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To right historical wrongs is not easy. I initially thought of the reservation system as a terrible idea because of exactly the reasons you stated. These polic

by pm90 6y ago

To right historical wrongs is not easy. I initially thought of the reservation system as a terrible idea because of exactly the reasons you stated. These policies are meant to help society in aggregates so there will always be folks who get screwed. Its important to keep trying though. While slavery in the US is perhaps 300 years old, the caste system has been seemingly around since the beginning of civilization on the Indian subcontinent...that's an unimaginable amount of time over which certain sections of society were systematically discriminated against.

sharadov 6y ago
It was meant as repatriation of resources back to the downtrodden, as all well meaning ideas start off.... True, am not against that, but without checks and balances, as as happened in India, it ends up creating another set of problems ( poor Brahmins now complain of lack of opportunities). The caste system was not as rigid before, it was more a system around professions ( Brahmins - intellectual class, the Kshatriyas - warriors, Vyshya - Merchants), until someone at the top decided it did not have to be based on that anymore.
- mavelikara 6y ago
  pm90> These policies are meant to help society in aggregates so there will always be folks who get screwed. Its important to keep trying though. sharadov> True, am not against that, but without checks and balances, as as happened in India, it ends up creating another set of problems (poor Brahmins now complain of lack of opportunities). Reservation policy should not be confused with financial assistance. The government does have financial assistance in many forms, which is available to everyone needy - brahmins included. Reservation policy is for correcting imbalances in the aggregate, such as the one pointed out by a sibling comment: esalman> What is more unfair? One 25,000-ranked dalit student getting favored over a 5,000 -ranked brahmin, or the fact that 25% of IIT students do not represent dalits even though they represent 25% of the whole population? Poor brahmins, in your example, complain because small dents in institutionalized privileges one enjoys is indistinguishable from oppression.

by pm90 6y ago

sharadov 6y ago

It was meant as repatriation of resources back to the downtrodden, as all well meaning ideas start off.... True, am not against that, but without checks and balances, as as happened in India, it ends up creating another set of problems ( poor Brahmins now complain of lack of opportunities). The caste system was not as rigid before, it was more a system around professions ( Brahmins - intellectual class, the Kshatriyas - warriors, Vyshya - Merchants), until someone at the top decided it did not have to be based on that anymore.

mavelikara 6y ago
pm90> These policies are meant to help society in aggregates so there will always be folks who get screwed. Its important to keep trying though. sharadov> True, am not against that, but without checks and balances, as as happened in India, it ends up creating another set of problems (poor Brahmins now complain of lack of opportunities). Reservation policy should not be confused with financial assistance. The government does have financial assistance in many forms, which is available to everyone needy - brahmins included. Reservation policy is for correcting imbalances in the aggregate, such as the one pointed out by a sibling comment: esalman> What is more unfair? One 25,000-ranked dalit student getting favored over a 5,000 -ranked brahmin, or the fact that 25% of IIT students do not represent dalits even though they represent 25% of the whole population? Poor brahmins, in your example, complain because small dents in institutionalized privileges one enjoys is indistinguishable from oppression.