Eugenics comes from a Greek word meaning “good birth.” It is a set of ideas and actions to improve the genes of the human population.
This movement started as science in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It grew from new knowledge about heredity and genetics. Early supporters thought traits like intelligence, health, and behavior were mostly passed down from parents.
They said society could get better by:
Encouraging people with “good” traits to have children (positive eugenics).
Stopping or discouraging people with “bad” traits from having kids (negative eugenics).
Eugenics ultimately failed as a science as its underlying assumptions were debunked and its ethical abuses became undeniable. Yet, every few decades the call for the need of eugenics arises.
Why is that? What is it that makes the rich and powerful want to indulge in eugenics?
Many elites think that they have money and power because of themselves. They think that circumstances and situations will always favour them. But most importantly, they feel they have lived an inadequate life in the past and want to live further and longer through their children. And they think they can start doing this by ensuring that their children are tailor-made as per their desires.
Beauty and intelligence are the two traits that most people want to manipulate in their favour. Both are misleading. Beauty parameters change every generation. What was considered beautiful then, is not considered now. An example, women with curves were favourably looked upon in the past, now a lean, cut body is said to be favorable.
Intelligence is another trait that many get wrong. By thinking that taking the sperm/egg of some extremely high IQ people, the child born will be intelligent, is totally wrong. This has been proven multiple times, to the disappointment of a lot of parents!
So what does one do?
Don’t fall for this nonsense of eugenics. Every “Jiva” or being is unique and when it takes birth in a human form, it does so to fulfill it’s own karmic obligations. This attempt to make a superior master race, always ends in tears. History has numerous examples of the same.
Remember, your children are not an extension of you. Children will have many characteristics from both their parents and the families they were born into but at the same time they will have many other different, independent characteristics as well.
Every human life is a journey for the individual Jiva to move closer to realising the truth of his/her existence in this world. Just as every Jiva is unique, so is their earthly human journey.
Where does meditation fit into this?
Once you practice meditation, you realise that there is more to life than that meets the eye. One realises that a lot of wants and desires are not of one’s own but picked up unconsciously from the surroundings and other people. This then makes one really think deep as to what is it that one wants and desires. This leads to freedom from living an unconscious life.
You are a “Jiva” with your own journey. You decide how you want to live your current human journey. And let other “Jiva’s” do the same.