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Did Eugenics Contribute Anything Worthwhile To Society Essay

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Did Eugenics Contribute Anything Worthwhile to Society? IDS 2023 Foundations of Life Science Cortni Taylor It is a difficult task to properly consider every aspect of eugenics; the ethical, social, and historical ramifications it has on millions of people around the world. This movement was first proposed in 1883 by Sir Francis Galton as a means to bring about the betterment of society through the “improvement” of an individual’s genes (Rielly, 2015). He proposed this “improvement” through passing along “desirable” traits through those thought superior (i.e., positive eugenics). This eventually evolved into negative eugenics, or the prevention of allowing individuals thought to be unfit or “degenerate” from passing along their genes. Eugenicists …show more content…

The entire movement was flawed from the beginning. Heredity was not properly understood when Galton suggested eugenics. Many of the traits they believed were preventable were, in fact, not. Eugenicists based their science on something called the Mendalin inheritance factor, or alleles (McKinnon, 2021). But the way in which traits were passed from parent to offspring according to this factor was proven to be false by the Hardy-Weinberg principle, which basically says that a trait that causes mental defects is hidden in perceptively “normal” carriers, thus making it impossible for eugenicists to effectively block the spread of that trait (Paul & Spencer, 1995). Additionally, according to Fred D. Ledley (1994), every individual carries dozens of potentially lethal mutations and hundreds of genes that could result in genetic deficiencies, and those who do suffer from genetic diseases do not necessarily have more of those genes. This alone completely destroys the fabric of the eugenics movement, but of course, even knowing their science was faulty, many did not denounce the movement, still purporting to be the idea that ‘feebleminded’ individuals should be prevented from procreation. Galton did not call for negative

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That did not mean eliminate the possibilities of poorer areas reproducing. It did not involve permanent defects on test subjects simply because they are poor. Eugenics in the penal system took the negative approach and called it a “movement” using the poor and imprisoned as subject studies of that movement. The eugenics movements in the United States, Germany, and Scandinavia favored the negative approach. The courts would offer shorter sentences to people who would agree to be sterilized, knowing that they would take it because they could not afford bond and would want a shorter sentence.

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Human eugenics has become a popular technology in the biology world of reproduction. The idea of conserving the superior traits and deleting the tainted traits has become an exciting movement where even novels like Brave New World has predicted us with the dramatic future of eugenics. Although the idea of deleting tainted traits such as disease seem ideal, the fear of creating “perfect” traits will create dominance from the upper class and will strip individualism. John H. Evan talks about the pros and cons of human eugenics in his article. Inspired by the novel Brave New World, Evans first introduces the idea of class separation between the selected designed babies.

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In 1917, a law was passed creating the Oregon State Board of Eugenics. Eugenics is the concept of promoting people with sought after physical and mental traits to reproduce in order to enhance society. The board was allowed to sterilize inmates and patients in prisons and mental institutions, and if they could not reproduce, the thought was it would improve society. However, in 1983 the law was abolished. Sterilizing people does not stop the following generation from having physical or mental abnormalities nor does it prevent crime, using genetics to predict the mental state of future generations is not logical, and the sterilizations were unfair and inhumane.

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According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, eugenics is: “a science that deals with the improvement (as by control of human mating) of hereditary qualities of a race or breed”. ("Definition of Eugenics by Merriam-Webster") The most common example of this concept would be the Holocaust, which was the extermination of Jewish people and others deemed “unfit” for society in World War Ⅱ. But little do many know, the Nazi’s were not the only people practicing eugenics in the early 1900’s, eugenics was being practiced in the United States long before the Holocaust. The American Eugenics Society aimed to educate American people on the science of Eugenics.

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It is impressive that this idea originated from a period of time where there was little knowledge about genes. In conclusion, the idea of eugenics develops during the progressive era and it affect many people during this period of time. This idea of eugenics was where more progress occurs in science. Well not all about the idea of eugenics is bad is has some good points like it can reduce number of babies born with some mental illness or some with really bad illness.

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The impact of the inauguration of scientific beliefs and studies on eugenics in the 1800’s is still evident in modern United States today. Eugenics is defined as eugenicists promoting the naturally fit people who carried desirable traits to increase a population with hopes of a community filled with intelligent citizens. Positive eugenics advocated the superior people to marry each other and reproduce to create as many offsprings in order to increase the number of the fit. Negative eugenics would discourage the disabled from reproducing at all, so that they would not compete with the superior. The endorsement from the government allowed scientists to implement their ideas on eugenics and some aspect of their policies is used today.

