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Why is it that we have "Breeds" of dogs and cats, but not for humans?
What exactly is a "breed" anyway?
Are there any other animals that have "Breeds?" I know horses have breeds. I guess that cattle do. Sheep? Elephants? Tigers? Chickens? Whales?
Seems that members of a breed can all have off spring. ( I almost said, "seems that members of a breed can all breed together" but I thought that was too cutsy.)
The Nazis got into this in the 1930's. You might want to go over their research. (Nasty people, those Nazis...and it would probably make VERY disturbing reading)..
Google the related subject "Eugenics"; once a semi-respectable 'science' (like alchemy) it's been pretty well debunked today as 'racist nonsense'. Whether there is ANY basis to it at all is now a moot point, since Eugenics is no longer discussed in polite society.
Long ago. Eugenics DID have some scientific believers in the US. Such beliefs as the existence of "the crimimal type", and groups "prone to trouble" were seriously discussed. More chillingly, those believed to be a 'drain upon society'...the mentally ill, the delusional, those unable to care for themselves...were sometimes STERILIZED in psychiatric hospitals, so as not to 'continue the troubles' into future generations. This occurred in a NUMBER of states. Dangerous 'lunatics' were occasionally LOBOTOMIZED. (Check out the old "Three Stooges" films...often, they featured a mad scientist attempting to 'operate' on Curly...or describing all three of the guys as "The criminal type". Good humor in those days, this stuff was actually taken from REAL LIFE occurrences at that time in history 1920's and 30's)
I read a CHILLING article on Eugenics some years ago. Someone in Montpelier, Vermont had happened across an old file of records in the attic of some state building; it had records of many 'feeble-minded' patients who had been sterilized by the State long ago....also, I believe, records of lobotomies performed on violent patients. Scary reading.
As the author of the article finished his research, the records lady pulled him aside and told him, "Vermont is a very small state, and it's hard to keep a secret here. And between you and me, some of the people in those records..the 'troublemakers' and the 'troubled' of long ago...have family members STILL TODAY in our system...the SAME FAMILIES, in many cases, have problems spanning generation after generation." Does that mean there really IS a 'criminal type'? No one really has a definitive answer...partially because today, Political Correctness dictates that we really can't discuss the matter.
By the way, as most of us know, Vermont is one of the "whitest" states in the union; therefore, at least in THIS case, racism doesn't play a part one way or another.
You know what, I get in trouble from people when I say the word "breed", but how is it any different than nationality or race? It's the human belief that we're above animals, but we're exactly the same, we even do it in the same style as dogs sometimes :-)
Problem is, most of us are not a specific breed, but a mutt of many breeds. I'm of at least three different distinct breeds and I don't really even know that much about my background to determine my exact makeup. I just say I'm Eastern European in descent (though I'm told I look like someone who is half-Irish and half-Black by nearly everyone I meet who says something about my background, which is most everyone) and leave it at that.
Black is not a breed, but a race because there are so many kinds of black. There are the American blacks who have certain features, the Caribbean blacks who have slightly different features, the sub-Saharan blacks, the coastal blacks and the rest. But since most people don't know all that much about their specific heritage, they just say "White", "Black", "Hispanic", "Asian", "Islander" or "Half-Asian", etc.
Race is obviously a very touchy subject, and when it comes to the "breeds" of humans, it becomes VERY touchy with comparisons to Mengele and the Nazi's. But with dogs, the individual breeds are ALL appreciated for their specific unique characteristics. Newfoundlands are loved for their massive size and peaceful disposition, Pitbulls for their loyalty and toughness, Pugs for their adorable faces (http://pugsandkisses.us/images/PugFace.jpg - broken link) and fun-loving personalities, and Border Collies for their intelligence and athleticism. How should it be any different with people? After all, certain countries always dominate certain events in the olympics. How can people in Ethiopia be such better distance runners than the Brazilians while the Brazilians are so much more gifted at soccer? I don't think we should dehumanize different "breeds" of humans, but we should celebrate what makes us different while remembering what makes us the same. Society is not about homogeneousness, it's about bringing different people together to create something bigger than individuals or even families can build.
Why is it that we have "Breeds" of dogs and cats, but not for humans?
What exactly is a "breed" anyway?
Are there any other animals that have "Breeds?" I know horses have breeds. I guess that cattle do. Sheep? Elephants? Tigers? Chickens? Whales?
Seems that members of a breed can all have off spring. ( I almost said, "seems that members of a breed can all breed together" but I thought that was too cutsy.)
Hmmmm.....I guess if there are no "Breeds" for humans, then there are no "Races" either.
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