Bali & Society

After reading the article about the Social System of Bali, I have some thoughts. One thing that makes more sense now is the relationship or perhaps rather the reverence Rama's people had for him and his father as royalty. It seemed a bit contrived for the kingdom's people to be so concerned for the king's and Rama's welfare. They were TOO devoted in my opinion to the point it seemed ridiculously unrealistic. However, it seems that tying oneself to a liege lord or prince is one of the three essential social bonds for the Balinese, and that they truly "love their lords." Perhaps it was a more factual representation of the feelings people had for their ruler that I had previously thought. Of course, this would be the case as long as the ruler fulfilled their responsibility to the people (and took care of them).

As well, I further realized how Western and Balinese societies are incredibly different. This is probably due to a fundamental difference in where our identity comes from. For the most part, Westerners believe that one's identity is relatively innate, that you are born with a personality, and interests, and that usually only incredible shocks or tragedies will fundamentally change you. However, in Bali, your identity is given to you by your society, where what your environment requires of you is what you will ultimately embrace and determines who you are. This is evident by your caste, which cannot be changed (for the most part) and the expectation that an individual embraces their caste's role. Because of this difference in ideology I (predictably) find the caste system to be oppressive. I feel that the humans must be free to realize who they are, or even just change who they are and should be able to pursue interests, relationships, and careers freely, regardless of caste or even gender. Just the opportunity, which would not necessitate a complete paradigm shift, would be enough to satisfy my expectation of freedom.

Of course, if this sort of social system was fully embrace by the people, and that anomalies did not arise (such as, a person who aspired for a function not appropriated to their caste), then this would work just as well or better than any other social system. If the people embraced their responsibilities, understood the necessity and appreciated the work done by the other castes, and women understood and enjoyed their role and men theirs and they both appreciated the work done by the other, then this system would work very well. However, I don't know that this happens. Your identity is not dependent on you or your actions, where, typically, in Western societies, your identity, and especially your worth, is determined by your actions and merit.

However, I do like the closeness of the community. I do believe in community accountability, however as societies value individualism more and more, the community becomes less and less important. Bali communities seem to have a healthy system of education, responsibility, and looks after the enrichment of the people, by providing services for children, for their neighbors, and for those in need. In this respect, it's very wonderful! However, it is very adverse to change. Some may argue that there is no need for change, and some respects this may be true, but it is in my opinion that different times calls for a different way of doing things. Especially in respect to advances in technology and realizing (valid) social equality.

Okay, well, I think that is all for now. This is a personal opinion based on my own preferences for a society.