I was getting tired. There were a few things I wanted to know before we went to sleep. I could not imagine people would leave their families behind. “What about your families?”, I asked. “Where are they? What happens to them?”
“Our families members who are not members of the club, believe we are dead. The rejuvenation treatment is a secret that we must keep, even from our immediate families, friends, and servants. No one must know about the treatments unless they have proven themselves, join our club, and are sworn to secrecy.”
This led me to wonder more about their children. He had mentioned breeding a few times. He’d also talked about breeding in past discussions, but I had not noticed it’s importance until now.
“So, do your children join your club?”, I asked.
“The are not automatic members, but they may be invited to join if they can create their own accomplishments. Even with superior breeding being a big part of our tradition, some of our children don’t use or develop their position. We cannot automatically accept all of our children into the club. Too many of our children in the past have rejected our beliefs and practices. There is a danger that a disgruntled descendant would try to expose us.”
“However”, he continued, “We do have multiple generations of some families here. Our children are taught about our history and superiority, both in breeding and intellect. They are taught to live up to our expectations. They also know that what they do with their gifts, are their own responsibility. We encourage them to accept our culture and make their own mark on the world, but they make their own choices. As everyone does.”
I imagined them throwing their kids into a pit of dogs to test their survival skills. “Does that explain the superiority complex.”, I drunkenly teased.
“Well, we are superior. It is not a fantasy.”, he said, like it was a fact which everyone knew. “All of us have either been bred for centuries in elite families, or worked our way up, through our actions and self interest. We are superior to other people in the world, both through breeding and accomplishments. Our economic system ensures that the best rise to the top, and gain power and advantages along the way. People without superior genetics cannot achieve what we achieve. They would squander it all by sharing their wealth with others who don’t deserve it.”
He went on about the superiority of the rich for some time, all the while blaming poor people for their inability to measure up. By this point, I could not believe what I was hearing, in the sense that, he really believed in the biological superiority of rich people. It was like the science and understanding of the last hundred years was idly dismissed as a delusional fancy of the poor. I thought social Darwinism had gone away long ago. Apparently it’s been alive and well all this time. They teach it to their children. Of course they are going to resent people who are poor. To him and his people, colonization, slavery, are all justified and normal. Just a way to do business.
I was becoming angry, but I also felt very scared and did not want to continue on with the conversation. Still, a part of me had to know more. I did not know if he would continue talking about these things later. I began seeing him as a dangerous person. I may have put myself in a bad situation. If I ever had a choice. I am not sure about that either.
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