Eugenics - the betterment of the human race through selective sterilization, abortions, and/or euthanasia.

What is with the concept of eugenics anyway?
Scientists look at the human gene pool, they see and determine which genes are defects - such as insane, idiocy, feebleminded etc., and they determine which are good traits, e.g. elegance, incorrupt, etc.
Many people we know practiced eugenics throughout history, the most prominent example I can think of; Hitler.

Hitler had the desire to make Germany racially pure, to get rid of non-Aryans, e.g., the Jews.
He started of with selective sterilization, abortions, and encouragement of reproduction between racially pure Aryan women and men.
Then he went to the extreme - the Holocaust.

But who has the say; who has the right to play God, and determine which character traits are defects and which are good?
Which society gets to set the standard for the 'best breed' of humans?
This is where conflicting ideology sets me off.

Just because one culture deems another as racially unpure, doesn't mean it is.
Why in the first place get the idea that that particular race is unpure?
I think it is clearly born from xenophobia.
Just because another person looks different from you, has different habits, or speak differently, doesn't mean that he is beneath you.
You may never have thought that he, from his perspective, may view you as the lower class.

Just because their culture and practices are different from yours, doesn't mean that his moral values aren't there, it just means that he has different ways of expressing it.
Just because they do not express it the same way as you do, and just because you, cannot comprehend nor interpret these signs and shows of concern, thus conclude that they are beneath you, and you only reach this conclusion because of you inability to comprehend and think flexibly.

Men are full of their ego; what they think is right, stays right.
And that is how they mould their minds into thinking that their culture is the best.
I'm not pinpointing any race, culture, or what-you-have.
I'm just pointing out examples from the past - like Vermont.
The whites were predominant there, though they were not the settlers.
They were bent on eliminating the Gypsies, Indians, and other inapt races from the pure Vermonts.
But to me, it was just their own xenophobia that drove that desire to rid their town of the unknown.

Just because one Gypsy may have committed murder, doesn't mean that he is not human.
Yes, murder is inhumane, but have they ever looked at the cause for it, and not the action?
No doubt, there were Gypsies and Indians held at camps and institutions - because they were deemed of having 'defects' in their genetics - just like concentration camps in Germany.
What if that Gypsy committed murder, because one of the Vermonts had killed someone in the camp, someone supposedly, a beloved family member of the accused?
Would you do the same?
Would you demand justice be done to whoever had killed your, let's say, father?
And would you, knowing that if you, a genetically defect person, brought the case to court, it would be dismissed just because of the previous fact, take justice into your own hands, just because you know it is a human right?
Would you?

Eugenics still exist in our modern world.
But now we most closely associate it with designer babies - babies that are genetically modified when they are just sperm and egg, so that 'undesirable' traits may be removed before the baby is even put into the womb.
In my opinion, this is much more humane, because most people do this to remove illnesses from their babies, and not modify them so that they may be 'good' or 'better'.
They remove heritable illness to protect their child - so that he may not need to bear the brunt of the illness when he grows up, ill and frail.
I guess it's just the parent's love for their unborn child.

But yet, some people purposely make a designer baby, to use it's body, to save another child they have.
They purposely modify their baby so that he may have all the traits to save the other.
Maybe it's commendable that the parents love their child so much that they'd sacrifice another to save the former.
But what about the other baby?
How'd it feel going in and out the hospital on a regular basis?
Where is justice to that baby, then?

Also, my di brought up the concept of 'survival of the fittest'.
What do we deem as survival of the fittest?
In this modern day context, yes, the people who have brains and are capable of handling advanced technology would be the successful ones, and would be the ones who climb up the corporate ladder.
And these will be the people who look down on others in less-advanced societies, because they cannot achieve the same.

But what if we go back to the basics?
Let's say, for example, that the world is reaching an apocalypse.
It's gonna end.
Then we won't have all these high tech gadgets to save us.
It would just be nature and us.
Now, who will survive then?
Definately not those at the top of the corporate ladder, but those who are 'backward'.