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Accessed 20 Sept. 2017 Galton, Francis. “Eugenics; Its Definition, Scope and Aims.” The American Journal of Sociology, vol. 10, no. 1, July 1904, doi:10.1038/070082a0. Accessed 20 Sept. 2017. “Giggleswick.”

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1920 U.S.A Eugenics Eugenics: (Noun/Verb): The act of attempting the perfection of genes within a pre-existing population similar to that of selective breeding within a select species of mammals. During the Roaring Twenties of the United States a process of artificial selection arose known as the process of Eugenics. Eugenics is as stated, a process of elimination of the “Lesser” individuals to preserve traits that are thought highly of. During the latter 19th Century and the early 20th Century, eugenics was considered a favored method of preserving society, therefore only showcasing the preferred traits within society.

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The eugenics movement was an important and dark event in America’s history. The eugenics movement “...aimed to emphasize the value of superior blood and the menace to society of inferior blood” (MacLean et al.). Basically society wanted only the best to populate it. If someone was disabled, they were considered inferior. They weren’t welcome to society because they couldn’t meet the basic standards of civilization.

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The twentieth century American eugenics movement was a social and scientific movement that sought to enhance the genetic quality of the human population through sterilization and selective breeding. Eugenics, the scientific practice and theory of planned breeding and racial purity, was widely popularized by an English polymath, Sir Francis Galton. Galton, cousin of Charles Darwin, supported the idea of selected marriages and breeding, which then spread to countries across the globe. The social Darwinist philosophy of the early twentieth century and the newly developing science of genetics both had an impact on the eugenics movement as it rose in popularity in the United States. The movement was backed by many well known scientists, politicians,

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What prompted the rise of Eugenics in the United States was their increasing belief that deficiencies in humans were hereditary. Also, there was growing worry that Americans were providing too much support for the degenerates, and needed to place more emphasis on positively fit individuals to ‘improve’ the race. They defined an aspect of fitness with beauty while ugly as a defect (Pernick 94). Lower class people were deemed to be ‘unfit’ while the middle and upper classes were classified as superior. When concerning higher status women, Eugenicists encouraged positive eugenics, or rather procreating as much as they can conceive.

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The science of eugenics began during the twentieth century by Franci Galton, who coined the idea that favorable and unfavorable characteristics in humans were hereditary. The desirable traits were seen to be prominent in the superior classes thus, sterilizing those with inferior traits to prevent them from spoiling the chances of the master race. This master race consisted of those with high intelligence, fair skin tones, desirable physical characteristics, and not a descendent of a minority race. This form of segregation divided people with race, intelligence, physical characteristics, and class. People of with disabilities, lower financial classes, and immigrants to the United States were sterilized for permanent birth control, and sometimes without their consent or knowledge.

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Sir Francis Galton, the cousin of the father of evolution, Charles Darwin, introduced a concept to the world in the 1930s known as eugenics. Sir Francis Galton himself said, "Eugenics is the study of the agencies under social control that may improve or impair the racial qualities of future generations either physically or mentally," (Gallagher). Although Hitler and the Nazi party of World War II gave this term a negative connotation through sterilizations and the preserving of the “Aryan” race, eugenics has evolved with modern technology and advanced with science to become a way to change, save and enhance lives (United States Holocaust Memorial Museum). Scientists, doctors, geneticists and many other brilliant minds have contributed to transforming Galton’s concept of selective breeding into a way to allow infertile couples to have a healthy child, a method to eradicate horrific genetic diseases, and an endless realm for the future of medicine.

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There are a few appealing aspects to the act of eugenics. If eugenics were applied, the world could potentially see a decrease in disease, a rise in intelligence, and heightened physical aesthetic in humans. But, ethically it crosses many boundaries that have prevented this idea from going into world-wide effect in the past. A benefit to eugenics is it could lead to the reduction of genetic diseases in the gene pool.

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Eugenics The term eugenics was coined in 1883 by Francis Galton. He defined it as the study of “the conditions under which men of a high type are produced” and also as “the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race”. However, it is not just a field of study and, could be taken as a social movement or policy as well. “Eugenics” may refer to the theory that infers hereditable intelligence and fortune which are possessed by the wealthy, successful and intelligent were made as a result of their good selective breeding, and that the lower classes would remain so because they continued to breed with other poor people from lower social classes or casts. Eugenics could be popular amongst people with a vested

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