Long Deffiinition: FOR THE ENGLISH!!!!

Eugenics­­- from the Greek meaning “well-born”, eugenics is the idea of improving the human species through a process of selective breeding. With the use of selective reproduction, hereditary traits could be manipulated at the whim of the designers of the breeding program. The idea of eugenics encompasses two different ideas, “positive” eugenics and “negative” eugenics. So called “positive” eugenics is the idea of encouraging the “most fit” peoples to reproduce more often. “Negative” eugenics is the idea of encouraging the “least fit” peoples to reproduce less often or not at all.

The idea stems back to the widely held belief that behaviors we passed on form parent to offspring, i.e. if the father of a child was a criminal, then the child would be predisposed to criminal behavior. The term “eugenics” was first coined by Sir Frances Galton (February 16, 1822 - January 17, 1911), an English statistician and anthropologist, though the idea has been around since the time of the Greek philosopher Plato. Galton proposed that a “fake” lottery, controlled by the government would keep the masses unaware of the selection process so that no ones feelings would be hurt by the selections guidelines.

Many countries had eugenics policies and programs, though the idea of state run eugenics programs is almost universally despised because of its apparent association with the atrocities preformed by Nazi Germany. Two such remaining programs are the "Maternal and Infant Health Care Law" in China, and a similar law that exist on both sides of the island of Cyprus.