Many Americans thought these new immigrants were “defective”—less intelligent, more radical, and willing to work for low wages (Figure E4.2). To combat the purported damage these new immigrants would do to the nature of future generations of Americans, eugenicists successfully lobbied for restrictions on immigration from these groups. In the 1920s and 1930s, eugenicists began working on the passage of a number state laws mandating “eugenical sterilization.” These laws were intended to eliminate the production of offspring of individuals—typically those in mental institutions or jails—who were considered likely to give birth to defective children. By 1940, more than 30 states had enacted such compulsory
‘Gattaca’ doesn’t condemn the genetic experimentation itself, but it condemning the way it is used, and why it is used. Even though the genetic engineering can save the lives of the people, it is used blindly and the reason for using it is wrong. It doesn’t better people personality, it rather makes more selfish and narrow minded. According to the society of ‘Gattaca’ science means everything, it cannot be flawed and will always be accurate, but as shown in the film Vincent prevails science and reaches his dream. People rely on DNA and science too much, which could potently corrupt our society.
What the consumers are unaware of is that it also sterilizes them. Crake distributes this pill to the world to sterilize the human population in order to save the planet’s resources. In history, eugenics has appeared in Germany where Hitler murdered six million Jewish people in concentration camps. He wanted to create an Aryan race of blonde hair and blue eyed people because they appeared to be the perfect kind of humans. According to American history: “In 1907, in an attempt to effect God's will while resolving major social problems, the State of Indiana passed the first sterilization law in the United States.” (Lerner, par.
All the questions and more are what plague the minds of scientists when trying to perfect this technology. If we corrupt this new science field, and try to play God and create super humans we will be disturbing nature and this will bring about humanities down fall. The difference between the themes of the book and movie is that the book focuses on when one has the power to change nature; events can have a devastating and bad outcome. While the movie is stating more that science is elusive and dangerous. The construction accident at the beginning shows how dangerous and costly it is to operate a park like this.
Totalitarianism from Total Domination In the essay “Total Domination,” written by Hannah Arendt; she discusses Nazism in the form totalitarianism as “True Terror”. If not for the survivors of the cruel brutality of totalitarian states, it would almost be impossible to believe it ever happened. What is Totalitarianism? Totalitarianism is a form of government in our political system, which gives absolute power to one ruler (dictator) who cannot be restricted by any type of constitution or law. The rise of totalitarianism governments started before WWII, but after the Great Depression when fascism became an ideology of society.
Nature vs. Nurture From the mid to late 1800s to the early 1900s nature was the zeitgeist: This was the era of Mendel and Darwinism. Francis Galton argued that intelligence, or lack of, ran in families. He introduced “eugenics”, which will be spoken about by Denise, to speed up the process of natural selection. 1920s – 1930s Intelligence tests were re-analyzed and validity questioned. There was a great deal of backlash regarding the social consequences of eugenics.
They believed they belonged to a Volksgenmeinschaft that proved for their needs and to which they owed their obedience. Such benefits were accompanied by a denial of human rights, and a haphazard system of government dependent upon the will of an all-powerful leader. Before the final solution was carried out, a number of acts occurred including sterilization which hardened the German people for the anti Semitic explosion of the holocaust. The Law for the Prevention of Hereditary Diseased Offspring was passed in July 1933. It stated that anyone with anyone of the following hereditary diseases could be sterilized: Schizophrenia, manic depression, hereditary deafness and so on.
Babies by Design By Ahmad Theibich July 16, 2012 BABIES BY DESIGN Outline Thesis: Designer baby, a new medical invention has led to much debate in society where many affirm that changing the traits of a baby is a good thing while opponents refuse it believing it is a bad thing. I- The invention of designer baby is a good thing. A- Physical 1- Appearance 2- Health B- Mental 1- IQ 2- Memory C- Social 1- Education 2- Mortality rate II- The invention of designer baby is a bad thing. A- Physical 1- Disease 2- Mutation B- Ethical 1- Religion a- Christianity b- Islam 2- Freedom of choice C- Social 1- Social gap 2- Resemblance BABIES BY DESIGN Since the beginning of humanity, human beings started to search and invent new things to make their lives easier. During the 19th century, the world had witnessed several huge medical revolutions; patients who previously died from specific diseases are surviving now because of vaccination and new treatments.
During the time Hitler was coming to power and right before, the idea of Eugenics in Germany was spreading. “Scientists dreamed of a perfect human being by changing the genetic makeup of the population.” Even before the Nazi party was formed they already had these ideas in mind and once Hitler starting supporting the idea the results were horrific. Just like in America the Germans believed that the “unfit” were reproducing while the “fit” generation was using birth control and having kids later bringing down the overall population. Similarly to the United States the government warned about mixing races and was afraid that the population was becoming worse and something had to be done. Surgical Sterilization was another parallel to prevent the spreading of bad genes although the practice didn’t gain as much support as it had in other countries around the globe.
The eugenics movement could actually do way more harm to human evolution and the human race than good. Before World War II, Hitler began to research American eugenics as a way to justify his anti-Semitism and racism. He was able to get more people to believe in his ideals by telling them that it was all based on science. In 1939, Hitler approved the Aktion T-4 program, which authorized certain doctors and officials to perform “mercy deaths” by euthanasia on those who the state said were unworthy of life. The type of people the scientists of the eugenics movement wanted to create were tall, strong, and talented beings, with blond hair and blue eyes.