The Camouflagingof Eugenicistsas Eugenicism’s Opponents 97havesteadfastlyresisted” the lessonsthatcan be drawnfromsociobiology.WhenHrdy
deliversher farcicallyinaccuratecharacterizationof Spencer’s viewson women,she cites
SDATas her source.^132 Thisis in spiteofSDAT’s explicitadmissionthatSocialStatics
presentsa radicalcasefor genderequity.
Bellamyis far frombeingthe sole socialistnovelistto formeugenicistconvictions.The
illustriousH. G. Wellsadvocateda muchworsesort of eugenics.^133 Wellswarned,“It has
becomeapparentthat wholemassesof humanpopulationare, as a whole,inferiorin their
claimuponthe future.To givethemequalityis to sinkto theirlevel,to protectand cherish
themis to be swampedby theirfecundity.”^134 The government,Wellsdeduced,had to do
somethingaboutthis scourge.Sure,he anticipatedthe rejoinderthatthe choiceof other
humanbeingsto raisetheirownfamilieswas noneof his business.He thussnapped,“The
childrenpeoplebringintothe worldcan be no moretheirprivateconcernentirelythan
the diseasegermstheydisseminateor the noisea manmakesin a thin-flooredflat.”^135
The authorofThe Warof the Worldsproposesthatthe governmentshouldexecutepeople
experiencingpsychiatricdisorders.Werethatact performed,he explains,thenfuture
generationswouldnot inherittheirdisorders.Worse,he wantedto cleansehumanityof
nonwhiteraces.The “swarmsof black,and brown,and dirtywhite,and yellowpeople...
will haveto go.”^136
“‘Go’ meant‘die’.. .”, translatesColinTudge.^137
Foreseeingobjections,Wellsqualifiedthatsucha policywouldnot be inhumane.“All
suchkilling,” he rationalized,“will be donewithan opiate.”^138
Wellspropoundedthat his brandof governmentaleugenicenforcementwas far nobler
thanthe methodsthatBellamyendorsed.On May16, 1904,Wellsstoodup at a eugenics
conferenceandannounced,“It is the sterilizationof failures,andnot the selectionof
successesfor breeding,thatthe possibilityof an improvementof the humanstocklies.”
On top of that,the prolificsci-fifigureimploredhis readersin one essay,“We wantfewer
andbetterchildren.. .andwe cannotmakethe sociallife andthe world-peacewe are
determinedto make,withthe ill-bred,ill-trainedswarmsof inferiorcitizensthatyou
inflictuponus.”^139 Relatedto this,filmmakinglegendRidleyScott(b. 1937),directorof
Alienandthe AcademyAward-winningGladiator, madean episodeof his documentary
series,Prophetsof ScienceFiction, whichlionizedWellsfor a specificreason.Theshow
discussedWells’s novelsThe InvisibleManandThe Islandof Dr. Moreau, andpointedout
thattheywerecautionarytalesaboutscientistsmisusingtechnologyfor nefariousends.
Theepisodetriedto conveythatWellssupportedethicalresponsibilityin science,but
brookedno mentionof Wells’s hard-lineeugenicsadvocacy.^140 I thinkthe advocacyof
State-enforcedeugenicsexemplifiesWellshimselfmisusingthe imprimaturof scienceto
advancehis ownirrational,harmfulagenda.In supportof Well’s eugenicism,Well’s pal
GeorgeBernardShawrecordedhimselfon filmstatinga similarargument.In the film,
Shawpropoundedthat any peacefulwomanshouldbe euthanizedif she doesnot consid-
er herselfa contributorto the community.“Youmustall knowhalf a dozenpeopleat least
whoare of no use in this world,whoare moretroublethantheyare worth.Just put them
thereand say,‘Sir, or madam,nowwillyoube kindenoughto justifyyourexistence?If
youcan’t justifyyourexistence,if you’re not pullingyourweightin the socialboat,...
then,clearly,we cannotuse the organizationof our societyfor the purposeof keeping
youalive,becauseyourlife doesnot benefitus andit can’t be of verymuchuse to
yourself.’”^141
Novelist Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894–1963)—Julian Huxley’s brother—did not
openlyadvocatethe samebrutalgovernisteugenicspoliciesas H. G. Wellsor Shaw.
Nevertheless,he expressedfearssimilarto Wells’s.^142 Thisnewsmaycomeas a shock.
Aldous’s seminalnovel,BraveNewWorld, is normallytakenas the ultimatesatireagainst
government-managedeugenics.Despitethat,Aldousexpressedsympathiestowardthe