Eugenics Is The Future

On a superficial level, evolution is “Survival of the fittest”.
On a deeper lever, it’s the adaptation of the part to fit the whole,
in such a way as to make the whole greater than the sum of it’s parts.
-- Dr. Slip Cam --

Practical men,
who believe themselves to be quite exempt
from any intellectual influence,
are usually the slaves of some defunct economist
-- John Maynard Keynes --

The year is 3245. Humanity has spread throughout the solar system. Technology has allowed the people to live easy lives. Everything you could possibly want was at hand. Medicine was so powerful that few died of natural causes. All seemed like a paradise. Except…

The future of humanity was at peril. People no longer wanted to have children, because child rearing was too much trouble. The children that were being born were suffering from various genetic diseases. Each succeeding generation was more and more dependent on the miracles of modern medicine.

Some studies have shown that almost 50% of the people have some sort of genetic defect. Some futurists claim if no one did anything, the human race would cease to exist in ten generations.

In the beginning, everyone taught that banning eugenics was a good thing, but now some people thought that it was the only thing that could save the human race.

In the capital of the Federation, the Governing Council is in session. They are discussing what they could do to secure the future of the human race.

Because of the importance of the subject, the council meeting was being broadcasted live everywhere. Normally you only hear council meetings on the parliamentary channel.

Councilor Tom Jones addresses the council. “If something is not done, the human race will die out. We must institute eugenics for the survival of our species. In the past, the weak were weeded out through natural selection. But there is no natural selection any more. Our medicine is too strong for that. What happens if something goes wrong? Last month, the Goober virus threatened our very survival.”

“But it was caught. Only 12 people died,” councilor Boggle McDoogle protested.

“That is not the point”, Jones replied. “What if there was an accident and the virus had spread? That virus had the potential of killing off 95% of the human population. That is what the scientists say”.

Councilor Delink Dormouse asks, “What do you propose we do?”

“I’m glad you asked,” Jones Replied. “We must start eugenics now. We can start by euthanizing all the people that make no contribution to our society. There are countless millions of people in our hospitals and in our jails and on the streets that are absolutely useless to society. Some are too stupid to tie their own shoelaces. Others will spend their entire lives in hospital because of their defective genes. It is best we put them out of their misery. There are criminals who are just unredeemable, no matter what we do for them. Society would be better off without them.”

Another councilor spoke up. “We should not try to save premature babies. They will only create useless adults.”

The discussion on the fate of the Human Race continued for hours. Each suggestion made for human betterment seemed to be worse than the previous one. At first, some councilors were arguing against these extreme measures. One councilor’s objected because her nephew had a learning-disability and she didn’t want him to die. After all, what could he possibly contribute to society? That fear was set aside when another councilor suggested that they would make exceptions to the rule.

While discussions were taking place, Mark McGallister, president of the council, listened but said nothing. Instead, he took notes and contemplated what everyone was saying.
Near the end of the day, people started noticing that Mark had yet to speak. This made some people nervous, and the room soon became quiet. Mark was highly respected and everyone wanted to know what he had to say.

Slowly Mark rose from his chair and said in a clear voice, “I propose we continue this discussion tomorrow. May I have a motion to dismiss the council? Motion carried”. Mark promptly got up and left. The rest of the council milled about, trying to figure out what was on the president’s mind.

In the meantime, Mark wandered about the capital city. He had been contemplating the issues of eugenics for months and all of his ideas were coming together. Tomorrow he would let everyone know.

Mark enters the local children’s hospital and visits the premature babies. In the background, he hears an announcer predicting a brave new future for the human race.

A worried mother comes up to Mark and with a voice full of emotion asks, “You’re not going to allow my baby to die, are you?”

Mark looks at the mother and smiles, “Not if I can help it.”

The mother breaks down and starts crying. The woman’s husband comes up to her and says, “There, there now Matilda. Everything will be all right. You must not disturb the president. He is a very busy man.” The husband turns to Mark and says, “Thank you Mr. President. Come dear. Let’s get something to eat.”

While performing his duties as a volunteer, Mark contemplates his plan for the future of the human race. This plan required everyone to give up their right to raise their own children and instead required people to raise other people’s children. The good news was that no one had to die for the benefit of the future.

The Next Day
The council is back in session and everyone is waiting for the president to speak. Finally, the time has come and the president starts his arguments.

“Mr. Buford, you suggested that the mentally disabled and everyone with learning disabilities be euthanized. Did you know that I was born with autism? If what you are proposing were implemented 100 years ago, I would not be here today. Would that be acceptable to you?”

Mr. Buford looked rather ashamed and said nothing.

“I didn’t think so,” Mark continued, “Mrs. Windermere, you suggested that people with extreme bodily deformities be euthanized. If your law was in effect when space exploration started, Dr. Dupree Humped would not have made his discovery and space colonization would still be a dream.

