Over the years, and on more than one occasion, I have found myself joining in on conversations where the despised and lingering Caste System is being considered, and usually admonished, when I probably should have kept my mouth shut. I simply don't know enough about it.

Based on what little I do know, this construct of a social hierarchy is still in place in many parts of the world, such as India, and it is when your birthright determines which caste of society you are in. Thusly, the opportunities and mobility afforded to you might be severely limited. We had such a conversation in Egypt with our tour guide, and when things got a little too political, I thought I'd change the subject and introduce a more fun and innocuous travel game.

"If you could go anywhere in the world right now, where would it be?"

"Are all destinations on the table, or just places we could actually go?" our tour guide asked.

This shows you how naive I was at the time, because I immediately assumed she was wanting to include outer space. "Sure! Everything's on the table. Why? Are you wanting to go to Mars or something?"

"Not all of us won the lottery by being born in America, Dumbass. Much of the world is not open to us the way it is to you. Our passport doesn't get us as far, or into as many places. No matter how much money I saved up, there are many places I simply could not ever go." I added the "dumbass" part, but I'm sure she was thinking it. I was certainly feeling it.

Up until now, I had always assumed that the only barrier to travel for many of the people I meet around the world was their lack of money. It never occurred to me that so many countries would be off limits to them, or that their own government might perfunctorily deny them the permission to travel before it ever even got that far. This was all explained to me, for the first time, and I started realizing how little I had even thought about any of this. You talk about ignorantly oozing white privilege -- what a callused, entitled car game to initiate when in the company of your guides and drivers, who have completely different life rules imposed upon them. Maybe next I can challenge a bunch of people in leg casts and crutches to race me.

So to recap: Just because of where I was born, in America, I have the mobility to go further in this world, and am afforded more opportunities when I do? This sounds a lot like the Caste System to me, just on a global scale. It is true, with an American passport, we are able to traipse around the entire planet like tourism royalty, going wherever we want, doing whatever we want.

Have I mentioned my ever-present confusion about why the rest of the world doesn't just MURDER ME in my sleep? Indigenous peoples around the globe will claim to love Americans, but I think they more tolerhate us. Yes, you heard me, I just mashed up the words tolerate and hate.

I know I would hate us too if I constantly had to kowtow to people who quite clearly had a birthright and special advantages that they weren't even aware of. Perhaps it turns out, that as an American, maybe I am unwittingly winning a race against hobbled people on crutches, their legs are just shackled by a different sort of Caste.

If you're ready to further contemplate homelessness and poverty with me on a local level, join me right HERE in Dallas, Texas.