Caste Hierarchy, False-equivalence Argument, and Mount Everest

When a hill so-called high caste Hindu counters a member of another caste describing the challenges in their lives because of the caste they are born into by saying that they too struggle and have had to work hard to get as far as they have gotten in life, they are basically making a false-equivalence argument. What is a false-equivalence argument anyway? I go into the details by using an analogy -- that of climbing Mount Everest.

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USA: A Rigged System For The Benefit of The Rich?

November 8, 2012: it had just been two days since the re-election of President Obama in the US. That day, I shared, on Facebook, how who is in the White House doesn't make a real difference to the US and the world. I argued that regardless of who is in that House in Washington DC, because the systems in place are completely rigged and those who control, run, and enforce them are corrupt, a significant percentage of the American and world population will continue to suffer.

Here's a reproduction of that Facebook post and the interesting discussion I had underneath it with friends, interesting especially now since the election of Trump to the same office!

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Unleashing Nepal: The History of Rent-seeking Mentality

This section from Unleashing Nepal describes how the Birta and Jagir systems implemented by Prithvi Narayan Shah created cultural practices and values and shaped some of the attitudes of the upper caste males of the Brahmin, Chhettri and some Newar castes, which, still prevalent in one form or another, has been and continues to also be an impediment to social, economic and political progress. (Another consequence of the systems were to impoverish and marginalize the indigenous population of the country.)

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