Chapter 1
Ternary Societies: Trifunctional Inequality
Very powerful idea that large organised societies have always had the three divisions of clergy, military and commoner.
The proportion of population in the two dominating classes have been at times as low as 2%. In India, before the British, it was roughly 10% but if all the higher castes are included, rises to 20%. Spain had 11%.
It is amazing that this small minority dominated the vast majority. Birth, death, education, defence and policing were handled by the dominating ones. The inequality theory they proposed provided much needed security and meaning to the rest of the society. There was intermixing and the dominance had variation widely. In Catholicism the clergy couldn't reproduce so their ranks had to be filled from the other classes.
Each was convinced of their essential nature for the functioning of the society just like organs of the body. Manusmriti had them as head, arms and legs. The separator myths like Normans vs Saxons, Aryans vs Dravidians were created to justify the inequality. In Iran, the clergy has gone on to control the modern state as well.
Case studies for Part 1 will be France, contrasted with Britain and Sweden, India, contrasted with China and Japan and finally Iran.
The French revolution on Aug 4, 1789 clearly broke the Ancient Regime and substituted it with what became the ownership society. In the 20th century, ownership society underwent changes leading to the neo-proprietarian and post colonial societies.
Ternary Societies: Trifunctional Inequality
Very powerful idea that large organised societies have always had the three divisions of clergy, military and commoner.
The proportion of population in the two dominating classes have been at times as low as 2%. In India, before the British, it was roughly 10% but if all the higher castes are included, rises to 20%. Spain had 11%.
It is amazing that this small minority dominated the vast majority. Birth, death, education, defence and policing were handled by the dominating ones. The inequality theory they proposed provided much needed security and meaning to the rest of the society. There was intermixing and the dominance had variation widely. In Catholicism the clergy couldn't reproduce so their ranks had to be filled from the other classes.
Each was convinced of their essential nature for the functioning of the society just like organs of the body. Manusmriti had them as head, arms and legs. The separator myths like Normans vs Saxons, Aryans vs Dravidians were created to justify the inequality. In Iran, the clergy has gone on to control the modern state as well.
Case studies for Part 1 will be France, contrasted with Britain and Sweden, India, contrasted with China and Japan and finally Iran.
The French revolution on Aug 4, 1789 clearly broke the Ancient Regime and substituted it with what became the ownership society. In the 20th century, ownership society underwent changes leading to the neo-proprietarian and post colonial societies.
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