Using the reading for this week, distinguish between positive and negative eugenics.

Eugenics is the study of improving human stock by getting rid of undesirable traits
Eugenicists such as Davenport felt the idea of interfering in human propagation by
decreasing the reproduction of "bad genes" and increasing the frequency of "socially good
genes" would improve the qualities of the human species. There are two types of eugenics a
negative and positive eugenics.

Negative eugenics is the idea that humans that have undesirable traits shouldn’t reproduce.
People that are feebleminded lack an understanding of right and wrong and they don’t have
the power to control it. These people are very unfavorable to have reproduce since by
passing on their genes could make their offspring be susceptible to becoming “criminals,
paupers, and prostitutes.” Researchers found that feeblemindedness was a condition that
could be transmitted as often as hair and eye color. They also found that “insanity, epilepsy,
alcoholism, prostitution, criminality, and poverty” could be inherited which would be
unfavorable characteristics for scientists who are trying to create the perfect offspring. As a
result of the eugenics movement, laws were passed stating that “three generations of
imbeciles were enough” and more people were forced to go through eugenic sterilization.
This idea of “sterilizing people” became very popular in Germany and led to the
sterilization of several hundred thousand people and contributed to the death camps.

Positive eugenics involves breeding “superior people”. There would be competitions in the
United States for families to compete against each other determining which family is most
fit. After upon entering the competition, the families had to take IQ tests and the
Wasserman test for syphilis. Eugenicists concentrated on white middle and upper middle
class people, especially professional groups as having good genes for reproduction.

Describe one historical event that we can use as an analogy for making sense of life today. And, briefly
discuss what lessons it provides.

September 11th, 2001 will always be an historic day in American History. It was a day that the United
States came to realization that its sense of being invincible was over and that other countries can hurt
them. On September 11th, four commercial passenger jet airliners were hijacked by al-Quaeda suicide
bombers. These terrorists flew into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and the passengers of one plane
forced the airliner to the ground instead of reaching its designated target, Washington D.C. This one
day of events has changed the way America sees the world and how uptight everyday security needs
to be. Before 9/11 there was a feeling of safety and power over the rest of the world. However, this
event has shattered the confidence of many Americans in their views on government security. As a
result of 9/11, the airports have increased security by using body scanners and becoming stricter
about the no fly list. This historic event explains why there is a heightened state of alert among
Americans and that even the smallest gesture if taken the wrong way could be dealt with in a more
serious manner than before. The lesson that the United States has learned is that even the greatest
nation in the world can’t guarantee security and that they can’t afford to ignore even the smallest
warnings.