Those who live in harmony with nature, those who appreciate it.
Those who are deemed with 'defects' in their genes.
They know how to live with the land, we know how to live off it.

So really, who is the less capable now?
Who will really survive the end of the world?
Who really will be deemed as the fittest?

Just another illustration:
During the last ice age, where almost all humans were wiped out, only about 12 thousand humans survived (if I have my facts right), and these were the last few who re-populated the world.
And these last humans were Africans.

Food for thought.

All this is just my completely honest opinion about eugenics.
It should be thoroughly scraped.
We have our human rights to reproduce as we want, and to choose who we want to reproduce with.
We do not have a 'model human being' to follow.
No one has to right to decide which traits are better.
And we, certainly are not cows.
xoxo 9:32 PM

I haven't written a story in the longest time because I am the biggest procrastinator on Earth.
Surprisingly, I finished this story in a span of 2 hours.
Certainly my fastest ever.
I guess I'm making up for lost time, lol.
Though that doesn't really help much.

But anyway, hope whoever's gonna read it, that you'd enjoy ;)

A/N: Story dedicated to my lovely brother, LGY.
Thanks also to Dr. Cindy Childress who taught me how to give my characters life and depth. Also to the panel discussion w writers from all over the world that inspired this story’s format.

Faith


Letters from one lover to another that didn’t care.

…

14th June 2009

Baby,

I was late for school today. But I didn’t care, as usual. I thought it just and the natural thing to do; just, because I was spending time with you yesterday. I didn’t tell you, but I had to scour every part of my house just to find that extra cash to call a cab and get myself to your – our as I would like to say – house.

As usual, when you opened the door, my stomach flipped and my heart raced, just like how every clichéd girl-in-love would say she experienced. But it’s true, baby, it really is. I always get the jitters when I’m with you. Though you may not feel the same way, but I certainly do. And even though it’s been two years since we’ve been together, I can’t get rid of that feeling, that anxiousness. I think I’d die with it.

I wanted to hug you when I saw you. I reached out and opened my arms, just like how fathers would when receiving their child into their arms. But you hit me and said, “don’t be stupid.” I don’t know what I did wrong, but I’m sorry if I made you angry. I just wanted that hug, but I understand if it’s stupid to still expect a hug every time I see you, after all this while.

The bags I lugged there were heavy. In fact, I almost fell carrying them all up. I brought a lot of things for you, baby. But you didn’t even look and asked me to store them away tidily. And so I did. Alone, I unpacked everything – all the canned foods, the drinks, the snacks, and placed them in their respective areas. When I was done, I looked for you, and when I did, I encased you in a hug, of which you reciprocated, and instantly I smiled without even knowing it. Like those who try to act innocent, I looked up at you through heavy lashes, keeping my head adjusted in such a way that you’d be seeing my best angle. I wanted a kiss, but once again, you told me, “don’t be stupid.” And I knew that the moment had ended.

You went back to your computer, furiously typing away as you tried to win whatever online game you were hooked on to now. I knew better than to disturb you, and so I did not. I went about my own business, helping you tidy up your place. Keeping away my frown in an imagined duffel bag, I pictured myself throwing it out of the window, and hoping that it would land in some faraway sea. Forcing myself, I smiled, getting ready to do what I was expected to.

I started with the floor. I mopped and I scrubbed and I cleaned and I swept. With meticulous care I carried out each task, because I knew you were highly allergic to dust. I caught a glimpse of the clock hung on the wall; 4.39 am. It was late, and I was about to fall asleep standing. But you were still playing your game, and I didn’t want to disturb you. I didn’t want to make you angry. And so I continued, packing your room and the rest of the house. When I was finally done, you came up to me and said that it was late, and I had to go home. Without saying another word, you unlocked the door, and escorted me out, to where I would have to flag another cab just to get back home on time. Before the cab came though, you bent down to plant a soft kiss on my lips for a mere second, but in that second, I knew, that this night – and all that I’ve done, was worth it.

