Does any one else find it slightly problematic to create a narrative which suggests an Empire can be divided into those of Higher and Lower birth without there being any oppression involved or internal antagonism between the two until Foreigner Demons corrupt the Higher? Seems like kind of an odd, troublingly familiar framing of how civilizations divided by caste and class work 
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If I remember correctly Highborne and Lowborne didnāt really get along that well. The only reason Lowborne didnāt act upon it was because of Azshara. Every single person no matter if High or Lowborne utterly loved her so they put up a lot and did everything in their power to please her.
Azshara had such a perfect control over their subjects that there was no need to oppress them so there was no really any danger of a rebellion. Even during WotA most people still couldnāt believe Azshara was behind it all.
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Not in the slightest. If it were anything but that, in a fantastical fantasy world with terrifyingly powerful arcane magic, Iād call it a terribly written.
Literally who cares about āproblematicnessā in fiction?
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it got resolved throughout the Suramar campaignā¦ Do it
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Thatās what I thought as well. That the Lowborne hated the Highborne, because of the way the Highborne treated them. But were so charmed by Azshara, that when the War of the Ancients broke out in earnest, they initially thought sheād been taken captive by the Highborne and demons.
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Well, if you look at caste systems that have existed, the idea that society could be organized differently is kind of alien to those who exist within it. The system is seen as a natural order of things (for whatever reason) that canāt or shouldnāt be broken.
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This is a fantasy universe with fantasy races. I donāt see the problematic element in such an empire. I donāt think thereās meant to be any representative or substantive statement behind that fact.
Not saying fantasy absolves everything, but certainly not relevant if thereās no intent and wildly different aspects to the setting than reality.
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? Maāam we argue about genocide and slavery every day on this forum.
The spectrum of systemic violence is generally a spectrum of:
Caste System - Generational Slavery - Genocide
The systemic and class relations between the Highborne and Lowborne is a valid conversation lol
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Itās this to a T. Itās detailed in the WotA books. There was always strife between the Highborne and everyone else, but the entire population was too enamored with Azshara to ever do anything (magically so; once Illidan got spectral sight he saw how she was using magic to project an aura that made people love her). Right up until near the very end of the war they thought the Highborne were all behind it and Azshara was the damsel in distress being held captive by them. It wasnāt until the final battle in Zin-Azshari that the population at large learned the truth.
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If people are brought up in a culture where caste systems exist, they are taught that such a system is the norm. Unless treatment of lower castes becomes unbearable, someone who has been brought up to think of it as just how the world is will be less likely to question it. They are conditioned to accept it.
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Not really? Thereās this myth that this logic buys into that Black and Indigenous people ālet themselvesā be subjugated in America (the continent), or that it wasnāt questioned by them.
This isnāt the case. The lower castes in this continentās colonial era all were very much aware they were in the inferior position and often āshiftedā their caste if possible (e.g. Indigenous peoples pretending they were Mestizo, Black peoples pretending they were Mulato, read the book Disappearing Mestizo by Rappaport for more info!) or outright rebelled and had insurrections (eg Tupac Amaru or Nat Turner).
The ones who buy into the logic of caste and superiority as ātruthā are the upper castes. But the lower castes did very much question it, they just had no power. The āconditioningā as you put it only serves to break hope, not to actually lead them to believe x o y thing about themselves.
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Youāve come to the wrong conclusion - I am in no way shape or form saying itās pointless/dumb to discuss it. Iām saying itās pointless to state that itās problematic and that it should not exist in the video game.
All of the things you listed are indeed present in the game, and I have at length discussed said themes here. OP is edging towards stating that the conversation shouldnāt exist at all, as it shouldnāt be present in the game (more or less). I strongly disagree.
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I donāt know much about modern North American indigenous affairs, but Syriyna is pretty much on the mark for most cultures. I donāt know of any cultures that have a caste system that explicitly includes their indigenous population (say, for example, Australian Aborigines) and also their colonisers; generally if a caste system is present at all, it was created indigenously.
By uneducated Americans, mind you.
Nah itās in academia too. Most of the literature produced throughout the 20th century was peddling this line.
? What are you talking about? Caste Systems are a legal hierarchy created by a colonial or imperial power over a territory that creates a generational āroleā often on the basis of phenotype (race) or cultural dimensions (ethnicity) or even laboral roles.
The Desi Caste system didnāt just magically appear since the dawn of civilization, nor did the various Islamic Dhimmi system hierarchies throughout Islamic history in everything from Iberia to Sudan to Pakistan to the Balkans. All hierarchies come from an imperial-to-Subaltern relation.
And Australian concepts of half caste are due to a local linguistic variation from the original meaning of caste (akin to Spanish Mestizo/Mulato) and the āskinsā/clans of Australian aboriginal peoples donāt have an inherent hierarchy to them?
It simply isnāt true that āpeople in caste systems donāt question themā.
This is a lie. A terrible, ahistorical, violent lie. One that perpetuates a mountain of racist stereotypes and false histories.
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No cause it happened in real life
Iāll explain more actually, Generally kingdoms or cultures that had caste systems where the lower caste wasnāt opressed generally, had outside forces to combat against, why oppress your own people when you are oppressing others. Rome dipped in and out of this
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There was oppression though. Opulence was given to the Highborne like Azshara whereas Malfurion was born in a forest village on the outskirts.
Thats not oppression
Excess for one small part of society that already rules over everyone is a class and power difference and would be a type of oppression, yes. Because nobody else can achieve that excess or power unless accepted into that caste.
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Not true in the case of the kaldorei, read about ravencrest
`https://wow.gamepedia.com/Kur'talos_Ravencrest#War_of_the_Ancients
House of Ravencrest werenāt Highborne that were accepted into that caste. I literally said that lol
Being accepted by the ruling caste does not make you into that caste, historically speaking. He did not gain power of his own volition separate from the mechanisms of power; they were loyal to Azshara.