Posted on 08/25/2007 11:18:39 AM PDT by wagglebee
Everyone has a couple of buried skeletons hiding behind their secret closet door. America is no exception. During the mid 20th century, state institutions for individuals with developmental disabilities began popping up all over the country, due in part to the Eugenics movement. These institutions were primarily human warehouses for the “feebleminded.” Eugenics actually began in America and was adapted by Nazi Germany and continued long after Hitler's genocide of 6 million European Jews.
It was believed, at that time, that those with “mental defectives” were inferior and polluting the gene pool. Under the movement, Eugenics attempted to keep these individuals from reproducing by sterilizing and locking them up in state institutions. During the 1920s, early “science” developed I.Q. tests that were used to place individuals into the state's hands, believing that intelligence was inherited.
As I.Q. testing gained social popularity, new research started to suggest that environment played a major role in the scoring process of the I.Q. tests. A child from an unloving, hectic family usually scored low on the test but when placed in a nurturing home, the child could flourish and raise their score. A lot of the children placed in these institutions were not mentally retarded but poor, uneducated with no family or home to call their own.
Today, we are fully aware of the significant role the environment plays in the development of a child.
Mentally impaired individuals and the socially disadvantaged were integrated together in these institutions, receiving much of the same care, deficient support, and cruel treatment. By the 1930s, this was very much socially acceptable and part of the legal system. Stigmas and stereotypes were placed on individuals with disabilities or low I.Q.s. Oftentimes, doctors would advise parents to hand newborns over to the state after birth if there were any disabilities. At that time in American history, little to no supports were available to meet the needs of children with disabilities in schools and homes.
A recent CNN article, “Families Get Help Finding Loved Ones Lost in Institutions,” by Lisa Cohen notes that by 1967, 100,000 children were institutionalized among the 162 state facilities across the United States. Stories of cruelty and mistreatment were rampant and are still remembered by those who survived the institutionalization of thousands of American children. Institutionalized children became victims of sexual abuse, neglect and cruelty. At times, these children were heavily sedated, isolated and restrained. These children grew up believing they did not belong on earth, and they weren't part of the species.
In 1994, Senate hearings established that the Fernald State School for the Feebleminded in Massachusetts institutionalized many children during the Eugenics era, using them as guinea pigs for an experiment conducted by MIT scientists. As part of a “science club,” a selection of children were fed radioactive oatmeal as a nutritional study by Quaker Oats. The children were never informed nore did they give consent to be part of the experiment, even though laws had been established just 10 years before stating the need for consent. Since the experiments became public knowledge, members of the science group have since sued MIT, Quaker Oats and the government, receiving $60,000.
Institutions or human warehouses have begun to close and shut down leaving “medical terms” such as imbecile and moron on state records. By sterilizing and imprisoning individuals with disabilities, America thought they were improving the future, creating a healthier, more intelligent society. Today, individuals with disabilities are living independently, playing strong, active roles in the community.
My sister was a PhD level educator who specialized in working with disabled students of all kinds. She is hardly “unemployable”. Is it compassionate to allow retarded people to breed as many retarded children as they like while the taxpayers get to foot the bill? How about the crime rate? Low IQ correlates strongly with criminal activity as well.
"Lebensborn."
BTW, my sister that taught special ed is a liberal democrat! She loved her students and did her best to prepare them for jobs. However, she recognized that an increasing percentage of kids with low IQs and the resulting behavior problems will lead to much bigger costs for society in the future. BTW, the term “marching morons” was a reference to a famous science fiction novel about this exact problem. She would never use that term; I did. I don’t advocate forcible sterilization, warehousing, or any such approach as a solution. I rather like the idea of offering cash bonuses to people who opt for voluntary sterilization. We would save a lot in the long run.
Wow. You've got all the socialist justifications down pat. Good job!
By all means, we MUST keep the population smart and pure.
BTW, the term “marching morons” was a reference to a famous science fiction novel about this exact problem.
And it's soooooooooooo true don't ya know.
Research that I have read indicates that about 80% of intelligence is genetically determined. However, character and morality are LEARNED behaviors and are much more important than IQ. BTW, the Ashkenazi Jews that the Nazis tried to wipe out have the highest average IQ of any ethnic group on Earth. I once looked for some of my mother’s family in Poland. Not one survived WWII and the concentration camps.
Agreed. Intelligence is overrated.
However, if a generally high-IQ group comes into conflict with a generally low-IQ group, the high-IQ group will probably win.
My questions about the long-term evolutionary effects of "survival of the least fit" remain.
And it's soooooooooooo true don't ya know.
Yes, it seems that other societies have also dealt with this "problem".
Translation:
"This person suffering from hereditary
defects costs the people 60,000
Reichmarks during his lifetime. People,
that is your money. Read 'New People'."
I get tired of the venomous attacks that people launch on FR if you differ the slightest bit from them. On this thread my sister, who is a dedicated and compassionate person, was attacked as “unemployable”, I got compared to the nazis (Oy, isn’t there a rule that the first person in a debate to call you a nazi automatically loses?), and somebody else thought it was “socialist” for me to notice that our society is breeding lots of retarded children. Can’t we discuss anything without personal attacks? Let’s keep it civil in cyberspace!
Not when you say things like this:
somebody else thought it was “socialist” for me to notice that our society is breeding lots of retarded children.
And this:
At the rate we are going society will be overwhelmed by the “marching morons” within two generations. While forcible sterilization, institutionalization, and drugging are horrible, our society needs to discourage low IQ people from procreating faster than the rest of the population which they are currently doing.
I’ve had it with the insults. Rude and reckless posting is damaging to FR. I will no longer discuss this topic on tis thread.
You're the one calling people "retards."
At the rate we are going society will be overwhelmed by the “marching morons” within two generations. While forcible sterilization, institutionalization, and drugging are horrible, our society needs to discourage low IQ people from procreating faster than the rest of the population which they are currently doing.
This is socialist control of people that you don't "approve" of. They aren't pitbulls to be sterilized out of existence.
This from the man that used "marching morons" to describe another human being.
Strange, isn't it?
What sort of lame education department allows someone with such a bad attitude toward the less fortunate have such easy access to them? Oh, yeah! All of them.
You keep telling me that your sister is a brainiac who could get a job anywhere, so let her. She would find out quickly that in the real world people who dislike their customers suffer.
I doubt all the children who are in the slow classes are on welfare ,but even if they were, you would need a huge hole where heart is to hate poor children. Maybe we are paying to much money for some services that the less fortunate are receiving. For instance, it is a waste of tax dollars to allow hateful people to be around the retarded. Give me a teachers aid who has had to suffer with a disability and I will show you a better teacher for the disabled than your PhD. sister. I doubt such a teacher would cost as much money. You know everyone would win even your sister who would become rich working at a corporation.
Our prisons are over crowded because of the drug laws. Most of the people who broke our drug laws are not retarded.
As for sterilization laws, for the sake of all people including you and your sister , I’m against it. The sterilization laws are used on people who have no political power. You can read up on Carrie Buck or the Nazis if you doubt this to be true. You should also read Brave New World while you’re at it.
Good one!
Was that the Oneida Community that eventually became the leading silversmiths in the country and also made excellent traps?
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