Eugenics in the Modern World - Essay Example

Eugenics in the Modern World The discipline of Eugenics aims to study the probabilities of bringing improvements in the characteristics and quality of population belonging to some specific area, by making alterations in the genes of the individuals, so that the fittest and the most suitable breed could be produced in order to make the world a better and magnificent place to reside. First coined by English scientist Francis Galton by 1883, the discipline looks to be seeking inspiration from Darwinian doctrine of Survival of the Fittest (1859), where Charles Darwin submits to state that only the superior, powerful and refined species survive in the world because of their multiplication through their future generations; and thus they are capable of successfully transferring their genes to their descendants. On the other hand, the weak, flabby, inflexible and unhealthy genes are sure to die sooner or later due to the very reality that they are unable to introduce changes in themselves according to the transformations taking place in their natural and social environment. Eminent philosopher of ancient times Plato has also argued in favor of the same theory in his Republic that only the wise, strong and beautiful individuals should have the right to reproduce and multiply, so that the world could escape the ugly and foolish generations for the future years to come. Though Plato’s philosophy does not maintain any prejudice against any particular group, yet the future scientists and intellectuals exploited the same for their own benefit against the rival nations and religious groups. Actually, racial prejudice also prevailed on the false concept that some ethnic groups were superior to others, and had the right to survive, dominate and rule over others. It gave birth to violence and bloodshed between the nations, and every group strived to rule over the other with the superiority complex in mind. Thus, the rival communities tried to eliminate their opponents from the face of earth in order to let only their in-group survive in the world. By critically examining the history of the globe at large, it becomes crystal clear that clans, tribes, communities and nations got involved into conflicts and clashes between one another in order to prove them as superior in race, ethnicity and ancestry to others. Consequently, hatred and abhorrence of worst kind had been being displayed towards the individuals belonging to rival ethno-racial groups and communities for the last several centuries. The city governments of ancient Greek and Roman civilizations also waged wars against one another and underwent heavy losses in men and material in order to prove their intellectual, physical, financial and strategic superiority over opponents; famous Trojan Wars, took place in ancient times, also depicted the same. The House of Jacob also considered itself as the beloved nation of Heavens, which had no parallel in the entire world in spiritual and worldly pursuits. It is therefore they always challenged and opposed the authority of the holiest men sent by God to teach and preach the humanity. As a result, the Romans, Christians, Muslims and other nations started looking down upon the Jewish community, as they used to deliver blasphemous comments against the religious leaders of these faiths. The same trends lasted for long and even the European countries, during the Middle Ages and modern times as well, exercised astounding atrocities upon the Africans provided the blacks were viewed as the inferior racial group, and were the descendants of the disobedient son of Noah. Additionally, the Europeans also fought against one another just to endorse their innate supremacy over others. The genocide of the Armenians at the hands of the Ottoman Turks during 1915-16, and holocaust exercised by the Nazi Germany on the Jewish community also reflects the same. Both Turks and Nazis massacred their opponents provided they viewed them as inferior people that would spoil the environment of their country on the one hand, and would promote chaos and anarchy in the world on the other. Somehow, the developments made by some nations ratify their claim of being superior to others. For instance, the Europeans have been in dominance in the fields of trade and commerce, education and health, and economic growth and prosperity. Moreover, they also proved their superiority over others in the battlefield by subjugating the Asian and African states under their rule. Walt Whitman Rostow, in his famous The Stages of Economic Growth"describes how different nations and countries undergo various stages while climbing up the ladder of economic prosperity. These stages include the traditional society, the preconditions for take-off, the take-off, the drive to maturity and the age of high mass-consumption. While discussing the take-off stage, he submits that during this stage, a country becomes financially stabilized and its different social institutions work in coherence. The industry of the country flourishes and economic growth rate gains imperative boost. “The take-off is the interval”, Rostow argues, “when the old blocks and resistances to steady growth are finally overcome. The forces making for economic progress, which yielded limited bursts and enclaves of modern activity, expand and come to dominate the society. Growth becomes its normal condition. Compound interest becomes built, as it were, into its habits and institutional structure.” (1960, p. 11) Somehow, African states always remained backward and poor in all fields, which endorse the claim of superiority made by the WASP time and again. White Anglo Saxon Population (WASP) also observed striced bias towards the blacks, and viewed them as meant for their slavery. Consequently, the Europeans promoted slavery by assaulting on the African people and turning them as their slaves. “Slavery was the foundation of the southern colonies’ plantation system. White people ran plantations using slave labor in all parts of the USA and Europe till the end of twentieth century. (Macionis, 2007, p. 378) Similarly, German Chancellor Adolf Hitler hated the Jews by taking them as the intriguer and conspirator nation, which left no stone unturned to harm and hurt the others for their pecuniary gains. Since the Jews ran amuck after pelf, power and possession, according to the Nazis, they seldom displayed patriotism and mercy towards their country and countrymen respectively. It is therefore they had no right to survive and sustain in the world. Consequently, out of sheer hatred and detestation against them, the Nazis announced severe punishment to the community and killed them en masse, as they believed that the Jews were inferior to the Germans, and their inter-marriages as well as interaction with the Germans might spoil the purported mighty and refined German nation; and the Jews believed the same about the Germans and Muslims. Somehow, since the same genes are traveling in all the nations of the world, which were attributed to Adam and Eve, the people belonging to divergent societies, cultures and communities maintain one and the same human characteristics where intensity and severity in the virtue and vice could vary from person to person and from one nation to the other. Consequently, no generation could be declared as entirely criminal, pervert or deviating one altogether. Hence, hatred for the rivals on the foundation of the self-devised claim of taking others inferior is vehemently against the law, ethics, norms and values prevailing in the world. The demand made by the Jews for a separate territory at the heart of Arab states also had the motif that the unholy Arabs could desegregate the religious places, situated in Palestine and attributed to Jews. So they established a Jewish state under the title Israel, which would be the center of Jewish religious, political, social and cultural activities; the same was the objective behind the creation of a Muslim state in south Asia with the name Pakistan. However, both Israel and Pakistan are infamous blur on the face of civilized world, as both these nations have turned out to be the symbol of religious intolerance and bigotry, which are producing the crop of extremists and terrorists to destroy the peace and brotherhood of the nations at large. Though, both these countries have observed severe isolation and opposition from the neighboring countries and international arena, yet an overwhelming majority of Israeli and Pakistani population sticks to its ethno-racial and religious bigotry to its full swing. They not only try to impose their religious beliefs upon others, but have also been divided into different sects and factions, and seldom agree with one another even on petty and trivial issues. It is particularly the case with the religious leaders of these two faiths, which refute to embrace any latest developments being made in the fields of science and technology, by declaring them as strictly against the teachings of religion, though they become the most potential consumers of the same product after its becoming an essential part of their culture. To conclude, it is evident that all human beings are the offspring of Adam and Eve; and the parents of humanity were created out of rotten clay by the Lord. There is no superiority of any racial, religious, regional or ethnic group over the other, and all are equal in status and position in the eyes of the Lord. It is humility, piousness, compassion and chastity that earn respect and fame for the individuals. It is therefore material factors, financial position, religious faith, complexion and color or gender group have least meaning in their nature and scope. Thus, no community could be declared as inferior or superior to others. On the contrary, the people belonging to all groups and nations have rendered services in various fields including art and literature, philosophy and logic, science and management and many others. Bibliography Macionis, John J. (2007) Sociology Eleventh Edition Pearson Prentice Hall pp. 376-381 Rostow, W.W. (1960) The Stages of Economic Growth: A Non-Communist Manifesto Cambridge: Cambridge University Press pp. 11-12 Read More