“That was in the past.” Councilor Windermere protested. “There is no way any such significant contributions could be made now. Almost everything there is to know about science has been discovered by now. Besides, most of these useless people contribute almost nothing to society.”

“Just like you,” someone commented and she gave that person a dirty look.

“From the beginning of time, people have being saying that we know all there is to know about the world. Never once was this true. Why should things be different now?” commented Jones. “But that is beside the point. The point is how can we save the future of humanity, when we don’t know what a person is capable of until they are dead, in which case it is too late?”

“Ah hah!” Mark exclaimed, with a shout. “That is precisely the point. We can only know what a person is capable is capable of when they are dead.”

“Dead people having children - That is something I would love to see.” Councilor Wordsworth commented with a laugh.

Ignoring him, mark continued. “What I propose is this. When a person reaches 16, we collect enough sperm or eggs to make 10, 000 babies…”

Immediately, the room fills with shouting. Some were claiming that we do not need that many babies. Others were asking, “Why 16?” It was a while before the president was able to get control of the council.

“As I was saying, we collect the sperm and eggs at age 16. We then store them in a 1000 separate locations. This way, the future of humanity is safe in case of accident. All damaged sperm and ova will of course be removed before storage.” Mark looked around while the noise ceased.

“Once the donation is taken, the person is sterilized in a reversible process. This will ensure that people can still have children in case of emergency.”

“What will you do with all these sperms and eggs? We already have a population of over 230 billion people.” “Only some of the eggs and sperm will be used, not all” “What if something bad happened and all the gene banks are destroyed?” “Weren’t you listening? The president said that we will use a reversible process, so we can still have children the natural way if necessary.” “How do we choose which sperm and eggs to turn into babies?” “Would people accept this?” “That’s better than euthanasia.” The general discussion continued for a short time before Mark regained control of the meeting.

“Please people,” Mark spoke. “Let me finish what I have to say and then I will answer all your questions. As I was saying, the sex cells will be stored in a thousand safe locations. When a person dies, their sex cells will become available to the general public…Please people. Let me continue.

“The number of cells released will be proportional to how exceptional the deceased person is. If you are in the top 10% in a category, one of your gametes will be used to create a baby. Needless to say, if you are in the top 10% in two categories, you can parent two babies.

“The top 5% will get 2 babies; the top 2.5% will get 4 babies, and so on. The actual percentages can be calculated later, and adjusted whenever necessary to produce an acceptable birth rate. Once a person dies, the number of gametes available will be calculated based on how exceptional they were during life.

“These cells are available to the public on a first come, first serve basis. When a couple wants a child, they choose two donors. The fertilized egg is then placed in the woman and the couple raises the child as their own.”

The council discussed the president’s proposal for weeks. In the end, the council passed the resolution by a slim margin. A committee was formed to create the categories people were to be judged on. This took almost 30 years to complete. That and the setting up of the sperm and ova banks were the easy parts. The hard part was getting people to follow.

500 Years Later
Five hundred years have passed. Everyone now accepts the system as a fact of life. In general, the people being born were now healthier, smarter and stronger than previous generations. The pundits were crowing that civilization had entered a new era of greatness.

A young couple passes by a large statue of Mark McGallister and enters into the reception area of the Mark McGallister Life Clinic.

Two weeks ago, the famous basketball player Freddie Fastball Sanders died. The couple was lucky to get some of his sperm. They had already chosen a famous scientist as the donor of the egg. Today the egg would be fertilized and placed in the woman’s uterus.

In the meanwhile, in the recently renamed Martian city of Marksville, a 16-year-old boy enters a Life Clinic to give his Life Donation. Andrew is very excited and a little scared. This is the moment that will mark his entry into adult society. He had just received his pilot’s license, and had already chosen his adult name.

Andrew waits for what seems like an eternity in the donation room, when finally an attractive nurse enters. The nurse just barely touched him when he gave up his goods. He would have to come back several more times, but he didn’t mind. He would soon be participating in adult-only games.

Andrew’s sister Pebbles would be becoming an adult in a little over 2 years. She would then have an operation that removed one of her ovaries. The eggs in the ovary would be divided up among the Life Clinics. The other ovary will be left as a backup. Once done, the fallopian tube would be tied to prevent pregnancy. Pebbles would then become the adult Wilma.

In another city several miles away, a gang of teenagers was engaging in a very dangerous sport. Each was trying to prove that they were the best of the best, the grand prize being the right to have their own children. Many have died trying to prove themselves but the youths were convinced that the risks were worth it. Parents and authorities tried to stop this dangerous sport, arguing that Mark McGallister never intended for people to have their own children, but to no avail. Too many people wanted to raise their own children, and if some people were to die because of it, then so be it.