Category: eugenics

“The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda” by Margaret Sanger

Copied from [Source] Margaret Sanger, “The Eugenic Value of Birth Control Propaganda,” Oct 1921. Published Article. Source: The Birth Control Review, Oct. 1921, 5 , Margaret Sanger MicrofilmS70:913 . For related documents, see Chapter VIII of “The Pivot of Civilization,” 1922. An editorial introduction mentions the timeliness of this article in light of the recently …

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Life Unworthy of Life Yesterday and Today, Science, Secularism, and the Sanctity of Life

This foreword is reprinted with permission of the author and may not be copied and re-posted.  The foreword originally appears in the translation of Karl Binding and Alfred Hoche’s Allowing the Destruction of Life Unworthy of Life lifeunworthyoflife.com | Buy on Amazon | Kindle Life Unworthy of Life Yesterday and Today, Science, Secularism, and the …

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Eugenicists Shared in Common with the Nazis Concepts of the “Social Body.”

One of the under-appreciated elements of what animated the eugenics mindset was the view that each species could very well be conceived of as a ‘body’ of sort.  A different level of moral calculation could be applied to the ‘social organism’ or ‘social body’ then the individual.  This is no mere invoking of the ‘common …

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Mass Extermination and ‘Lethal Chambers’ Widely Considered by Eugenicists in America, England, and Germay

Long before the Nazis implemented the ‘Final Solution,’ American and English eugenicists had talked often of the use of ‘lethal chambers’ to deal with the pressing problem of the ‘unfit.’  You can imagine Hitler’s surprise, when, after acting on precisely what elites in America and England had long been advocating for, he was perceived as …

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The Lethal Chamber Proposal, 1930 Letter to Editor by Dr. Richard Berry

A little known fact is that those with a eugenics mindset had been talking about ‘lethal chambers’ and ‘segregation camps’ for a long time before the Nazis actually used them.  Here is one example. The Lethal Chamber Proposal To the Editor, Eugenics Review   SIR,-I observe in your issue of April 1930, page 6, that you …

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Frederick Taylor and the Connection Between Eugenics, Capitalism, and Communism: Scientific Management

Buy “Scientific Management” on Amazon | Kindle | Nook Frederick Taylor and the Connection Between Eugenics, Capitalism, and Communism:  Scientific Management Frederick Winslow Taylor has blood on his hands. Judging from the reaction typical of those familiar with Taylor’s work, the idea that he, or at least, his ideas, were complicit in any great crimes …

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Abortion as Eugenics Directed at Black People, Bedroom Politics, Francis Beal

What is below was compiled and produced by Linda Greenhouse and Reva B. Siegel in their Before Roe v. Wade:  Voices that shaped the abortion debate before the Supreme Court’s ruling.  The ellipses reflect deletions by those authors.  Anyone who can locate the full, unabridged text, is kindly asked to contact the administrators of this …

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Amicus Curiae Brief submitted in support of abortion by the Zero Population Growth and a Chapter of the National Organization for Women

What is below was compiled and produced by Linda Greenhouse and Reva B. Siegel in their Before Roe v. Wade:  Voices that shaped the abortion debate before the Supreme Court’s ruling.  The ellipses reflect deletions by those authors.  Anyone who can locate the full, unabridged text, is kindly asked to contact the administrators of this …

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Abortion As Eugenics Tool: Harrison Brown and “The Challenge of Man’s Future”

Today, abortion is nearly always described in terms of a woman’s reproductive right in relation to family planning, but it is not understood that abortion was widely seen by eugenicists as a means of reducing the human population, and especially certain sub-populations (eg, black people, handicapped people, etc).  Part of this is intentional–if it was …

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Euthanasia AS Eugenics: The Nazi Action T4 project

Euthanasia is often thought of as a separate issue from eugenics, but eugenicists have often seen euthanasia as one obvious method for removing the ‘unfit.’  Due to what Nazi Germany did, those types of discussions faded away–at least, in explicit terms.  But what did Nazi Germany actually do?  Most people are only aware of the …

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