Question 4

QUESTIONER: DOES IT MEAN THAT AN ELITE CLASS WILL ALWAYS BE THERE?

An elite group has always been there, and it is going to be forever there. Forms change, but it makes no difference. The elite will always dominate the society. Sometimes it dominates in the form of emperors and kings, sometimes as messiahs and saints, and then as pioneers and leaders. I don't foresee a future when elites will disappear. In fact, so long as a few elites are there amongst us they will continue to be dominant over the rest of the society. The difference is that in the past we called them kings and emperors and now we call them presidents and prime ministers. In the past they came as incarnations and prophets and now they appear as mahatmas and leaders. Names don't matter, but elitism is going to live with us.

As long as human society does not evolve so that everyone attains to the same level of growth in every direction of life, there is no escape from elitism. And I don't think such a development is ever going to happen. And it will be a stupid and lackluster society where everyone is at the same level of growth physically and mentally. It will be terribly boring. A chosen few will always be there. A skilled sitar player will outshine one less skilled than he; there is no way to prevent it. An accomplished dancer will dominate the less accomplished ones. It can't be helped. An Einstein is bound to overshadow all those who cannot even put two and two together. In any given situation someone or other is bound to become elite, predominant.

It is true that from time to time we get bored with the old elites and replace them with new ones. It is just natural. Elites of a particular kind also cease to be relevant in a changing world, and they have to be replaced by another variety. Russia made such a change through a bloody revolution; it liquidated all its old elitist classes. But soon a new class came into being in Russia and it is as dominant as the previous one. The truth is that the new class in Russia is much more domineering than any in the past. And the same story is being repeated in China.

So long as the disparity in intelligence, talent and ability remains between man and man, it is impossible to get rid of domination by the chosen few. And it is also impossible that there will not be those who want to be dominated by them: there will always be people wanting to be dominated by the elites. The elite and non-elite will continue to need each other. That is how the story goes on: one kind of elitism is replaced by another, and because we accept the new one the things of the past seem to be stupid.

In the time of Krishna, coexistence of poverty and richness was acceptable. The poor were content with being poor, and therefore the rich did not feel guilty about their richness. The feeling of guilt can arise only if the poor protest against the existence of the rich. In the absence of such a protest the rich is at ease with his riches; he suffers no qualms of conscience. And for this reason no one thinks of changing the status quo. Now we say there should be equality between rich and poor, but we say so not because we are intellectually ahead of Krishna's time, but because social conditions have undergone a great change.

But even today no one says there should be equality of intelligence: the less intelligent does not demand equality with the more intelligent person. But fifty years from now a slogan like that will be heard, because in fifty years' time science will be able to effectively manipulate man's intelligence. Then every child will say that he is not going to remain stupid, he is as much entitled to have enough intelligence as everyone else. But he cannot say so right now, because the possibility is not yet there.

Now science has penetrated into the genes of man, the basic unit of heredity which carries with it a complete program for man's physical and mental growth from A to z. Science has gone a long way in exploring the possibilities of the gene and already it is on the threshold of a breakthrough. The science of genetics can tell the IQ of a child from the sperm and egg of his parents that go into his making. Not only that, soon genes will be manipulated in a manner that children will be assured of a good standard of physical and mental health and longevity even before they are born. Now you go to the market and buy flower seeds in beautiful packages that carry on their covers pictures of the complete flowers those seeds will produce in your garden. Similarly within fifty years human seeds will be available in packages that picture the children who may be born from those seeds. The packages will furnish detailed information about the form and color, height and health, IQ and longevity of each future child. These things will be guaranteed in a way. These things are now quite possible; they were unthinkable only a few decades ago.