When I got home, I was too exhausted to rush for school, and so I was late. I’m so sorry baby, I hope you’ll forgive me one day.

Xxx
Faith.

…

21st June 2009

Baby,

I was just looking through our old photographs together. And I really miss the old times. Remember the first time we went to the beach together, baby? Well I’m not sure if you remember – not that I expect you to, I mean, it was so long ago; but I remember the whole day perfectly, and I know I’ll never forget, because it’s permanently etched in my mind.

You were different then.

When you came to fetch me, I remembered how good you looked. You were wearing that black polo tee that I bought for you, and the denim jeans we ripped together. The smell of your cologne hung unto me as you picked me up in a hug and swung me in a tiny circle before you let me down carefully because I said I was dizzy. I regret it now – the saying I was dizzy, because you don’t carry me now or swing me around or even hug me too often; and I miss all of that.

We walked to a nice shady spot of which you skillfully spotted, and I started to unpack all our things for the lovely picnic you planned. You said that you needed to go to the washroom, and so I counted to seconds before you would return. In the meantime, I hastily unpacked everything and settled them nicely, so that we could start eating when you came back. I knew you were hungry, I could hear your stomach complaining.

Suddenly, as I was settling down a glass, a pair of hands covered my eyes, impairing my vision. I forced down a scream as I heard a familiar voice asking me, “guess who?” I giggled, because you were so silly, and I guessed it right on my first go. “My clever girl, no one else can ever compare,” you told me. And then you did another thing that threw me off my feet. From behind you surfaced the biggest and most beautiful bouquet of pink roses I have ever seen, and my mouth formed the biggest ‘O’ that could possibly be formed. “For my one and only,” you said to me, and then you placed the bouquet gently in the crook of my arms. “Oh no, that’s not the end,” you told me, when I grinned at my flowers.

You took a step back, so that you were standing right in front of me, and pulled out yet another box from behind your back. At that point, I wondered exactly how many things you could hide behind your back, and pondered if – possibly, I could fit behind there, too. Out of nowhere, you fell to one knee, opened the box, and crooned in your most velvety voice –
“Faith, my love, my precious, my everything. Have I ever told you, how pretty you are, how lucky I am? And now, I want to be lucky forever. Will you marry me?”

I could have sworn my voice was frozen, and I was too, just like a statue. But I managed to joke how we were still young, because you were only nineteen then, and I, sixteen. Though I quickly added that yes, I was willing to marry you, because I knew there and then and even before, that you were The One, and I wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of forever with you. “It’s ok,” you said, “I’ll wait. I’ll wait till we’re both older and possibly less fun.” I loved your sense of humor; you always knew how to make a tense situation feel like the most right thing on earth.

We continued with our picnic then, and I concluded that that day was for sure, the best day of my life.

Xxx
Faith.

…

29th June 2009

Baby,

I don’t know where we went wrong. But I guess I’m used to it. I came to your house again, as usual, where I brought the usual things, and did the usual chores, and you played your usual games. The usual, as usual.

I don’t know how long I can take this, baby. This routine has gone on for so long. I’m physically tired, but I never complain, because I don’t want to upset you. I’m mentally tired, but I’ve learnt to stop thinking about it, to numb the pain instead, because that makes it bearable.

I don’t know why we’re like this now, but I think I may know.

It was just another day, just another ordinary day. We were seated in our usual cinema, and, if my memory doesn’t fail me, I guess we were watching Harry Potter. Or some show that you wanted to catch. You had your arms around me, and we were sharing a drink – ice lemon tea, our favorite. After the movie ended, we purposely took the longer bus to my place, like how we always did. I remember you slipped me a letter, and I still have it now.

Faith, my baby, my love.

