Why would attributes of the mind somehow be impossible to similarly enhance?
Anyway, it seems like you're main concerns are ineffective and costly methods that don't address the root problem. So, why not propose a new method or invent a tool? Bringing light to the issue helps a little, but at a certain point it is better to do what we're good at - inventing things to make us more effective.
I don't know about you, but personally, I'm exhausted from always being the smartest person in the room. I would love it if someone invented a mental shovel, because there's too much work to do and not enough people to do it.
Do you have actual economic policies that will result in better outcomes for the poor?
2: Ending wasteful or very low value-add spending vis-a-vis "better outcomes for the poor" is useful regardless. Whatever your priorities, we can allocate those resources better.
3: Just because the economic and social woes of the poor are tough problems that admit of no easy solutions does not mean that we cannot speak frankly about the nature of the problem. Yes, the issues are substantially genetic and, to lesser degree, cultural. Today people with sub-par cognitive skills (not to mention other issues) have limited market value, which leads to unemployment and lower incomes, which further encourages social breakdown (above and beyond that which we'd otherwise find), which leads to other problems. Deluding ourselves about the nature of the problem isn't going to get us any closer to helping the poor.
Got it.
In my view, we spend a tremendous amount of money on schools (over-funding -> fancy facilities, labs, etc), pre-K, enrichment programs and the like that have approximately no effect on predictors of future success, some direct evidence suggests does nothing for income/employment, etc. I'm not fully on board with the progressive agenda (basically center right), but I'm not totally heartless either. I'd rather see that money spent on direct transfers to families. I don't believe the issues faced by lower income are purely economic though. Redistributing money will generally accomplish less (not nothing) than people think in terms of the things that are associated with poverty/low income (health, behaviors, etc). The issues are in part moral and spiritual; lack of purpose through lack of steady work, family connection, etc is an issue in some parts of the country and more money won't do much to solve them (may actually make them worse in some dimensions, especially if it encourages less work->drugs etc). We may find that we accomplish more good by keeping people engaged with some kind of work and community activity (which is why I'm opposed to minimum wage and would rather see EITC expanded).....
I also think we need to think carefully and honestly about immigration policy. Bringing in genuinely low-skill labor by the millions is not a formula for long term economic or social success. Though many of these immigrants are decent hard working people that stay employed and see large increases versus what they would have had in their home countries, their children and grandchildren tend to look and act more like equivalently skilled multi-generational citizens (similar problems in multiple dimensions).
Maybe in 10-20 years genetic engineering people for intelligence and related characteristics will be feasible, probably a few more for it to become cheap and acceptable in the developed world, but I'm not quite prepared to bet the farm on that today. If it does, however the implications for the world will be staggering though (especially in the developing world..... so many problems are ultimately a result of issues here)