The Modern Caste System

Capitalism is very different from a caste system.  Some do earn a lot of money, but there are not distinct classes of people.  Money in capitalism means you were satisfying the wants of the consumers.  They will not earn a lot of money otherwise, or are not serving the needs of their fellow man.  You must convince the consumers to hand over their money.  People who make a lot of money can be replaced by those who make better products. 

Entrepreneurs and capitalist get their wealth from the consumers who spend money in their businesses.  There are not entrepreneurs and capitalist in a pure caste system.  There are people with more wealth, but this isn’t due to capitalism.  This is due to the family’s connection with the ruling class.  Your situation in life is fixed.  There were exceptions—like Beethoven—but this was not the norm. The rich and poor are not two separate classes under capitalism.

We go back to the caste system as support for it increases.  However, this is a modern version.  The ruled are not enemies.  There is a wedge driven between them by the political class.   They can’t work together if the political class can create enough groups.  They can get a large voting block If the political leaders can create enough envy amongst the classes.  The masses are not forming the classes.  These half-baked ideas come from above.

Privileges are not abolished under the current system.  These privileges used to go to a fixed ruling class, but now they go to an interchangeable group.  Not much has changed. The political class is above the law.  We have a modern caste system where few have privileges and many do not.  The masses are below the law.  Everybody is under the same law in capitalism.  Every person is subject to natural law.

The political class creates envy.  It’s collective envy.  The opposing party can’t unite to form a block against them.  It’s simply a means of separating the masses.  It has come to the point where different groups favor different parasites.  The various created classes could form an alliance against those that are above the law, those that live off others.  Rather than directing envy towards one another, it should be directed against society’s parasites.

References

Ludwig von Mises; The Anti-Capitalist Mentality

Gonzalo Fernández de la Mora; Egalitarian Envy