PBS Documentary: The Eugenics Crusade included.
In the context of eugenics, proponents often categorized people into different levels of intelligence or ability, using terms like "moron," "idiot," "imbecile," and others.
Several States in America practiced eugenics during the early to mid-20th century. States such as California, Virginia, and North Carolina were particularly active in implementing eugenics policies, which included forced sterilizations and restrictive marriage laws.
These policies targeted individuals deemed "unfit" to reproduce, often based on criteria like mental illness, disability, poverty, and race.
The eugenics movement in the United States led to the sterilization of tens of thousands of people, with California alone accounting for about one-third of all sterilizations carried out under these programs. The legacy of these practices is now widely condemned for its ethical violations and human rights abuses.
If eugenics had succeeded, based on its flawed hypothesis that genetic traits determine societal outcomes, it posits that undesirable traits, as arbitrarily defined, would be systematically bred out of the population.
In this speculative scenario, proponents might argue that without the genetic predispositions that eugenics sought to eliminate, socio-political movements like MAGA (Make America Great Again) would not have emerged.
This conjecture implies that societal discontent and grievances, often attributed to factors beyond genetic influence, would be diminished or nonexistent. However, this hypothetical statement ignores the complexities of human behavior, social dynamics, and the historical, economic, and cultural factors that contribute to the rise of political movements and ideologies.
Eugenics practices in the United States, such as forced sterilizations, began in the early 20th century and peaked in the 1920s and 1930s. Although the movement declined after World War II due to the atrocities committed by Nazi eugenics programs and growing human rights awareness, forced sterilizations continued in some states into the 1970s.
North Carolina's program, for example, operated until 1977, and Oregon performed the last known forced sterilization in 1981. These practices have since been discredited, and many states have issued formal apologies and provided compensation to victims.
So, Eugenicists believed certain traits, which included perceived disabilities, certain ethnic backgrounds, low socioeconomic status, or traits deemed socially undesirable, could be bred out of society. If they would have succeeded, one could argue that without those traits, MAGA mentality might not exist... I cannot believe these practices were still being use in the 1980s
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