Would generation ships encourage a caste system?

The Setting

Imagine a generation ship of 10-20 generations (200-400 year trip). The generation ship is divided into living crew and frozen eggs.

Upon reaching the destination & for genetic diversity, the crew must begin gestating these eggs and producing colonists.

Meanwhile the crew will continue to produce some of their own children.

The Conflict

People tend to treat their biological children better than adopted children on this ship (not sure if that also applies to in vitro fertilization [IVF]).

From the crew's perspective they and their ancestors did all the "hard work". They and their society successfully completed this multigeneration voyage and risked extinction as they hacked a life out of their new world.

They may wish to ensure their successful society runs things at the new colony.

Since colonists were raised from birth at the colony, other than possible education, there's no real way for them to know that their society could run along any different lines.

The Question

Would this encourage a caste system (ala Larry Niven's A Gift from Earth) in which the crew set themselves up as the "nobility" of the new colony?

Bonus points for answering the following:

1. Would/could such a stratification be beneficial?
2. How long might such a situation persist?

posted almost 9 years ago

Jim2B‭

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