Eugenics and Family
Eugenics, Economics, and the Family
Rationale Behind the German Eugenics Movement
Modern Eugenics
Society today seems to be engulfed with improving their current situations in life and modeling themselves after others. But what would a specific person constitute as perfect? It could be a physical feature to make them more attractive, an indestructable physice for dominating athletic events, or it could even be as subtle as making people see colors for the first time. When eugenics was brought into the mainstream by Nazi scientists, there was an outcry from people around the world about the Germans trying to create the perfect race. Now, the notion of creating a perfect person free of disease and flaws some how has become a good thing. Enhancements are starting off as a theorputic device in order to help people with certain diseases, but as the American consumer is becoming more willing to pay for anything to help their image, it is only a matter of time before theropy turns to a necessity for the rich.
Along with the monetary aspect of human enhancement, there is the moral and ethical questions of:
- Why should we do it?
- Is it worth it?
- What are the risks involved for myself and others?
Eugenics and the Family
- Many eugenicists viewed population control as a vehicle for modernization, the introduction of liberal democracy, and, if properly pursued, world peace.
- Two directions had formed: an outward view focusing on the global framework and an inward view focusing on the family.
- Many eugenicists blamed racialized population subdivisions, principally those in the Third World, for resource depletion, skyrocketing fertility, and environmental degradation.
- Negative Eugenics- marriage restrictions, immigration quotas and compulsory sterilizations.
- Positive Eugenics- concentrated on encouraging those deemed fit to reproduce in higher numbers.
