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4 oeuvres 93 utilisateurs 1 Critiques

Œuvres de Diane B. Paul

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I seldom give low ratings like I have here but this one drew my ire. I am interested in Eugenics, how it swept the western world and influenced so much and was then soon part of the collective amnesia of WW2. Why? Simple because the Nazis took to its logical conclusion.

It lead to forced sterilisations, both legal and illegal, "mercy killings", incarcerations and much much more all in the name of the great white race. It is a deeply fascinating topic as much for what has been kept quiet as for the mindset itself.

So why the ire at this book? For a start there is no narrative here, it is a series of academic papers about Eugenics (or the lack of it) in Aus, Canada, NZ and South Africa. There are 14 chapters on various topics by different authors within the overall scope of the title. There is much repetition of events and facts and people. I believe it to be a book by academics, for academics. It was so dry that I was tempted to piss on it.

I did learn some things but I also feel that I missed more because of the lack of coherency in the both the format and writing style. Also I was angry because this book was promoted on the radio and in no way did that interview give a hint about how unapproachable the book was.

I am also going out on a limb here because I also felt that it was a bit of whitewash but I cannot substantiate that by facts and figures. It reminded me of the song, There Is No Depression In New Zealand. There is a real fear of knocking local heroes in NZ. Once on that pedestal even their shit becomes shining white. Some of our historical figures had a foot or two in the Eugenics camp but that has been generally glossed over or omitted in the official record. Widespread access to contraception was pretty much achieved by the Eugenists, it was never intended to "give women more choice" but to stop the lower orders from multiplying uncontrollably. It is this attitude that is still alive and well today but without its historical roots being exposed it successfully gets passed off as acceptable. I am referring to statements like that of the great John Key who informs us that people are poor because they made the wrong choices. That entrenched rich white elitist worldview that has pretty much created this huge gap in incomes, devalued anything but private health services, seen wealth as worth more than people. Don't get me started!
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Signalé
Ken-Me-Old-Mate | Sep 24, 2020 |

Statistiques

Œuvres
4
Membres
93
Popularité
#200,859
Évaluation
½ 2.3
Critiques
1
ISBN
11

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