98 Chapter 4
eugenicsmovementthroughouthis life. In his nonfictionBraveNewWorldRevisited, Al-
doussoundedthe alarmaboutthe oppositeof eugenics—cacogenics.As-genicsis the root
wordfor “gene,”caco-is “bad,” in contrastto the “good” that iseu-. Writingin 1958—over
a decadesubsequentto the Nazis’ racialpoliceshavingsouredworldopinionoverthe
eugenicsmovement—Aldousbrazenlywrote,
In theBraveNewWorldof my fantasyeugenicsanddysgenics[a commonmisnomerfor
cacogenics] werepracticedsystematically.... in our randomand unregulatedwaywe are
not onlyover-populatingour planet,we are also,it wouldseem,makingsurethatthese
greaternumbersshallbe ofbiologicallypoorerquality. In the badold dayschildrenwith
considerable,or evenwithslight,hereditarydefectsrarelysurvived.Today,thanksto
sanitation,modernpharmacologyandthe socialconscience,mostof the childrenborn
withhereditarydefectsreachmaturityandmultiplytheirkind.Underthe conditions
nowprevailing,everyadvancein medicinewilltendto be offsetby a corresponding
advancein the survivalrate of individualscursedby somegeneticinsufficiency.In spite
of newwonderdrugsand bettertreatment(indeed,in a certainsense,preciselybecause
of thesethings),the physicalhealthof the generalpopulationwill showno improvement,
andmayevendeteriorate.Andalongwitha declineof averagehealthinesstheremay
wellgo a declinein averageintelligence.... “Underconditionsthatare bothsoft and
unregulated,” writesDr. W. H. Sheldon,“our beststocktendsto be outbredby stockthat
is inferiorto it in everyrespect.. .” [Emphasesadded.]ThatconsiderationmotivatesHuxleyto imploreus to contemplate“congenitallyinsuffi-
cientorganisms”—meaninghumanspossessingbirthdefects“whomour medicineand
our socialservicesnowpreserveso thattheymaypropagatetheirkind.. .” Huxleyfrets
thatthe “wholesaletransmissionto our descendantsof the resultsof unfavorablemuta-
tions,and the progressivecontaminationof the geneticpoolfromwhichthe membersof
our specieswillhaveto draw.. .”^143 Aldousimpliesthatsomekindof government-
imposedsolutionwillbe optimalto savemankindfromthis allegeddepreciationof the
world’s genepool.True,Aldousis mostlikelyawarethathe wouldreceivehorrendous
flackif he openlyadvocateda returnto eugenicsregulations.He knowsaboutthe bad
presssuchregulationsgainedin the aftermathof the WorldWarTwo.Probablybearing
that in mind,Aldouschoosesto be convenientlycrypticaboutwhathe wantssociety,as a
whole,to do aboutthisallegedproblem.Thatgovernmentinterventionis the “middle
way” of whichhe speaks—a middlewaybetween(1) a laissez-fairesystemin which
individualsare free to procreatepeaceablyas theychoose,and (2) a governistsystemthat
dictatesoverwhomayhavechildrenandwhomaynot.As we shallconsiderin the
upcomingchapter,it wouldtakea GarrettHardinto describethe specificeugenicist
legislationthat Aldouswantedbut wouldnot go into detailover.
Aldouswasmoreexplicitlyenthusedaboutgovernisteugenicsin his youngerdays.
NashMagazine’s April 1934 issuecontainedan articleof his, entitled“WhatIs Happening
to OurPopulation?” Thisarticlestatesthat the key to savingthe humanraceis in govern-
mentalefforts“encouragingthe normaland super-normalmembersof the populationto
havelargerfamiliesand in preventingthe sub-normalfromhavingany familiesat all.”^144
As the sci-fiauthor’s British-bornbiographer,NicholasMurray,summarizesthe piece,
Aldous“advocated... use of the familyallowancesystemto encouragesomegroupsand
not othersto bearchildren.But he wentfurtherin proposingsterilisationof ‘certified
defectives,’ pointingout thateugenicsterilisationwasalreadylegalin halfthe statesof
America.”^145 Aldousconcededin thisarticlethatgovernisteugenicsmaybe “another
attempton the partof the richto bullythe poor.. .”^146 But in NicholasMurray’s words,
Aldous’s articleneverthelessfavoredgovernisteugenics“becausedemocracyneededin-
telligentcitizens... He alsobelievedthat,on humanitariangrounds,‘defectives’ made