Extinctionof the SocialDarwinismCanard 245sufferingfromspinalcordinjuriesthatparalyzedhim,he acquaintedhimselfwithnews
on the latesteffortsof geneticengineersto repairspinalcordtissuesand therebyrestore
locomotiveabilitiesto paraplegics.Althoughhe wasa progressivelike Black,Reevecame
to appreciatethe benefitssuchtechnologiesentailed.At the BIOindustryconferencein
Boston,Massachusettsin March2000,amidstpicketingby anti-globalization,anti-capital-
ist activists,Reeveannounced,“Biotechnologyis a greatbig word.For peoplelike me, it’s
got a simpledefinition.It’s a greatbig wordthat meanshope.”^80
Ultimately,the free-marketreprogeneticrevolutionwillmakefor an excitingnew
developmentin the phenomenonof gene-cultureco-evolution.It is baseduponthe free-
domthatSpencerandSumnerupheld—not governisteugenicsnor somefabledsocial
Darwinism.To leaveindividualsfree to raiseandcarefor theirownchildrenpeaceably,
as theysee fit, is the oppositeof Naziismandthe governisteugenicists’ progressivism.
Contraryto the socialDarwinismmyth,Naziism enactedthe regulatory-entitlement
idealsmorethanit did Spencerianeconomics.
I agreewithFereidounM. Esfandiary,a.k.a.,FM-2030.As I do, he takesissuewith
environmentalistsandright-wingbioethicistswhochastisegeneticengineersfor “arro-
gantly‘playinggod.’ Theywarnof direconsequences.Thesecriticsare absurd.We hu-
mansdo not wantto be godor to playgod.We aspireto muchmore.Godwasa crude
concept—vengeful,wrathful,destructive.We humanswantto evolvebeyondgod.”^81
Wherein the HistoricalRecord—or FossilRecord—Is SocialDarwinism?
Somemembersof the radicalpoliticalLeftgrowiratewhentheircriticspointout
parallelsbetween(1) the policiestheyadvocateand (2) thoseimplementedby the Soviet
Union.Oneof the disturbingironies,though,is thatthesesameleft-wingerscan rest
comfortablyknowingthatnobodywilldetectanysimilaritiesbetween theirfavorite
causesandthe Nazis’. Indeed,theyhaveconvincedeveryonethatthey,beingon the
extremeLeft,mustbe the exactoppositeof the Nazison accountof the Nazis’ placeon the
extremeRight.
Yet considerthe myriadsocialcausesthatare presentlyconsideredthe hallmarksof
the contemporaryWesternLeftthatwerelargelyignoredby Soviet“left-wingers”^82 and
embracedby the NationalSocialist“right-wingers.” Amongsuchcausesare environmen-
talism,an organicproduce-eatinglifestyle,animal“rights,” conservingendangeredspe-
cies,laborregulations,and oppositionto syntheticchemicalsin agriculture.Thisdemon-
stratesthe irrationalityof attemptsby suchintellectualsas RichardHofstadterto divide
politicalallegiancesbetweenLeftandRight.Theissueis not whethersomeoneis left-
wingor right-wing;the issueis the degreeto whichany politicianor politicalmovement
deemsit acceptablefor governmentregulationsto spoliateindividualsandtheirprivate
property—formsof spoliationthatseemto be popularamongDemocrats,Republicans,
andpolitical“centrists” and“moderates” alike.Whenit comesto politicalallegiances,
observedPresidentRonaldReagan,thereis, in the end,“no suchthingas a left or right.
Thereis onlyan up or down—up to man’s age-olddream,the ultimatein individual
freedomconsistentwithlaw and order—or downto the ant heapof totalitarianism,” and
thosewhowouldforsake“our freedom... haveembarkedon this downwardcourse.”^83
Comparableto Reagan,FM-2030also expressesthe right—uh,correct—ideaon the matter.
FM noticesthat,not merelyis the Right“too conservative,” but that,in one context,the
Leftis as well.Sure,left-wingers“still like to viewthemselvesand are viewedby others
as progressive.” But in “the nameof progress... the radicalLeft-winger” has consistently
beenone to “resistprogress.” Theleft-wingers“resistprogressbecausethe newbreak-
throughs” of free innovativeenterprise,suchas geneticengineering,“do not fit intotheir
highlystructuredframeworksandconfinedgoals.” Anyandevery“breakthrough” in