236 READINGS IN BIOLOGICAL SCIENCE 



I sometimes wonder whether people, who talk so freely about extirpating the 

 unfit, ever dispassionately consider their own history. Surely one must be very 

 fit indeed, not to know of an occasion, or perhaps two, in one's life when it 

 would have been only too easy to qualify for a place among the unfit. 



In the present temper of the world the human species would not be im- 

 proved by the wholesale sterilization of those persons, nations, and races 

 that conquerors and tyrants may proscribe — even if such a thing were pos- 

 sible. When class, national, and racial hatreds are rampant, there is no 

 possibility that a scientific program of eugenics can be wisely enforced. 

 Instead of intelligent mate selection and ethical education aimed at produc- 

 ing the best physical, mental, and moral qualities, we see at present in cer- 

 tain countries a return to the law of the jungle, with natural selection 

 operating on the lowest plane of physical strength, cunning, cruelty. This 

 is "Nature red in tooth and claw," for those distinctively human and 

 civilized qualities of reason and altruism. It is a return to conditions of 

 savagery and barbarism which prevailed in the early history of human 

 society, survivals of which still persist. In the modern world, competition 

 has led to the seizing of the best parts of the earth by the most aggressive 

 and powerful types, such as Arctic areas, desert wastes, tropical jungles, 

 and barren mountains: or, within a single society, to slums, ghettoes, and 

 marginal lands. It has led to the enslavement or exploitation of certain 

 races, tribes, or classes by others, in accordance with what has been called 



Nature's simple plan 

 That those should take who have the power 

 And those should keep who can. 



Whether all mankind can ever become really civilized is a serious ques- 

 tion. Certainly it will not be accomplished by breeding perfect brutes, 

 nor, on the other hand, by eugenical sterilization. Of course science rec- 

 ognizes the importance of good environment as well as of good heredity. 

 All that heredity contributes are genes, factors, potentiaHties. These po- 

 tentialities become realities only in the process of development and devel- 

 opment is controlled not only by genes, but also by all the environmental 

 conditions under which genes function. Thus environment, no less than 

 heredity, enters into the results of development. This is especially evident 

 in the later development of human beings, when example, instructions, hab- 

 its, the desire of approval and fellowship are potent factors in shaping char- 

 acter. New-fangled eugenics will never replace old-fashioned education, 

 but each should supplement the other. 



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