Causes for Concern

This second period of Eugenics has the potential to be far more harmful to mankind than the first and although much can be written about this, I will outline only some of the dangers of this new and 'improved' Eugenics.

• The Blurry Line Between Fixing and Improving - Cosmetic Pharmacology and the Likes

• The Return of Eugenics

• Altering Human Nature and 'The Point of No Return'

The Blurry Line Between Fixing and Improving - Cosmetic Pharmacology and the Likes

Even today, without the biotechnological advancements of genetic specific drugs, psychotropic drugs such as Prozac and Ritalin can offer us some indication of what may lie ahead.

Prozac is an antidepressant that has garnered much fame and support in many circles. It blocks the reabsorption of serotonin by the nerve synapses and effectively increases the levels of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin is an important neurotransmitter and low levels are associated, in both humans and other primates, with poor impulse control and uncontrolled aggression against inappropriate targets, and in humans with depression, aggression, and suicide.

Today, Prozac and its relatives have been taken by approximately 28 million Americans, 10 percent of the entire population.

However, some studies have indicated that Prozac is not as effective as claimed and a number of books have argued that Prozac has a host of side-effects that its manufacturer has tried to cover up such as weight gain, tics, memory loss, sexual dysfunction, suicide, violence, and brain damage.

Although these may turn out to be true and the drug discontinued, the acceptance of the drug as safe and useable may lead to some interesting, somewhat disturbing consequences for Prozac is said to affect that most central of political emotions, the feeling of self-worth, or self-esteem.

As Socrates argued, in Plato’s Republic, there is a distinct part of humans that has an intersubjective demand for recognition by another human being of one’s “worth” or “dignity.” Economist Robert Frank refers to this in relation to economic interest in saying that it is a demand for status recognition that leads people to buy goods best referred to as positional goods. This demand for status recognition has also been demonstrated in political history, from rival princes who engage in battle, neither of whom needs the land or money, to more recent developments as the independence of Ukraine and Slovakia. (Fukuyama, 44-45)

Understanding that there are clearly millions of people in the world who suffer from depression and whose feelings of self-worth fall far below what they should be, and for them, Prozac is a “godsend,” Fukuyama asserts, “The normal, and morally acceptable way of overcoming low self-esteem was to struggle with oneself and with others, to work hard, to endure sometimes painful sacrifices, and finally to rise and be seen as having done so. The problem with self-esteem as it is understood in American pop psychology is that it becomes an entitlement, something everyone needs to have whether it is deserved or not. This devalues self-esteem and makes the quest for it self-defeating.” (Fukuyama, p 46)

The problem arises when self-esteem, in a sense, now comes in a bottle, and because low levels of serotonin do not demarcate a clear pathological condition, the door is open to “cosmetic pharmacology: that is, the taking of a drug not for its therapeutic value but simply because it makes one feel better than good. If a sense of self-esteem is so crucial to human happiness, who wouldn’t want more of it?” (Fukuyama, p. 46)

Similarly, with Ritalin, a stimulant created to help “treat” ADHD. In large doses, it is very similar to cocaine and so its use is somewhat restricted. However, during the 1990’s, Ritalin became one of the fastest-growing drugs used in high schools and on college campuses, as students discovered it helped them study for exams and pay better attention during class. The drug is also widely abused by people who are not diagnosed with ADHD. Elizabeth Wurtzel of Prozac fame describes chopping up and snorting forty Ritalin pills a day, which led to emergency room visits and detoxification therapy, at which she met mothers who stole their children’s pills for their own use.” (Fukuyama, p. 48)

It is not hard to see how Bill McKibben, author of “Enough: Staying Human in an Engineered Age” would be concerned about the use of genetic technology to improve rather than fix. If scientists were to discover how to manipulate intelligence, it probably will not be presented as manipulation, but fixing. How would we determine what normal intelligence is and where the line is to be drawn?

The Return of Eugenics

Embryonic Research for the medical purposes or human cloning has caused much debate in recent years.

What happens when we continually treat human life in a utilitarian way?

When are Rights accorded to a human life? – Is this decision based on ability or superficial traits?

If we assert that the lack of these traits mean a lack of humanity or a lack of worth, what are we simultaneously asserting about people who currently live with disorders that lack these abilities or traits?

If genetic engineering were to be legalized, who would have access to this technology?

Would some kind of Superhuman class be inadvertently created by the market and the already-existing disparities in wage and wealth distributions along lines of race, class, or gender?

Would there be a need for a genetic welfare democracy?

Altering Human Nature and 'The Point of No Return'

"Happy Slaves with a slavish happiness?" - Aldous Huxley, Brave New World

Eugenics | Eugenics and Family | People of Tomorrow | The Biotechnological Revolution | The Return of Eugenics | Causes for Concern | Conclusion - 1