Katrina meets Social Darwinism and its son, Eugenics

There is no way to express the anger and heartache being experienced by the American people, who have watched with sadness as other Americans, most notably the people of New Orleans suffer through an unbelievable, and also inexcusable ordeal. Whose fault is it that poor and mostly African American citizens were left to fend for themselves after being devastated by a break in a levee that caused one of the worst floods in American history? Whose fault is it that babies and the elderly and sick were left to die in the streets from heat, and dehydration, and a lack of basic medical care? Whose fault it is that there was no foods dropped, nor water, and that it took days and not hours for an effective government response? Whose fault is it that people who had no resources to plan, or any way to execute their own evacuation from a city that began evacuating at least three days prior to the storm, were left behind?

It is easy after an incident such as this to lay blame on the obvious government culprits. Yet, it might be more just to begin lying blame at the feet of the churches, mosques and synagogues who are there, yet who long ago abandoned their missions to the poor in inner cities, to serve the wealthy who can afford to tithe. Due to the faith based government funding programs, you can find drug programs, and half way houses, etc., sponsored by religious institutions that are funded by the government in inner cities, yet these pale in comparison to real inner city ministries that cater to the poor. They are primarily sources of funding and no longer "causes" in and of themselves. Why didn’t these "soul saving" institutions get buses ahead of the storm to save those poor souls, and prevent them from being stranded, and left to die in the streets of New Orleans? There is more blame to hand out, so let’s move up, or rather down to the mayor, and governor, and then FEMA. Ultimately of course, after all of this high minded posturing, and blame lying, we must also look at our own selves, this American citizenry. Are we ready to take some blame for what we have allowed to happen in or country, knowing that essentially "we" are the government and for better or worse, if it fails it means that we, as a people, has also failed. The situation in New Orleans should cause us to ask "How did "we," and not only how did "they" fail?" What is it about our view of life that makes it possible for something like what happened in New Orleans to take place?

There are many people who are saying that had the US signed the Kyoto Global warming Treaty; we would have been spared the wrath of Katrina. They claim that Katrina, and in fact all of the hurricanes that have devastated our southern coasts over the recent past, are the result of global warming. That may, or may not be true. Reputable scientists continue to disagree on whether or not global warming is a phenomenon that is presently having a serious and immediate impact on our daily lives. Whether it is or not, does not explain why a government and citizenry cannot plan effectively for the care of the poor and minorities in the case of catastrophic events. A natural disaster, or hurricane did not cause the tragedy in New Orleans, it was caused by the structural failure of man made levees, designed and built to protect New Orleans from flooding. What went wrong?

If we have become a people who believe that whatever happens in our society is someone else’s fault, then it makes sense for us to for us to single out and attack individuals for what went wrong. This feels good, and eases our immediate pain, and sense of powerlessness. Yet, if we want to prevent such incidents from ever happening again, we must identify and address the real causes. There are perhaps many, and without doubt, two of those causes is Darwinism and Eugenics. What happened in New Orleans is symbolic of the ongoing argument between evolutionist and creationist in our country, and also the culture war.

Social Darwinism, which is evolution theory, is based upon the materialist belief that man originated from lower species, and evolved through a process called dialectical conflict. Dialectical conflict is a survival theory, which suggests that through a competitive process, nature insure that only the strongest of all species survive. This means that artificial advantages, or leverage against death given to the poor, the ill, or the inferior races, weakens societies, and may ultimately lead to their downfall should the weaker be allowed to survive when nature would have eliminated them, or if they are allowed to procreate. Eugenics is the methodology by which societies plan the battle for survival through public policies. Through Eugenics we identify who shall live, who shall have chances, and advantages, and who shall be denied, and whose deaths we shall welcome, and advance through humane and civil means if possible, and through other means if not. In the past, Eugenics depended heavily upon race, or rather skin color and physical attributes as a determinant in such matters. Today, due to DNA studies we now use intellectual aptitude, class, and health status to distinguish between the weak, and the strong, realizing that race is not so easily determined after centuries of human migration, and mixture. Public policies regarding disaster relief, the allocation of natural and other resources, and also social service policies are increasingly predicated upon such distinctions, especially sense the world has acquiesced to the United Nation’s sustainable development theory and its emphasis on population control. It is worth noting here that the foremost proponents of dialectical conflict and materialists theories similar to social Darwinism and sustainable development were Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels, the fathers of Communism, and also Hitler, who led the Nazi movement of Germany, Mussolini and Stalin, Pol Pot and Mao. Historically Communists, along with their belief that man is involved in a class struggle that pits the worker against capitalists in a never ending primordial struggle, also hated religion, and sought as a priority its elimination, a goal also shared by the United Nations.

Similarities between the popular ideas that gave rise to World Wars and our current views of war, population control and development are very hard to ignore. The idea of preventive wars, which we now call preemptive strikes, became popular during the rise of Social Darwinism and Eugenics, and led to the mass killings of those deemed weak, handicapped, poor and of inferior races throughout Asia, Europe, and the European colonies in Africa. The idea of perpetual war, and disaster as a means by which to accelerate the evolution of the human species was also popular during that era, as it is now. Abortion, the use of embryonic stem cells to cure disease, euthanasia and assisted suicide are all ideas that find their origins in the belief that the human being is merely a higher biological species, evolved through mutations brought on by stress and conflict.

If we continue to advance, or even to ignore the idea that the human being is a purely biological entity that is receptive only to stress and hardship as catalysts for development, we are lining ourselves up for genetic and cellular engineering, and other measures that will ensure longevity for the rich and strong who will, according to this belief, perpetuate the progress of the human species. Such ideas will similarly lead to certain death for the poor, disabled and also the born, and unborn children of the poor who according to social Darwinism and Eugenicists, cripple and weaken the human species, and will cause its ultimate extinction if artificially assisted in the struggle to survive. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that people who are dependant upon governments for basic sustenance, and who are not able to make independent decisions or take independent action guaranteeing their own survival will increasingly be allowed to fall between the cracks. Let’s all pray that the big lesson learned from the situation in New Orleans is not simply that such falling should not be televised, but rather that it should not be allowed to happen again, anywhere. One way to insure that it will not happen again, is to begin now to oppose Social Darwinism and Eugenics as tools for public policy. We must find ways to advance the truth that humanity is more than cells and energy. We must advance the idea that people, regardless of our social and economic status, health, race, or gender, have a right to life, and that our lives, and also the lives of our born, and unborn children, are precious, and sacred, and that our quest for survival is the only cause for governments, and taxes.