Monday, November 28, 2011
Breeding the New German"Race" and No Time to Think
In these two articels we see how the Nazis sterilized women unfit to bear children and in how much uncertainty that Germany changed. The first article describes how the Nazis felt that women with genetic disorders should not be allowed to have children. Do you think this is fair? To what extent should this be enforced? Does it seem more "ok" condsidering America had similar thinking at one point in time? In the second article, we are given the opinion of a German professor. Had you been a German in these times, do you think you would have noticed the gradual change? Would you have been the one person to stand up?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In the first reading, Breeding the New German Race, I don't think it was fair to prevent women from having children. Whether or not women had genetic disorders, the Nazis should not have had that amount of power to be able to prevent them from having children. I don't think that that kind of law or enforcement should be influenced at all. Just because the Americans had done something similar, does not make it anymore justified. Also in the No Time to Think reading, I think that it depends on how old you were during the gradual changes. If I were a teenager or younger, I probably would not have noticed any kind of change, and then end up wondering how society had changed so drastically. However if I were an adult, I think I would notice the changes. As an adult, you already know yourself, and your definition of right and wrong, so it is easier to detect changes in society and the government. Unfortunately, if I was there during Nazi Germany, I don't think I would have the courage to stand up. I probably would disagree with many things with the way society was heading, and mention it to close friends, but never speak up because of the fear I would have about what would happen to me.
ReplyDeleteThe first reading is all about the continuation of the distorted idea of keeping the superior race pure, and not mixing with those of inferior physical qualities. I agree with Isabel, as I think that there is absolutely no justification for sterilizing women in order to benefit the aggregate quality of a population. It should be a woman's choice is she wants to bear a child, and the fact that our country carried out a similar policy doesn't make it morally right. Plus, the child could end up being a brilliant inventor or scholar, and even if that isn't the case, there's still no reason to deprive a woman of a child.
ReplyDeleteThe second reading talked about how Germans failed to notice all of the horrible changes that were occurring in Germany. It's difficult to put myself in the shoes of one of these teenagers simply because I've never experienced anything like the holocaust; however, I'm almost certain that I wouldn't have noticed the changes. Hitler and the Nazis were extremely clever in their decision to make drastic changes over long time periods, with many steps in between. This gave the public the perception that each act of cruelty wasn't so bad, because it wasn't all that much worse than the one before it. I'd love to say that I would have stood up as a citizen in Nazi Germany, but I think that the fear imposed on me would have been too much. After all, it's human nature to be selfish, and it takes an extremely courageous person to risk his or her life for the well being of others.
As unfair and immoral as it was to prevent women from having children, it was a good strategy. If you want to build a great race and nation, you cant have small things setting you back. One thing about the first reading I found perplexing though was how simple minded people were. It seemed surreal that people thought only woman were the source of the problem not men. I don't think that this law should have been imposed at all, It is completely unjust. Just because Americans began to do it doesn't make it right. to me its even worst that America started doing it before the Germans because it goes against the morals of the nation. In the second article, being the average German at the time I don't think I would've noticed the gradual change because Hitler having such a systematic way of getting in peoples head and gaining control, I think I would've succumbed to society and not notice changes. I don't think I'd be one to stand up because once these Nazi ideas have been imposed on me (being the average German) I wouldn't stand up. I'd be so brainwashed and all the morals I had would've been replaced by these new ones enforced upon me and I wouldn't want to change.
ReplyDeleteExcellent spelling Grant. I condsider these two articels very interesting. I was especially intrigued by the first one on Eugenics and that kind of thing.
ReplyDeleteFirstly, I would like to point out that the reason why Eugenics is so scary is because it is a very sensible thing for a government to do. It has several benefits. Firstly, you can breed out genetic diseases and that kind of thing. If this happens, then there can be a stronger community rid of impurities. Secondly, a nation can control its people marriage-wise. Therefore, the people become smarter and stronger than other non-regulated cultures. If that happens, then the country has an edge over all other places.
Naturally, this is horrible and appalling by our standards, and genetically, it is hard for these kinds of things to work. Genetics is a big probability equation, and breeding out temporarily "bad" people will not do that much. Also, a child could easily end up being smarter and stronger than everyone else. It happens.
However, the main reason why Nazi Eugenics wouldn't work is because the Nazis made it racial and political as well as scientific. Breeding out a culture has no scientific benefit. It only creates ill will. Also, sterilizing political enemies makes no sense scientifically, and the mere idea of sterilizing only females is incredibly sexist.
The second article wasn't as fascinating as the first. It concerned a college professor and how he witnessed his culture change around him. The one part that really struck me was the little steps. If all of these things happen, and you are fine with the first, then technically will be fine with them all. Also, the article focused on how the people went along with the Nazis because no one would stand up to them.