Have I ever told you how beautiful you are? I love how your eyes always light up when we’re together. I love how your lips pull themselves automatically into the most amazing smile I have ever seen in my life. I love how your hair shines with life and bounces so care freely of your shoulders. You are so, so, so, beautiful, and I don’t know what I did to deserve you picking me out of your long line of suitors. I love you, Faith, I really do, and xxx.

I can’t believe you wrote all those, but I knew I melted when I read it. You were such an amazing boyfriend, and that was why I picked you out of the rest.

But when we reached my house, you suddenly seemed angry and moody. I quickly followed your eyes to where you were so intensely glaring at, and I could have sworn that my eyes were going to pop out of my head. Sitting there, ever so intently, at my doorstep, was Josh – one of my ever-persistent suitors.

The minute Josh saw me, words shot out of his mouth as if it were a tap left on. The most ridiculous things poured out, of how we had spent a night together, of how we had had dinner together, and other crude things I would never have even dared to think of, must less actually carry them out with Josh. I started to protest and rebut his absurd claims, but I think you zoned out then, because you were just staring into nowhere, and not answering any of us.

I think I must have hurt you very bad. Because you didn’t listen to my explanation, even though I really swear I did not do anything of which Josh claimed. From then on, you just zoned out on me, and everything we did together. It really hurt me, too, because I hated the new you, but I abhorred myself even more for landing you in this state. I’m sorry, baby, I really am. I don’t know how I can ever make up the injustice I have so selfishly and thoughtlessly inflicted on you. But I still love you, baby. I will love you forever.

Xxx
Faith.

…

4th July 2009

Baby,

Why won’t you call me? Why won’t you reply my texts? Why won’t you talk to me?!! I am going crazy, baby, please don’t ignore me! Please baby, I don’t know what I did wrong, but not having you in my life for even a day kills me, and it’s been weeks, baby, weeks. Please don’t do this to me, baby. Please.

I’m sorry that I missed a spot on your couch, I’m sorry if I cried when you hit me because I didn’t do my job properly. I promise I won’t be so tardy the next time. I will do my best, and continue to do my best for you, because that’s what you deserve, baby, that’s exactly what you deserve.

Xxx
Faith

…

28th July 2009

Baby,

I’m sorry that I haven’t written to you for you long. My mind has been a blank ever since you left, but I know that you’re in a better place now, where I could never possibly hurt you. I hope you’re happy, baby, and I’m sorry for all you’ve had to endure whilst you were still here with me. I hope that you’d never have to experience those pains again, because an angel like you deserves so much more.

I really miss you, and I hope that I can hold you in my arms, again, but I know that you wouldn’t like that.
Take care, baby, and please be safe. I will miss you forever and ever.

Xxx
Faith.

…

A letter for Faith:


7th July 2009

My dearest Faith,

I’m sorry I had to leave you. I’m sorry, that for the past year, I’ve locked myself up, and kept myself as distant as possible from you. Faith, my honey, I hope that when I’m gone, that you’d find someone so much better for you, because I know I have not treated you with the respect and love that you ought to have had.

I guess I just couldn’t forgive myself for not protecting you from all your crazy suitors. I’m sorry, I failed you my darling. But now that I’m going to be out of the picture, you will be so much better off, baby.

I still think of you every night, and I know that you have suffered so much with me. Sorry for mistreating you, I just wanted you to leave me, and you don’t know how much it hurt me, Faith, baby, to treat you how I did the past year. I hated myself every time I hit you, and I thought you were the dumbest girl to have stuck with me through it all. I really don’t know why you love me so much, you silly girl. I really didn’t know how to leave you without hurting you, because I knew that if you cling on forever, you would go nowhere.

I know now, that the only way I can stop hurting you, is to just disappear forever. And that’s what I’m doing now. I’ve planned everything, and I’m sure nothing will go wrong. Please take care, my dearest, and I wish you all the best.
I love you, and still will, wherever I may be going.

Xxx
G.

The End
xoxo 7:55 PM