A Terrible Legacy More than 60,000 Americans were sterilised, many against their will, as part of a eugenics movement that finished in 1979, aimed at keeping the poor and mentally ill from having children. Now, decades on, one state is considering compensation.
posted by modernnomad
on Jun 14, 2011 -
24 comments
Former child actor
Kirk Cameron and his friend Ray (
The Banana Guy) Comfort
[previously] seek to distribute the "
correct" (aka
altered) version of Charles Darwin's
Origin of Species to 50,000 students at the nation's top 50 universities as the book is soon to celebrate its 150
th anniversary. Their version includes a 50-page introduction which "...gives the history of evolution, a timeline of Darwin's life, Adolph Hitler's undeniable connection with the theory, Darwin's racism, his disdain for women, and Darwin's thoughts on the existence of God..." Cameron's promotional video for the project: '
Origin Into Schools.' A video response: "
Origin of Stupidity."
[more inside]
posted by ericb
on Sep 24, 2009 -
281 comments
A 28-acre plot of unspoiled Sierra foothill forest is bequeathed to the Auburn (CA) Recreation District. The bequeath came with one condition: That the park be named "Nobel Laureate
William B. Shockley And His Wife Emmy L. Shockley Memorial Park."
[more inside]
posted by mudpuppie
on May 18, 2009 -
89 comments
Divorce Hearing was a television program where
couples aired their grievances to Dr.
Paul Popenoe, who would attempt to help them figure out how to make things work. Popenoe is notable for few things: he wasn't a real doctor - his highest academic achievement was receving an honorary degree from Occidental College; he founded the first "marriage clinic" in the US in Los Angeles in 1930 and created and authored the long-running "Can This Marriage Be Saved?" column for
Ladies Home Journal. Oh yeah,
he was a
eugenics proponent, too.
(Discovered via.)
posted by beaucoupkevin
on Jan 28, 2008 -
8 comments
$20,000 and you can choose the gender of your next kid. You'd think you'd have to go to the Caribbean or someplace to do it but the practice of gender selective
preimplantation genetic diagnosis is alive and well in the United States. (Note how the medical link DOES NOT have an indication for using the procedure for gender selection). Some have already been concerned about a
slippery slope. And, it seems regulatory agencies would
rather not say anything about the issue so as to let the technology improve and see what we can and can't select in our embryos. Could this be the next big issue in the culture v. science v. religion wars?
posted by skepticallypleased
on Jun 14, 2006 -
54 comments
Engineering Perfect Americans Were your immigrant ancestors considered genetically predisposed to become criminals? Were your mixed-ethnic ancestors thought to be polluting the nation's 'germ-plasm'? The Image Archive on the American Eugenics Movement presents a well-put-together online exhibit/walkthrough of this disturbing vein in American history.
posted by Miko
on Jan 31, 2006 -
7 comments
Hitler's "
fountain of life." In 1935, Heinrich Himmer and the SS launched a network of
Lebensborn maternity centers to increase birthrates among Aryans, where German soldiers were encouraged to mate with genetically desirable local women in occupied countries like Norway. These women were given the option of raising their kids themselves or turning them over to SS-run homes where they would be "Germanized." The lives of these kids was hell after the war, when they
were shunned and worse by the Nazis' previous victims. To those who are nostalgic for the Reich, like this veritable
eBay of Nazi memorabilia, the Lebensborn program represented "
wonderful social experimentation."
posted by digaman
on Mar 20, 2005 -
38 comments
State of Virginia apologises for eugenics policy. I'm not American, so perhaps it's understandable that I'd never heard of the scale of such policies, but I'm pretty well-informed, and I'm astonished that it isn't better known-of. I guess I'm mostly posting because I'd be interested in learning how well-known and understood the issue is in the US. There's also an image archive on the subject
here.
posted by jonpollard
on May 3, 2002 -
18 comments
Dutch Legalize Euthanasia "The Netherlands has become the first country in the world to legalise mercy killing after a controversial law on euthanasia came into force on Monday."
While tolerated for nearly two decades, opponents are comparing the practice to Nazi Geramny. Is this a step forward for those living with severe pain and no hope in sight?
posted by futureproof
on Apr 1, 2002 -
32 comments
Our future lies . . . with eugenics??? "
The useful and intelligent classes should be allowed, indeed encouraged, to breed, and the murderous morons, who are never going to contribute anything except misery to themselves and others should be discouraged. No one need be killed." If this wasn't published in the
London Telegraph, I'd think it was from the lunatic fringe. Is A. N. Wilson attempting satire or auditioning for the lead in
Springtime for Hitler?
posted by Erendadus
on Mar 27, 2002 -
25 comments
Cash for birth control - if you're a junkie. Came across an ad for this organization while riding a train that serves a number of low income Chicago projects. I'm hard pressed to figure out what this is about. On first glance, it seems to be an effort to help drug addicted mothers avoid unwanted pregnancies. However, upon further reflection, it takes on the guise of a frightening genetic engineering program.
posted by aladfar
on Jun 11, 2000 -
27 comments
