goatAlmighty

goatAlmighty t1_j8swqoh wrote

Stop implying something I've never said. Shout as long as you want, but the original link (and Gataca, imho), isn't about eliminating illnesses as such, but about either favoring certain embryos and/or forcing people to take careers that fit their genetic outfit, no matter if they want to or not. So forget things like freedom of any kind.

Selecting embryos due to their (perceived) chances for future college is a f*cked up idea. It's euthanasia for nothing else but, basically, intelligence. And it will, once again, favor those who can afford it and leave all others in the dust.

Eliminating illnesses on a larger scale is a completely different matter, but even that purpose is debatable. There are parents who are willing to give their unborn child a chance even if they know that it has some kind of genetic defect. And even if such measures would be reliable in the future, they'll most probably wouldn't be for the masses but for the few who can afford them.

The end result would be some very healthy, very intelligent rich people and an endless stream of poor people who, due to their "faulty" genetic composition, would be seen as mere underlings, only there to serve those that are "worthy" of good education and jobs.

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goatAlmighty t1_j8qsg1r wrote

Thank you, I will definitely give that a listen. I'm from Germany, so I'm not that familiar with US-history. But given the stance of several of their secret services and what kind of "experiments" they did with their own citizens, I'm not surprised that they went into eugenics as well.

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goatAlmighty t1_j8qrdw6 wrote

I would agree. I can see why some people would defend it, but it's not a world I'd want to live in. I mean, there's a reason that it's officially called a "dystopian" movie. It's kind of like with "Equilibrium" or "Elysium". Your life might be fine, as long as you fit the parameters to be on the winners' side, but if not, you're in a living hell.

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goatAlmighty t1_j8qq5jr wrote

This is not a condemnation, but I think, in actuality, he would probably be seen as a pretty good citizen, for the fact that he agrees with the whole eugenics- and pre-selection thing that is expressed in the movie. It's a stand one can take, for sure, and I see their reasons, but I disagree wholeheartedly with it.

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goatAlmighty t1_j8qpwtx wrote

In movies like this, those that are "perfect" in the eyes of society often don't have such a terrible life. But all the others suffer. In the case of Gattaca particularly the most abhorrent thing to me is the eugenics (something that is banned for a good reason, not only because the Nazis implemented something along these lines, according to their state of technology back then). In my opinion, the whole scenario leads to a kind of slavery where one isn't granted any personal freedom, not better than what happens in an ant-state, devoid of any humanity.

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