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Given that we now have tools that can fix some serious genetic errors, and enable even people who were dealt very bad cards in life, to live a healthy life - an
by inglor_cz 2y ago
Given that we now have tools that can fix some serious genetic errors, and enable even people who were dealt very bad cards in life, to live a healthy life - and given that this sector of biology is constantly evolving towards more capabilities, I would argue that it makes more sense to study genetic diseases and disorders than ever.
100 years ago, when genetics was unchangeable, the only solution to any genetic problem was heavy-handed: stop that individual from procreating. I agree that this is basically fascist (though even social democrats weren't immune to this).
But in 2050, we might be able to fix terrible things like Huntington's Chorea with a single shot. Which is fascinating, but it also needs some honesty. In the late 20th century, there was a lot of activism that tried to pass off seriously debilitating diseases as "being differentially abled" etc. While I can understand them wanting to stop eugenic thinking from seeping in, this attitude becomes counterproductive when tools are being developed to actually help the sick people. Similar to anti-vaxxerism, in fact.
- laidoffamazon 2y agoPeople like Charles Murray think people like me are subhuman for having low IQ and being non-white, the conversations I'm hearing aren't about curing disabilities they're about the "wrong type" of people procreating. Weird that you got "curing disabilities" from my comment on "scientific racism" though. That reaction kinda concerns me.
- inglor_cz 2y agoNot everywhere is America (in fact, 96% of humanity is outside the US) and local conditions, sensibilities and conflict topics vary. Here I live in a nation that was considered non-Aryan by the Nazis and destined to become a nation of illiterate slaves for their Master Race. During their 6 years of rule here, their plans were only mitigated by their need to win the war first, for which they needed the local industry to be operable - hard to square such necessity with repressions against the workers themselves. But they did succeed in murdering parts of our intelligentsia. So yeah, race-based repression is evil, I am with you on this. But I am also close to a doctor who prescribes hearing aids for children and the main context in which I hear the word "eugenics" is her problems with the deafness advocates, who want to prevent deaf kids from hearing. And they play the "eugenics" card incessantly. I am sick of them, they are at best severely misguided, at worst evil people. And if enough people say that "helping kids hear is eugenics", they will drown out the racialists in public discourse, at least locally.