Recently, the US government has decided to indemnify those who were victims of eugenics over the 20th century at last.
Eugenics was the result of the application of the Darwinist theory on natural selection to society and human beings. It was very supported by important personalities in the early 20th century, between which we can find Alexander Graham Bell and Winston Churchill. This caused many followers of these ideas, which caused many people to be forced by the government to be sterilized. Approximately 60,000 people from 30 states were submitted to these treatments, but these ideas were rejected when they were related with the Nazi ideology in World War II.
Now the government wants to indemnify the people who suffered from these treatments and were sterilized. This has caused a very interesting debate, as the plan is to pay each victim 50,000 dollars, but the real question is, how much does a baby and a life cost? These people have been deprived from their freedom to have children, and it won’t be easy to set a price to make it up which satisfies everyone.
Great post. I didn't realise that the US government had recognised what it had done. Thanks for posting this.
ReplyDeleteIt’s always a relief to hear that justice has been made to those who have suffered from an obviously unfair conviction; this is a clear example of it. It was this same year that I first heard of Eugenics, I knew about the evolution theory and how natural selection makes it possible and always thought it was a logical and right system for nature to evolve. But then I learnt it could be applied to humans, and of course, “applied” meant unnaturally, preventing all the individuals with negative features to have children in order to end up, after some generations with a perfect and spotless society. Nowadays, it is unimaginable for such a thing to happen but it’s was only a mere 40 years ago that this technique was supported by many, including famous people and carried out in America.
ReplyDeleteI am very glad to hear that people who were prived from their rights by force are going to be indemnified but as Jordi says, can a life really be indemnified with money? I don’t think victims of eugenics will really feel any better with this financial compensation, many of them were treated because they were poor so they might find the money helpful, but for the people whose dreams were to build a family, have kids, see them grow up, be grandparents, what about them, the life they dreamed of, ruined… and, not to forget, real justice has to be made upon those who once wrecked the lives of over 50000 people.
Lucas Drobnitzky
DeleteStrangely enough, I also became aware of Eugenics a few months ago, however, because of this ideology being extremely unmoral, unethical and primitive, I can’t imagine how the personality of those who approved this system might be. When we are taught the Darwinist theory on natural selection during our educational evolution, we are unable to link it with human life, as it would mean applying it in an artificial and aggressive way. Those who were able to think about the application of this theory in humans should not only be in jail, but also truly consider their acts in order to understand the kind of people they are and will always be. Moreover, they should publicly declare themselves as animals with no feelings. However, none of this will now happen because it’s too late, but late is better than never.
ReplyDeleteAgreeing with both, Jordi and Lucas, indemnifying the victims shows the great consideration that the government has towards these poor people who will never be able to forget the terrible experience they suffered, nevertheless, this solution is nowhere near as satisfying as recuperating the chance to produce life and there’s not enough money in the world to change this feeling of disappointment. However, justice always transmits a feeling of relive and serenity.