The New American Caste System: Private Planes and Private Email Servers for the Few
By Dr. V.A. Shiva Ayyadurai | July 6, 2016
In 1970, when I was seven years old, my family left India to the United States. We were a “low caste” family and departing India was an attempt to leave the Indian caste system behind.
But what about the American caste system? Is there such a thing? While some of the cruder elements of caste do exist in the United States, this country is certainly much more flexible than India has been. But new markers of caste are emerging in America, often without people recognizing them for what they are.
Consider privacy, for example. As technology advances and other social changes take place, privacy is becoming an exclusive prerogative of the rich just as membership in exclusive clubs has been in the past. Absence of privacy, on the other hand, is becoming the general condition of most people’s lives.
Make no mistake: whatever the average American is doing — whether it’s online or driving down the street – it is fully observable by government or corporate monitoring. Virtually every square inch of public space in our large cities, interior of exterior, is videotaped. Every piece of first class mail is photographed, and every email is visible to the service provider – forever — and also visible to anyone else who has an interest in reading it, whether legally or otherwise.
It’s sometimes been mentioned that the defining characteristic of prison is the total absence of privacy. But in that respect, the difference between prison and everyday life is becoming only a matter of degree. Gated communities, private planes, private schools, private clubs, private banking – these are available to our American Brahmins, and most definitely not available to our millions of lesser breeds.
So it’s hardly a surprise, that Hillary Clinton would feel entitled to a private email server, and let others be damned. It comes with the territory.
Give some thought to the presence (or absence) of privacy in your daily affairs, and see how that correlates with other areas of your life. You’ll notice how privacy is indeed becoming a prized private pleasure of our upper castes. And if that angers you, think twice before writing any emails about it.
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