Genetic engineering [was: RE: DNA of relative indicts man, cuckol ding ignored]

[John Kozubik]

On Mon, 7 Jul 2003, Trei, Peter wrote:

> Its when we get to 'fixes' to behaviour and personality
> that things start to get very hairy. I fear that those in
> power will use genetic engineering as they have used
> every other tool at their disposal - weapons, states,
> laws, and governments - to maintain their position at
> the expense of the overall welfare of the species, by
> allowing improvements only to their own descendents,
> while requiring changes to those out of power which
> make it harder for them to change their status.
>
> One scenario:
>
> "Mr & Mrs Smith: The No Child Should Fear Act of
> 2015 requires that your proposed son have the
> 'bullying' gene deleted if he is to attend publicly
> funded schools. This is similar to the old requirements
> for vaccination - we don't want your son to endanger
> other children, do we?

I have long believed that the constitution of the United States (through
an ammendment) should include protection against involuntary mental
tampering.  It should, for instance, be a constitutional right for a child
not to take their Ritalin, or for an insane man not to take his meds in
order to stand trial (a recent court case whose outcome I do not know).

Along this line, perhaps a more general anti-tampering ammendment could
include protection against the coercion that you describe above.  I feel
that no parent should be forced to alter their child in any way - before
or after the birth.

-----
John Kozubik - john at kozubik.com - http://www.kozubik.com