The four groups were Brahim, Ksatriya, Vaisya, and Sudra. There was also another group, but they are considered not worth to be mentioned and they were the “untouchables.” The Brahim section of the caste system was the highest group of this class system. They were the priests or teachers of their Hindu religion. The Ksatriya were the warriors and rulers. The Vaisya were the farmers and merchants.
If a person does not achieve their dharma, then they will receive bad karma and when they are reincarnated, it will be a lower task. Once a person fulfills their dharma, they reach moksha, a peaceful bliss and calm, which is the ending point of their life. Hinduism was one of the many religions that introduced new ideas about the meaning of life and made this period, a period of change. Hinduisms way of social organization was through the caste system. The caste system was a system of different classes such as, Brahman, Kshatriya, Vaishya and Shudra.
With this social stratification the social structure usually had a noble or land- owning class on top and masses of peasants and slaves at the bottom. Also a powerful priestly group figured in the elite. An example of the social classes in Mesopotamia can be seen in the Code of Hammurabi. This set of laws was present in Sumer and the laws were not completely fair between the different levels of social class. Even though Ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia were similar they also showed many differences.
Jeff Badu History 281 Section AD1 2/4/13 Paper #1 The Pursuit of Power In the book Whiteness of a Different Color, Jacobson made a strong argument on how race was not only something biological, but a social construction and a forever evolving, unstable process. This means that the color of your skin did not necessarily define who you were, but how society viewed you based on your appearance and actions determined your race. Also, different people such as the Irish faced different obstacles throughout different times in order to gain their citizenship and be socially accepted as “white”. Jacobson’s book does not support the idea that all immigrants encountered the same obstacles with the different examples he provides and the term “whiteness of a different color” refers to how different racial groups were fighting in order to be considered white. Different racial groups had to struggle throughout different time periods in order to gain their “whiteness”.
It weakened the political power of the original ruling class. Therefore, the status of the bourgeoisie gradually became higher than the
Earlier stated americans believe in the United States that the middle class contains the majority of the population, but Zweig states differently. “ The great majority of Americans form the working class” (Zweig 3). The working class are those people with relatively little power are work. Everyday millions of men and women, no matter their race or religion, preform jobs like; driving trucks, designing hair and stocking shelves. These are all working class jobs, but how can one define these jobs as working class?
All the work of leaders and civil rights movement activist would be vain. Martin Luther king jr and Malcolm X’s deaths would have also been vain. People worked hard to insure integration and equality and it would be terrible if none of their teachings and efforts would have been applied. Instead of having the same rights and uses of materials in schools like Thurgood Marshall helped fight for, society would have to deal with one race being superior there for receiving better school material. When segregation was legal blacks received the worst material to study and get their education therefore they had an inferior education.
The poor, working class describe the valley of ashes, where the low social status people live. The West Egg represents the middle class or the low end of the high-class people. West Eggers have to earn their money to become New Money, to be like the East Eggers. Wealthy and careless people live in the East Egg. The high status people who do not have to work for their money live.
Varna is an Indian class factually meaning color. The class did not allow much flexibility of choice because it significantly determined certain things such as profession, what category you fall under in society, and ultimate salvation. The class Varna is also divided into five subclasses, Brahmins, kshatriyas, Vaisya, sudras, and the Pariahs, also known as the untouchables. The untouchables unlike other subclasses were not considered human beings, the presence of them being around others was also considered corrupt to the other being under the Varna class. No Indian could touch or eat food that passed through an untouchable.
The Vaishya were the farmers of Vedic society, they were highly disrespected, but not as much as the lowest rank. The last rank was called the Shudra. The Shudra were known as the servants to the royal Brahmins. This separation of ranks led to many leaving the Vedic societies and religions like Hinduism, and joining Buddhism. This ultimately affected the number of followers in Vedic religion.