Adolf Hitler Had a Good Idea.

What if I told you that I knew a way to make people stronger, smarter, and healthier? Sound good? What if I tell you that all you need to do is kill off the weak, stupid, and sickly people before they have a chance to breed? Still sound good?

It began with Charles Darwin, the naturalist who discovered Natural Selection. In short, natural selection says that in a highly competative environment, like the natural world, only the strong will survive to pass their genes to the next generation. It's not coincidence that animals seem so catered to their environment. Only creatures who are highly effective survive.

When Darwin postulated his discovery, people recognized the impact on humans as animals on this planet. We pass our genes on to our offspring. Most of the time, our children grow up strong and have children of their own. Sometimes a child is born unhealthy and dies at a young age. As tragic as it sounds, it is, ironically, a good thing for the human race.

Honestly, we humans really don't want a bunch of weak genes being disseminated generation after generation. I can't bear the thought of what it would be like to have been born with a genetic disposition for, say, weak bones. My mother broke her bones 37 times, I've broken my bones 26 times, and my five-year-old boy has already broken 4 bones. Not only are all us in pain, but the medical bills are high and I'm out of work alot. Fortunately, I actually have strong bones. But, I sure don't want my strong-boned daughter and your weak-boned son produce a weak-boned grandchild. Nothing personal to any fragile-boned people out there, but we really should get your DNA out of the human gene pool.

That's what Hitler thought, too. He imagined a better humanity full of strong, healthy people and with Darwin's discovery, realized that we have the ability to speed up the process of human evolution. Just cull away the bad genes and what you have left are the good genes. And so the next generation will have nothing but good genes to pass on. That's quite an admirable venture, albiet horrificly violent.

Adolf Hitler set off on his goal to weed out the undesireable traits. Let's ignore for a moment that the world would rise against him and lets just look at the consequence of posing such a lofty goal. What are the "undesireable traits"? The sick and dying? Sure, I suppose. How about stupid people? That's a big yes from me. What about black people? Umm, I'm not sure I'd call that an undesireable trait, but the KKK would disagree with me. What about people with curly hair and big noses?

Herein lies the problem. Who has the authority to say what traits should be eliminated? The only proper answer is: none of us. So, live and let live. In fact, some folk go the extra mile and become doctors to ensure that people live long and healthy.

Doctors can correct many undesireable traits so the person is healthier and stronger without killing off their patients (hopefully). That certainly sounds to me like a more acceptable method than Hitler's way. But for some reason, many people don't get healthier or stronger. They just keep sending their kids back to doctors over and over again. They go on permanent medication, receive tubes into their veins, feel weak from chemotherapy, and receive a cast for their next broken bone. And when their bodies inevitably deteriorate for being too old, they lie in a hospital bed hooked up to expensive electronic gadgets for the rest of their overly-prolonged lives. To top it off, they, too, have already bore children whose genetic disposition has put them on the same dissapointing path.

Many of these sickly people are on Medicare or welfare and don't contribute to society. Those are my tax dollars paying for sick people to limp along. I don't want to pay for that. Suddenly, "live and let live" doesn't seem so appealing anymore. Somewhere there should be a "let die" clause. Hitler's vision of creating a better human race was a good one. We just need to find away to do it without resorting to genocide. Hey, wait a moment. Charles Darwin already found a way: nature's way.

Forget the surgery and electronics. Let nature take its course and learn to accommodate your shortcomings. If you have weak bones, then work from home in a heavily padded house. Overweight? Adjust your diet. This will change your view on life and will allow you live it better rather than longer. And if you survive long enough to have children, then Nature - the only authority on life - has decided that your traits are desirable.

I'm sure in the near future, we'll be splicing DNA to create genetically superior humans. Welcome to the world of Gattaca. I'll stick to nature, thank you.

Hank