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

> >    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.
> 
> Also none of these developed a highly technological civilization, or
> started industrializatin, except for Europe, where capitalism replaced
> merchantilism.

But it *did* develop in Europe.  And there's no visible reason it
couldn't
have done elsewhere, it's just that the Europeans didn't let other
cultures
develop in isolation.  (I'm not saying a caste system is the most
efficient
way to get there, either, I'm just saying it's not beyond the bounds of
plausibility).