Being Well-Born: An Introduction to EugenicsGuyer, Michael F. (Michael Frederic)
Philosophy
Being Well-Born: An Introduction to Eugenics
Guyer, Michael F. (Michael Frederic)
Eugenics; Genetics
As individuals we can cultivate a greater sense of responsibility
regarding marriage and parenthood in those for whose training we are
responsible. We can study this whole subject conscientiously, keep pace
with new knowledge and see that other people are likewise informed. In
showing an enlightened interest in the ideals of eugenics and a
sympathetic approval of wholesome marriages, a sentiment toward parenthood
will gradually arise which will make it seem more desirable to many worthy
people than it does at present. If we are of good stock ourselves we
should recognize that it is highly desirable that we give to the race at
least four children. On the other hand, if we come from a strain which is
eugenically undesirable we should with equal conscientiousness refrain
from contributing to human misery. For where serious obstacles to a union
exist, renunciation is certainly a higher manifestation of love than is
consummation of a marriage which will result in untold misery to the
object of the affections. As a matter of fact, with adequate preliminary
knowledge as to what actually constitutes a serious drawback to marriage,
where such really exists and is recognized by the associated individuals,
love of the kind that leads to marriage is not likely to arise.
As has been suggested by various students of eugenics, it is even at
present perhaps not infeasible for earnest individuals to start in a quiet
way local centers for the keeping and filing of accurate records of their
family traits for the future use of their descendants. Such groups,
voluntary though they be, would soon acquire a degree of distinction that
would make other people of good endowments wish to join in and go on
record as eugenically desirable.
Lastly, it should not be forgotten that good traits are inherited as
certainly as bad ones. Moreover, in the realm of human conduct, even
though the fundamental features of behavior are based on an inherited
organization, man is not always driven by an inexorable linkage of
inherited neutral units into only one line of conduct, since more or less
capacity for alternative action is also inherited. It is the personal
duty of every member of society to aid in affording the opportunity and
providing the proper stimuli to insure that out of the many possibilities
of behavior which exist in the young at birth, those forms are realized
which are best worth while to the individual and to society. And while we
recognize that improved environment alone can not correct human
deficiencies we must nevertheless not relax our efforts to get cleaner
foods, cleaner surroundings, cleaner politics and cleaner hearts.
Why go on alleviating various kinds of misery that might equally well be
prevented? When one squarely faces the issue, surely the absurdity of our
present practises can not but be evident to even the most thoughtless.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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