Casteism in India: Is it the Scourge of Hinduism or the Perversion of a Legitimate Vedic System Known as Varnashrama

Casteism in India has gotten a lot of criticism, and rightly so. Many look at it as a means for the upper castes to live a privileged life while keeping all lower castes oppressed without the means for upgrading themselves. Present day casteism is based on the idea that whatever caste your father was, that will also be the caste of the sons and daughters, without any means to change it. But this is not what is actually prescribed in the Vedic or Hindu texts of old. This is what must be unde...