posted on Mar, 3 2010 @ 09:19 AM
Allow me to be the Devil's advocate.
Nazi cruelty (and that of others) notwithstanding, what are we going to do about the fact that the most capable among us reproduce at low rates? Is
it not inevitable that what we face is not only overpopulation, but overpopulation of the least intelligent among us? Do we not face an "Idiocracy"
type future, and if so, should we not do something to prevent it?
If we do not prevent it, is that cruelty to our descendants not as important as the cruelty contained in solutions to the problem? For example, if
ten people on earth possessed the final remaining genetic material causing Fragile X syndrome (a leading cause of mental retardation), would it not be
prudent to prevent them from reproducing and passing on the gene? If not, what cruelty will have been inflicted on future generations by failing to
act?
A personal example: before having a baby, my wife and I decided to research our genetics. We found nothing to alarm us, but we learned genetic
testing is available which can find certain recessive genes which could lead to serious birth defects. This was a few years ago, but at the time
reasonably priced tests were available for Fragile X and Cystic Fibrosis. We had both tests, agreeing that if we were carriers, we should decide not
to have children. So, were we guilty of practicing eugenics? Or were we simply taking responsibility for the future lives we would help to create?
How prevalent do you think this will become as such testing (and possible genetic engineering) becomes more available?
What do you think is going to happen when the intelligent and wealthy can improve their stock and those in the underclass continue to breed with
abandon and without limit? Are the principles of freedom inherent to American philosophies not threatened by a future when all men are clearly not
created equal?
Is it justifiable to take a Luddite approach to genetics in order to preserve a humanist ethical high ground, while allowing the stratification of
society to intensify? Will the "losers" of the genetic future not pay a very high price for the preservation of your good conscience? Knowing that
the genetic genie is out of the bottle, and that inevitably superior humans, perhaps beyond current imagination, will be born in the near future, is
your unwillingness to help those of the lesser classes escape their genetic prisons not the ultimate elitist cruelty?