Alright, I'll state from the outset here, that this is a controversial idea, especially given that some of the worse horrors in modern human history happened using a Eugenics program.

But I wanted to offer this idea just for the board to kick around. I'm not endorsing this idea, I just would like your thoughts on it.

It's a slippery slope for sure, but I was thinking about what might be possible if we had a voluntary Eugenics program to produce desired results.

Suppose one person is predisposed for a certain ailment (such as heart disease), should this person recieve a tax break for marrying someone not predisposed to that illness, with the assumption that their offspring woule be less likely to be susceptible to heart disease?

I will keep this straight and short.  As some of you may suspect, I can be an opinionate jerk.

This one has me torn.  I have spent time in state hospitals, and my heart twisted by what I saw.  Ten-year old kids drooling, strapped into wheelchairs for 8 years.  Dazed and not even drugged - not needed. I could have gone through with an Uzi, putting people out of their misery.  I take my hats off to the workers in those places. They are better than me.

On the other hand, as you point out, it is a slippery slope that has the potential for abuse, and I don't like what I see with the way they are using it in Europe or China.

I agree with both sides and disagree with both sides, and it is beyond my limited ability to come up with any workable idea.

...that there's only two options: 1) unplanned pregnancy or 2) a planned genecide. Really?

I would say that we do have a voluntary Eugenics program going on right now to produce women-folk with bigger titties. So far, that's been working like clockwork, and gov't isn't involved.

If we can do that, then can't we do other things like limit diabetes or heart disease without anyone being forced to do anything or anyone being forced to die?

I'd like to stick as much as possible with the question at hand....

But, let me tell ya, I am very glad there are child protective services in this country. I'd rather have the occasional abuse of that over essentially legalizing beating the shit out of your kids. Even with child protective services, that happens FAR too often. Last I looked, Baptists had the highest rate of divorce in this country out of any other faith. Which group had the least? Atheists. Pre-marital teen pregnancies isn't a new thing. Just 60 years ago, they called them "shotgun weddings". Massachusetts has the lowest abortion rate in the country. Maybe it's because they teach kids about condoms there. Yes, corporations see us as commodities to be bought and sold. Let me know when you're ready to do something about eliminating corporations from American society...moving on.  

There's no insidious plot against the Itty Bitty Titty Committee, but there is an effort to limit them. It's not organized, and it's voluntary. It comes from most men adopting an attitude that bigger tits are better. As a result, in the last 30 years, average breast size in the US has increased from a 34b to a 36C. There are other factors at play, of course. Bovine Growth Hormone. Better nutrition. Even obesity. But a big factor is that males decided that bigger was better, and those who had that attribute were first picked for reproduction. That's Eugenics at work, and it was genocide-free.

has screwed up. I suggest you read the book "Hope's Boy" by Andrew Bridge. What you fail to understand and why I call you naive is that the government bureaucrat's problem (Does not matter what agency) is that he/she is devoted to their monthly paycheck and following the regulations. The latter may sound good on the surface but it leads to problems because they have no heart. Andrew Bridge in his memoir illuminates the problems associated by a heartless well intentioned bureaucracy.

Remember the Nazi's who operated the concentration camps were bureaucrats. They were mandated to perform so many executions from orders from a higher bureaucrat and they dutifully complied. In other words they were following their job descriptions. The operators of the camps just wanted their paychecks.  

-- Modified on 12/29/2010 11:56:03 PM

precisely what you are talking about in a heart breaking personal account of his upbringing in the Foster care system. The author Andrew Bridge was one of the very, very, very few who graduated from High School and college. If I was President, Child Protective Services would be abolished along with dept of education.

That is a harsh assessment Mien but much of it has the ring of truth to it. The bottom line is equally harsh. Poor people and their children are at the mercy of the capitalist class. Liberals and conservatives both get huge profits from the child protection businesses.