We say it becomes more strongly stratified.

Confucianism was essentially a philosophical justification of government by benevolent bureaucracy under a virtuous ruler. Virtue ensured harmony between man and nature, as well as obedience within a stratified society.

Its citizens were less socially and economically stratified than in many other US states. After World War II, Americans migrated steadily to California, a land of opportunity, great natural beauty, and some of the world s most fertile agricultural land.

Thanks to more than 30 years of breakneck economic growth with little regard for social justice and equality, China has become a stratified society. It is easy to imagine each social group demanding a larger share of national income, which by definition is inflationary.

Indeed, thanks to the scheme, school attendance rates have improved, sometimes by as much as 10 , and dropout rates have declined. And obliging children of different castes to eat the same meal at the same time in the same place has broken down social barriers in a highly stratified society.

A member of a nation cannot learn who or what s he is from the environment, as would an individual in a religious and rigidly stratified social order, in which everyone s position and behavior is defined by birth and divine providence. Modern culture cannot provide us with the consistent guidance that other cultures give to their members.

Just as Lula s 2002 election signified a sea of change in a highly class conscious, socially stratified society, Silva s election would shake up the racial order in a country and indeed continent where racism has not been eradicated. Indeed, in a country that has been proud of its supposedly non racist nature, there has been no Afro Brazilian politician of significant stature for a century.