We just finished an interesting discussion on the future of genetic enhancements. In the future we might be able to custom build babies and thereby create a new super race of human beings, leaving the poorer/unenhanced behind. We are reminded of the history of dominant cultures wiping out those they considered inferior, as in colonialism or Nazism or ethnic cleansings. At one time, royalty only married among others of their class with the idea that other races/classes were inferior and that their gene pool would be tainted by the lower class.

This may not actually happen in the future. We are constantly moving toward a more pluralistic and tolerant culture, at least in the US and other developed places. More connectivity across the world will continue that trend. At the same time the wealth gap is increasing significantly and the middle/working class has less buying power now than they did before. We may be moving toward a much more divided world of haves and have-nots, and those with money will be the ones who have access to technology.

What if the gap between the haves and have-nots became wide enough that the have-nots got mad enough to do something about it? What if we had a rebellion of the unmodified? Will the enhanced be so powerful that they convince the underclass that they are content where they are? Some people think this happens today. The new eugenics could be used to keep the have-nots contained, or even engineer them to be docile and subservient, like sheep. What is the Marxism of the 21st century? Is it an anti-technology, anti-genetic enhancement movement? Old fashioned war? Or will the have-nots appropriate technology to serve different ends? Would they somehow turn the technology against those who use it?

Does the gap between the haves and have-nots increase the potential for eugenics?