I think you misinterpreted what I said, GG. I meant that the family, through its direct personal connections and communications, is the primary...the FIRST...influence on how most people in any society turn out. It predates and overshadows all the other influences. That can be good or bad or both...depends on each family and its inner dynamics.

Now, because of that it always has a big effect on governing power structures such as governments and business. What I meant about transparency was this: If a rich family is in control of a corporation or a media outlet....best that the general public know about it, rather than not know about it. That's where the transparency comes in.

I am not arguing against democracy in any way. Family connections play a huge part in a democracy just like they do in any other system. The ultimate example of family running things, of course, was the old hereditary monarchies...or a situation like you have in North Korea right now with what's-his-name, son of the previous dictator.

I agree that humans don't freely form caste systems. They form those systems under the pressure of various beliefs....or because of perceived outer differences like skin color, cultural dress and features, financial status, education levels, etc.

Caste systems are an expression of prejudice. Prejudice is a pretty common thing in most societies.

The old Hindu caste systems, interestingly enough, ended up putting the darkest-skinned and poorest people on the bottom of the social ladder. That is what has always tended to happen just about everywhere. They later made up religious excuses for it, in my opinion, in order to justify what was essentially a decision based on physical characteristics, wealth, privilege, and prestige.

In other words, it was't religion itself that was the original motivator of the prejudice...it was that religion was used as an unholy justification of the already existing prejudice, which was based on the usual competitive stuff: "I'm richer than you, I'm more high class than you, I have lighter skin than you...therefore I'm more beautiful than you, and I'm better educated than you. I have a more important job than you do too. I command more power than you. I'm a boss of people...you're not. Therefore God must love me more than you. Therefore, I think I'll make a religious rule about it too, just so it's 100% official from now on, and then no one will dare question it."

And there you have the story of the Hindu caste system...and similar less obvious caste systems in many places.

You're opposed to that? Well, sure. So am I.