Eugenics
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The word was thought of recently but the practice has been done since ancient times. Plato wrote about it in works, but the example that is most widely known is the Spartans. In Spartan society when a child is born it was brought before a council which would decide if the child was weak or deformed, and therefore undeserving of life. In this way Eugenics is not inherently racist, but rather ableist because it promotes the idea that the physically or mental deformed deserve to die. Plato also wrote about how he would make a mating lottery which the public would believe is random, but in reality he would use it to pair those he deemed genetically superior together so they could make strong children. He does admit that people who he deemed to have "Golden Souls" could still produce "Bronze Soul" children so its not the greatest idea.
About racism in ancient times, Romans and ancient Egyptians hated Jews and they tried to kill them all on multiple occasions.
Japan Has a long history of Eugenics. During the Edo period there was a practice known as "Mabiki" which a farming term where you kill certain plants so they don't crowd together, thus giving the remaining plants enough space and nutrients to grow and prosper. This idea came because back then people believe that children had their souls in
between the living and the reincarnation worlds and thus when a child dies it would not be sad because he was not fully human yet. Sometimes when the child born was deformed the woman helping deliver the baby would kill it and claim it was stillborn.
Eugenics has been practices in many countries during the 20th century. Prominent countries that had eugenics programs would be, The USA, Germany, Belgium, The UK, Japan, and Sweden. Some European nation allow: with the consent of the parents, the termination of a deformed infant. A big case that happened in The US was the Bollinger baby incident: where a child was born deformed and with the consent of the parents was terminated in the hospital. The nation was divided on the subject, but a surprising proponent of the killing of the baby was actually Helen Keller. She wrote in the newspaper a quote that I will put at the bottom because it looks better like that.
The caste system: which is illegal in India but still practiced widely, is also a form of eugenics. I personally met a Indian kid who claimed to be of the warrior class of India which was supposedly why he was fair skinned. In India being of a lighter skin tone is a good thing and meant you were of a pure racial makeup. There are some white Indians in the world because of how those people would only marry other light skinned people.
As a part of Eugenics there was a program in which there was forced sterilization of individuals with hereditary deformities. The Catholic Church was a opponent to these practices, but was fine with isolated these people from society so they do not have any children. I guess the Pope is no longer infallible.
So the question is, if eugenics is immoral. I think eugenics as an idea is nice, but in practice it would be bad because people should have free choice. Some ants have worker ants and warrior ants which is cool, but looking at the caste system in India: which I believe is the longest lasting form of eugenics, it doesn't really work. People will naturally try to have stronger and better children just as a form of evolution and nature of living things, but when people try to control nature then it doesn't end well. In conclusion, I am against eugenics.
"this weeding of the human garden that shows a sincere love of true life."
-Helen Keller
Recently a long report about how eugenics was used in Japan's recent history was published. It made many people angry because it was revealed how common eugenics practices were in Japan, especially from 1948 to the end of the last century. The report mentioned that 16,500 people were operated on without consent, and even children were forcibly sterilised. See this article in the Guardian:
ReplyDeleteAnger in Japan as report reveals children were forcibly sterilised (https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/jun/22/anger-in-japan-as-report-reveals-children-were-forcibly-sterilised)
I read this post about eugenics carefully. In my personal opinion, I believe that there are some aspects of human nature in which we are attracted to highly capable individuals and look down on weaker ones due to our instincts. However, I feel that this is just a primitive instinct and that it is wiser to have empathy and respect for all people who are different from us because we as humans have a higher intelligence than other animals.
ReplyDeleteThis is a highly controversial topic, in my opinion, because it raises ethical concerns about who gets to judge what characteristics are "good" or "bad," and it can lead to discrimination and unfair treatment of certain groups of people. Despite the fact that it is an emotive topic, I like how you arranged the content to provide a balanced viewpoint. I really liked how you included historical backgrounds as well as diverse countries' histories with "Eugenics." I had never heard of this phrase before, therefore it was quite interesting and educational for me. It was pretty easy to understand. I am looking forward to more of your blog posts.
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