Individual Choice of a Pop Society

Okay, so genetics is highly based on the individual choice. That’s all great and fair when considering the eugenics and their need to create a perfect society. I like the idea of the individual choice, but, something that was touched on that needs to be looked into a little more. How is it individual choice when you’ve got society to think of? Seriously think about that for a minute, a doctor is able to tell a set of parents their child will be born with a debilitating disease, the parents usually tend to overlook this and decide to love their child no matter what. But what happens to the parents that may already have children and maybe can’t afford this child (as it was stated in the article that in London it averages out to 40,000 pounds a year to support a disabled child, which comes to almost $180,000 a year in U.S. currency)? Not to overlook the thoughts that naturally go through their minds of how society will accept their child, depending on what the child will be born with. When considering all these factors the parents might not want to have this child. And then it really wasn’t their choice, they’ve bowed down to economical and society’s pressures. Then, we must consider how free the choice is of the individual(s) when it comes to the knowledge of “new genetics”.

The one good thing about genetics versus eugenics is the final outcome. While it is true that people may not always make the final decision based on themselves, at least the final decision is left up to them. With eugenics, it’s all about creating the perfect gene for the “prefect children,” like the pairing the pairing of a dumb woman with a smart guy to create a smart child, or China’s emphasis on male children versus female (as stated in the article). Genetics does ultimately focus on the patient and not on politics. Ultimately, genetics sets out to find cures for the diseases that aren’t curable yet, like the cancer that kills with or without chemo (at times). And ultimately what genetics does and is doing for us is giving us better understanding of our bodies and of the things around us that can help us or potentially hurt us. And still whether we understand it or not, gives us the ultimate in our lives (in the medical sense).