Introduction

Many people believe that eugenics is a long-discredited idea that has no part in modern civilized society. This is wildly inaccurate. Eugenics is alive and well in 2026, albeit in different ideological and legal clothing.

What began in the late 1800s as a simple idea applied to the animal kingdom soon morphed into Darwin’s “survival of the fittest” arguments for humans. This ideology was embraced by the intelligentsia in the U.S., the UK and Europe. However, it was in Germany where “survival of the fittest” was most prominently used — to rid itself of Germans with disabilities and behavioral or social flaws.

When the horrors of Nazi Germany became known, the eugenicists retreated and then reshaped the eugenic argument in more palatable terms, especially related to assisted suicide and euthanasia. However, the idea was just the same — ridding society of those deemed expendable and costly, all couched in arguments of human rights and personal autonomy.

Today, assisted suicide and euthanasia have been legalized in many countries. While initially seen as helping the terminally ill amidst suffering, assisted suicide and euthanasia have been transformed into a social obligation to consider death on demand, any time, for anyone, for any reason.

Mark P. Mostert, Ph.D., senior researcher for Able Americans, expands upon these themes below in what will be a 10-part series, “Is Any Life Unworthy of Living?”