Re: The Kra'Vak,and alien cultures in general

> That reminds me of another thing.  I'm not sure about the conjecture
of
> highly stratified alien societies. (i.e. caste system, guild system,
etc.)
> Stratified societies tend to be highly resistant to change and inhibit
> growth.  In economic terms, for example, having warrior, worker and
> religious (hmm... sounds familiar?) castes, where members born into
each
> caste can only work within that caste, would severely limit the labour
> pool available for various professions.  Hard for capitalism,
> enterpreneurship, etc. to develope...  This may in turn severely
limitthe
> rate at which new technology can be introduced into industry and
society.
> Anyone care to comment on this?  Just some ramblings.

   Aztecs had a stratified society which included commoners, warriors,
priests--and merchants.  The merchants got wealthy.  This also happened
in
Europe (and eventually rich merchants bought titles from broke nobles)
and
in Japan; if I recall correctly, the Hindu caste system also had a place
for merchants.	So I'd have to say I don't see why castes would
necessarily
cripple the development of an effective economy.
  As to why there are many caste-based societies in fiction, I suspect
it
is because:
a) most of us are living in a society with relatively great social
mobility--just about anyone who is simply willing to work really hard
can
become wealthy--and consequently a caste-based society seems alien
despite
the fact that there are more societies which have had something like it
than not; and
b) it makes characterization easier.  You can say "Andy and Bob are
Warriors, Charles is a Priest, and Dilbert and Egbert are Peasants", and
you've got a lot quicker picture than explaining that "Andy is a
professional mercenary whose family were all sailors, but he nearly
drowned
when he was eight and decided to live on land, but you couldn't earn a
living on Xilbapa Island without being in boats a great deal, so...."
and
going on and on about the other four as well.  That doesn't mean the
first
way is better than the second, but it is quicker and easier, so a lot of
writers use it.