ever larger cities we will see the emergence of a broad servant class (the first since abolition) with no vision or hope of a better life.

I lament the lack of vision on the part of so many of my fellow Americans who just won’t face the reality that we must collectively decide to build a better society or it will done for us. In a sense this is the old paradigm of having to go forward or backward given the lack of the option to stay as-we-are.