I feel suddenly ashamed of and embarrassed by western 'culture', and its so-called enlightenment.
Nah, apply the thinking behind Franklin's comment on democracy:
"Democracy is the worst form of government except for all the others."
Western culture and enlightenment are things to be ashamed of and embarrassed by, until you compare them to all the other cultures. Perfection is not necessary to be better than the alternatives. However, when you see something wrong within your culture you must try to correct it, as we are doing now with the insane notions being pushed by the leftists in this country.
Remember, in their day the people cited by Crichton as supporting eugenics were the "progressives" and "liberals." They were the radical reformers and, because they were wiser than everyone else, they thought that they were in the right when they pursued their hairbrained theories and tried to play God.