Commentary What have the caste systems of distant places like China and India got to do with the United States? Absolutely everything. In a previous article, I discussed the effects of hukou, China’s brutal caste system. The Chinese method of social stratification rewards only a select few; hundreds of millions of citizens, mainly those from rural towns and villages, find themselves ostracized. India, another country synonymous with social stratification, divides its 1.4 billion people into rigid hierarchical groups. Using two key metrics, karma (roughly translated as “action”) and dharma (roughly translated as “morality”), the Indian caste system assigns people a rung on a socially-constructed ladder. Today, more than 200 million Indians find themselves on the bottom rung. Social mobility is not an option. Referred to as the “untouchables,” these people are regularly denied access to basic necessities, including education and healthcare. For the “untouchables,” mocked and mistreated, life is truly …