The Caste of the Forgotten

Much is made of the caste system that has existed in India for hundreds of years and the way this very visible form of social stratification goes against the ideals of the “West.” Yet, as is shown in a very saddening and poignant column by Joe Fiorito in today’s Toronto Star, a less visible, yet extremely distressing social schism exists in cities around the world, including Toronto.

The case shown by Fiorito is that of a 62 year old named George who recently died in his socially supported apartment in January. I will not recount the squalid conditions her was living in, but instead I would like to look at a few of the details in the article that stand out to me.

For a whole week after he died he lay on his bed until the smell coming from his room alerted people to the fact something might be amiss. A week. Think for a moment how lonely this man must have been. Think of all the people you would interact with in a week, then think of this man who went a whole week without anyone coming to see him; without anyone wondering where he was. Fiorito says of the apartment: “It was not the smell of death. It was the smell of years of dying.” In many ways George was already dead to the world. He was ignored, cast aside and left to fend for himself, something he was clearly not capable of doing.

How many other people like this are there? How many times have you passed someone on the street who might’ve been someone like George, or even George himself?

This is clearly not an isolated case. There are tens of thousands of people like George. But why is it that those who are least capable of fending for themselves that are often left to do just that? Unfortunately there is only one answer to that question, and it is one not many of us would want to admit. We believe we are more important; that somehow our lives mean more than those who suffer from alcoholism, metal illness or problems known only to themselves.

In the caste system in India, people are organized into social groups by birth and have no opportunity to move up except through reincarnation. It does not matter how talented one is, they are stuck in their caste. Unfair? Yes, but by whose standards?

In the Western world we do not believe in holding people back but in so called virtues such as “free will” and “equality.” Yet there is a very fine line between opportunity and a Darwinian “survival of the fittest” type of society. Do not get me wrong. I am not advocating the Indian caste system, but instead trying to clarify that while the most able of us reach for the stars, we unconsciously step on the dreams of others and often leave them in our dust. So should we forget about our dreams to take care of the weak? I believe it is possible to both dream and take care of those around us, and the beginning is awareness.

As is seen in the case of George, he was left behind in the caste of the forgotten. There were people that could have helped him but, through weaknesses of their own, they did not.

The word society implies things like community and helping others. There are always those that need help and do not get it. Maybe they do not want it or maybe they cannot find it. Like the case of George, thousands of people like this isolate themselves from everyone around them, and according to many, deserve their fate. How often have you heard or even said the words “There’s only so much you can do.”

But why should there be any limit to what we can do? We, as a society, pride ourselves on reaching for the stars and being the best we can be; why should that stop when it concerns helping others, one of the most integral parts of our existence?

Or is it only important to do our best when there is something in it for us?

Will Grassby