Depends what we mean by Caste. Casta is a Spanish/Portuguese word and so refers mostly to the racially hierarchy scheme (Mullato, Zambo, Pardo etc) they have in Brazil and South/Central America.
Caste in India lumps three completely different things together. One is Varna (from where the West attacks us that Caste is sanctioned by Hinduism) but you addressed it very well in your post (I personally have done/am all 4 of them)
Second is our (Jathi) tribe or ethnicity which BTW is common from Europe, to middle east to all of Asia. Infact in most parts of the world people have arranged marriages within their tribe.
Third aspect is the bad part which is the serfdom. Ofcourse serfdom was common througout all pre-industrial societies. Infact Serfdom was found in Europe well into the 20th century until all the countries industrialized. Japan had serfs, Burakamin - Untouchable castes also (Interestingly 3 million Burakamin still exist in Japan where they still face discrimination).
Some of the worst parts of the world had slavery which is even worse than caste/serf style oppression. China's last slaves for example were not liberated till early 1960's. Saudi Arabia didn't ban slavery until 1964 I believe (unofficially slavery continues in the middle east).
So, the only real bad part about the so called "caste" system is the pre-industrial labor exploitation aspect which naturally disappears with Industrial growth. I would be shocked if it even exists at all in 30 years. Every year with urbanization and industrialization it's dropping phenomenally.
Caste in India lumps three completely different things together. One is Varna (from where the West attacks us that Caste is sanctioned by Hinduism) but you addressed it very well in your post (I personally have done/am all 4 of them)
Second is our (Jathi) tribe or ethnicity which BTW is common from Europe, to middle east to all of Asia. Infact in most parts of the world people have arranged marriages within their tribe.
Third aspect is the bad part which is the serfdom. Ofcourse serfdom was common througout all pre-industrial societies. Infact Serfdom was found in Europe well into the 20th century until all the countries industrialized. Japan had serfs, Burakamin - Untouchable castes also (Interestingly 3 million Burakamin still exist in Japan where they still face discrimination).
Some of the worst parts of the world had slavery which is even worse than caste/serf style oppression. China's last slaves for example were not liberated till early 1960's. Saudi Arabia didn't ban slavery until 1964 I believe (unofficially slavery continues in the middle east).
So, the only real bad part about the so called "caste" system is the pre-industrial labor exploitation aspect which naturally disappears with Industrial growth. I would be shocked if it even exists at all in 30 years. Every year with urbanization and industrialization it's dropping phenomenally.