Without equality, he argued, eugenics would degenerate into yet another mechanism by which the powerful could control the weak.

Siddhartha Mukherjee
Without equality, he argued, eugenics would degenerate into yet another...
Without equality, he argued, eugenics would degenerate into yet another...
Without equality, he argued, eugenics would degenerate into yet another...
Without equality, he argued, eugenics would degenerate into yet another...
About This Quote

Although the sterilization laws of the early 20th century were well-intentioned, they were also highly discriminatory. The laws were based on the idea that some people have lower intelligence, which is why they should not have children. However, because this discrimination was based on the idea that some people are inferior to others, it ultimately destroyed any hope of equal treatment. Instead, eugenics degenerated into yet another mechanism by which the powerful could control the weak.

Source: The Gene: An Intimate History

Some Similar Quotes
  1. I do not know what I may appear to the world, but to myself I seem to have been only like a boy playing on the sea-shore, and diverting myself in now and then finding a smoother pebble or a prettier shell than ordinary, whilst... - Isaac Newton
  2. To know the history of science is to recognize the mortality of any claim to universal truth. - Evelyn Fox Keller
  3. The scientist only imposes two things, namely truth and sincerity, imposes them upon himself and upon other scientists. - Unknown
  4. One has a greater sense of intellectual degradation after an interview with a doctor than from any human experience. - Alice James
  5. If time be judiciously employed, there is time for everything. - George Head
More Quotes By Siddhartha Mukherjee
  1. If we define "beauty" as having blue eyes (and only blue eyes), then we will, indeed, find a "gene for beauty." If we define "intelligence" as the performance on only one kind of test, then we will, indeed, find a "gene for intelligence." The genome...
  2. History repeats, but science reverberates.
  3. Without equality, he argued, eugenics would degenerate into yet another mechanism by which the powerful could control the weak.
  4. Intelligence...[is] not marathon rac[e]: there is no fixed criteria for success, no start or finish lines -- and running sideways or backwards, might secure victory.
  5. Freaks become norms, and norms become extinct. Monster by monster, evolution advanced
Related Topics