I found the first article appalling in many ways. First of all, the sterilization of only females is incredibly sexist and unfair. I think that most women would like to grow up, get married and have a family. By "sterilizing" the women it prevented them form creating a family, which was exactly what Hitler wanted to happen. But why not "sterilize" the men? Another thing that I found incredibly surprising is that the Germans were not the only people that did this, the USA did the exact same thing in the early 1900's. Hitler also carefully inspected all the applicants for his secret police force. They judged people on body proportions, eyes, hair and how they presented themselves. I found this so weird, these were people who obviously supported Hitler enough to apply for this elite position but they would have been denied a place just because they had non-German looking cheekbones. The second article was a bit less provocative but still made me think about morals and decisions. This story was really insightful and gave you a look into what was going through one mans ming while Hitler came to power. It really helped me understand what was actually happening in peoples mind. We talk a lot about Hitlers brainwashing in class and I have never really had a window into someones mind who was actually there. I think that with this new view on anti-Semitism will be helpful when forming my own views on the subject. I would really love to think that I would be the person who would stand up for what I believed in and fight for what, right now, while sitting in class, I think is moral and correct, but, in truth, I am a coward and believe that I would have stayed quiet and watched what was happening form a distance. As terrible and sad that it sounds, I would probably not risk my life for what I believe to be the correct thing to do. If it meant the potential death of me and my family and my friends I would have stayed quiet and not spoken out against Hitler and his government.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeletef I were to describe Germany in WWII in a single word, the last word in the whole english language I would use would be "fair." Not only is Germany violating human rights, they are ruining millions of peoples lives, and everyone is ok with it. This law should not be enforced at all; If you attempt to make everyone perfect and close to equal, it will eventually come crashing down and have bd effects. Just because America had similar thinking, doesn't mean it makes it right.
ReplyDeleteIn the second article, a man talks about the gradual corruption of Germany. He says that he didn't realize anything was going wrong until his child says "jew swine." At that point he looked at the world with a completely new perspective. I honestly don't know if I would have known these changes to Germany were happening, but I sure would like to think that I'd be able to grasp the situation. Would I be the person to stand up for everyones rights? Sadly, probably not, because of Hitlers great influence, for me to speak up was for me to be shunned for the rest of my life.
Lets be honest for a bit. It is highly unlikely that anyone would speak out against the sterilization, Holocaust, or whatever it may be.
ReplyDeleteThe second article really illustrated my point, but the first one does as well. The professor demonstrated how easy it was for someone to ignore the problem. I find that his story was quite compelling. For the Nazi party, it was all about keeping them busy, and small steps. I think that if the Nazis started sterilization as soon as they got power, there would be much public outcry, but they didn’t. They instead took small steps; they worked people into a state of apathy towards crimes against humanity. Instead of thinking of the problems, they were too busy to think; instead of reacting sooner, they waited, because who wants to be a troublemaker?
On the topic of eugenics, lets be honest again. No, obviously it’s a terrible thing and it doesn’t matter that America had this stance at one point, human rights, etcetera, etcetera. But they did a really good job at clouding the minds of those who might stand up. They started small: other races are inferior. But they expanded, until it seemed silly to think that all races were equal, sterilization was just a “logical conclusion” that could be justified in one’s mind. That’s all that it comes down to, if enough people can justify something, you can do anything you want.
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteIn the first reading, about the new German race, it talked about sterilizing women from having children. I did not agree with this at all because I don't think its right to single out a group of people (women with genetic disorders), to benefit one's own needs, especially a population. Just because the United States did something similar, doesn't mean the Nazi's needed to follow up on it for their country, as if it seemed fair. I think sterilizing women was incredibly sexist because men didn't have to deal with horrific things such as this. In the next reading, No Time to Think, a college professor talked about his perspective on Germany's changing culture, as a child. I honestly don't think I would have noticed the changes because as a child other things are definitely on your mind, rather than society. I also think most people wouldn't stand up to the Nazi's unless they were being harmed themselves, or because they didn't want anything to happen to them.
ReplyDeleteThe first article focused on keeping a pure race by means of getting rid of disabilities. Naturally the source of the disability were blamed on the woman. Many woman were sterilized for having disabilities or deseases. It is now apparent to us that this will not solve anything because disabilities are not necessarily congenital. However, if you think of it in the way they would have, less educated and greatly wanting of a pure race, then sterilization, although morally incorrect, seems like a good answer to making a pure race. This does not mean sterilization is right, I think a woman should choose whether or not she wants a baby.
ReplyDeleteThe second article discusses the gradual change of Germany. The Nazi's did not storm in and take control immediately, they did it over time, and at the right time. They country was struggling, so they stepped in and seemed to be perfect. The Nazis seized this opportunity, and took over Germany. No one saw it coming because they were needy and if they did see anything wrong, they did not have the voice protest.