Fahrenheit 98.6

I don’t think there’s anything inherently wrong with genetic enhancement. Of course we should be responsible as in all things. And we should do our best to understand something before taking action, as with all powerful novelties. That said, I think there are serious problems with genetic enhancement and designer babies. These issues are damning in our current society. I’ll make my argument based on the following beliefs that I will assume. This practice will be no different from general society in valuing normalcy as opposed to rebelliousness (how many queer/trans-babies do you think will be requested?). And this practice will be no different than society in general by privileging the wealthy, furthering an already disastrous inequality. 

            I guess I don’t really see much novelty or critical thinking in my diagnosis. It seems apparent that genetic enhancement will further inequality and equally apparent that inequality is detrimental to society. Maybe the real question here is what’re we doing with our lives? What has society come to that masses of people are scavenging for water and food while we’re discussing the ethics of making super-human babies and birthing sacrificial children? I guess there’s poetic irony to the sacrificial children debate. There’s little debate as to the acceptability of capitalism, never mind the millions of sacrificial children dying for our comfort— our luxury. I think if there’s an ethical lesson to be taken from genetic engineering it’s the spotlight it puts on already enormous ethical failures. And an omen that the longer we wait, the more technology advances and the more complex and dire our moral situation becomes.