Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)

by Pierce Brown

“All men are not created equal,” he declares. Tall, imperious, an eagle of a man. “The weak have deceived you. They would say the meek should inherit the Earth. That the strong should nurture the gentle. This is the Noble Lie of Demokracy. The cancer that poisoned mankind.” His eyes pierce the gathered students. “You and I are Gold. We are the end of the evolutionary line. We tower above the flesh heap of man, shepherding the lesser Colors.

But he’s thick and terribly old, maybe in his forties.

Shows hown young they die. Also explains the young marriages

He tells of the Goldens’ suffering. The Masses sat on the wagon and expected the great to pull, he reminds. They sat whipping the great until we could no longer take it.

Sounds familiar. "why should we pay for the poor from our excess " "Why blame the rich? when they can work"