[Morgana]

” As a policy? Since the late 1880s.

No, that date is not a typo. “

The fuck?

Pardon my french.

[NorthMountain]

Yep. That’s the social milieu in which Margaret Sanger and Marie Stopes grew up ... and made them everything they became.

Eugenics has a long and sordid history ... it’s the result of people applying Charles Darwin’s (et al.) theories of survival and evolution to the human population.

[Harmless Teddy Bear]

Starting in the 1880's there was a movement in the upper echelons of society to breed a better human. After all humans were just animals and animals were suppose to be useful or they were put down.

I have a copy of a book called "Eugenics" from 1917 sitting on my book shelf and anytime I get overly optimistic about humanity I just read a couple of chapters and come back to reality with a thud. It isn't a book about "let's kill all the inferiors" or the rantings of a want to be Hitler. It is a "let's make people better" sort of book full of the very best of intentions. Who would not want healthy and smart grandchildren?

But once you start taking it to the logical conclusions you can see the glow of giant ovens.