3 Responses to “Clip From a Eugenics Documentary”

1. edarrell Says:
   May 8th, 2007 at 9:42 pm

   It's fascinating to me that this movement got so much support from the rich, from Christian groups (including the bizarre Christian groups like the Klan), and from professors in universities — generally people almost completely divorced from animal husbandry. It's another demonstration of the old saw that researchers who don't do research need to go watch the real world.

   The entire affair is also an object lesson in the importance of schooling human ethics. In the end we need individuals to stand up to government and institutions that urge such stuff. It's interesting to see in the headlines shown in that clip that it was scientists in the field, physicians especially, who stood up to complain that the eugenicists couldn't know what they were doing.

   Any racehorse breeder could have told them that such planning gang aft agly. In modern times we have the story of Secretariat, who was thought to be unfit to race at all by the experts.

   Darwin was correct in his apprehensions about "social Darwinism." The guy was really far-seeing.

Comment by edarrell — May 8, 2007 @ 9:42 pm

2. wengwen Says:
   May 9th, 2007 at 1:10 pm

   Mike,

   I am very interested in knowing the name of the documentary which this clip comes from. Can you help with this?

Comment by wengwen — May 9, 2007 @ 1:10 pm

3. keiths Says:
   May 9th, 2007 at 1:26 pm

   wengwen,

   The clip is from a documentary entitled Nazi Medicine.

   It's available on DVD along with another documentary by the same filmmaker:

   http://www.amazon.com/Shadow-R...

   …and from Netflix, if you're a member:

   http://www.netflix.com/Movie/N...

Comment by keiths — May 9, 2007 @ 1:26 pm

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