John P. Thomas, Health Impact News, 4 July 2015
This is part II of a series on the relationship between the eugenics movement and modern genetics. It examines whether true health and true happiness lie in the human genome. Are we really bound to the set of genes that we received from our parents? Or can we overcome what we were given? What are the factors that activate or deactivate certain genes? How can we control the expression of our genetic make-up to promote our health and the health of our children? Can we trust everything we hear about the benefits of genetic research?
Is there a dark side to genetics? Is there reason to suspect hidden motivations of certain groups who want us to be convinced that our genes, and only our genes, control every aspect of our health and well-being? Is it wise to believe that we have no other options than to suffer while scientists look for genetic cures for all that ails us?
The previous article reviewed the history of the eugenics movement and examined how it was given a facelift and transformed into what we now think of as the modern science of genetics. It discussed the eugenics program of Adolf Hitler that terminated the lives of eleven million men, women and children.
Hitler was strongly influenced by Darwin’s theory of evolution and by Americans who were promoting eugenics. He closely followed the teachings of university professors in the United States who were teaching eugenics and using the principles of Darwin’s theory of evolution to form a “superior” race of people in America. The previous article questioned whether there remains a link between the eugenics movement of the past and modern genetic science. Do they still share common goals?
The superior race that American eugenicists and Adolf Hitler envisioned was intended to be free of disability, poverty, and chronic illness. It was to be a “beautiful” race of people (as they saw it) that consisted of men and women with blond hair and blue eyes. They would be a select class of people who were physically perfect, physically fit, intellectually superior, and financially prosperous.
Modern eugenics does not seek to create a superior race, but it does have the potential for creating a superior class of people who will be distinguished by the absence of certain diseases, which they will call “health.” They will possess a certain set of traits that someone among them has determined to be “best” for humanity.
Both movements sought, and are seeking, to achieve high and lofty goals supposedly for our benefit. They promise to provide rapid restoration for all that ails us. They seek to improve the defects that exist in humankind and create a future in which disease, illness, and poverty will only exist in the memories of older generations, because genetic defects will have been corrected or eliminated. [1]
The previous article noted that the theory of Darwinian evolution and its implementation through eugenics disregards individual and personal choices concerning human reproduction, and it devalues human life itself. Darwinism and eugenics replace the love-based commitment between family members with allegiance to the state. They replace the worship of God with the worship of eugenic principles and evolutionary theory. They turn the hearts of the people away from valuing and protecting human life, and desensitize society to death. They teach people to accept the fact that the lives of some people must be sacrificed for the greater good of the “superior” ones who remain.
At the heart of the eugenics movement was a deep seated belief in the superiority of the white race, and the need for eliminating other races that they determined to be inferior. It called for the cleansing of the white race as well to eliminate all people and families who showed evidence of having defective genetic material (germplasm).