(DANGER!!! CONSPIRACY THEORY FOLLOWS! AVERT YOUR EYES IF NECESSARY!)
This idea isn't really original, it has been explored in science fiction by Heinlein and others. But now I fear it may be coming true.
Ask yourself WHY the Republicans were so united against stem cell research, I mean government (NIH) and University research. It's not because of the religious right (that is a bonus and convenient cover). I believe it is because the "loose affiliation of millionaires and billionaires" - (thanks to Paul Simon for this concise description) who own the Republicans have a grand vision... a two tiered society with a short-lived underclass and a long lived upper class. I'm not talking science fiction here when I mean a 200 years + upper class and a 50 year + (or less) under class.
Stem cell research is going forward quite nicely by the way, just in private pharm labs all over the world. Don't expect their results to be published in any peer-reviewed journal anytime soon though... no way.
They want to be frickin' Pharaohs like on Star Gate!
Universal health care is a stake to the heart to these bastards. As well as financial regulation, labor laws, safety net, human justice, eradication of poverty etc. The New gods and goddesses (with a small g) are working very hard and spending a lot of money to get people to accept that these aspirations are - in principle - impossible. Creating the framework for the people to accept what miserable lot they have and fight with their peers for scraps and favors from above. It's not a new idea.
The New Powers have a long view and their goal is almost in reach. If they cannot achieve it in their lifetimes they will see to it that the mission is carried forward. This has been the aspiration of all autocratic rulers since time immemorial. They don't consider the bloodthirsty rulers of history immoral, they consider them to be imperfect. There is ample precedent for these views - colonial India and Africa for example - but the sticking point has always been that a villager (Gandhi, Mandela) could outlive, or outsmart an overlord. They hated that.
Until the emergence of medical science the average difference in life expectancy of a king and a peasant might be negligible. Now that difference is significantly greater. What if it was 100 to 200 years? A different world, a different society.
They plan to become Alien Invaders with godlike powers lording it over a planet (yes I said planet) and it's short lived primitive population with an iron fist. They believe that this is the only way to save civilization (as they know it) from the inevitable population dynamics of species depopulation or extinction.
Sadly, because they are in control, they control the destiny of the planet and our species. I'm not very optimistic of their plans' chances for success and I wouldn't want to live in the future they are working toward anyway.
We can only hope that this new generation of overlords being groomed for oppression realizes that thermonuclear war could be a serious buzz kill to their plans and that they (seriously dude) do something about that. The human species can survive almost any catastrophe except for global thermonuclear war or a massive asteroid strike
Call me a romantic, but my vision is that humans survive this horrible impending dark age and some day go to the stars.
(CONSPIRACY THEORY END)