Mar 31st, 2016: The Black Stork

[Snakeadelic]

Eugenics will always be a massive hot-button issue, even in our medically advanced modern society. Personally, though I know the idea to be completely unworkable, I do favor non-lethal forms of the concept such as license-based breeding. A good example of non-human license-based breeding is found in the European warmblood horse registries, where a stallion may be 7-10 years old before his license to breed is secured for life.

They're evaluated as foals still with their mothers and again as two-year-olds. Those that show potential are further trained and selectively test-bred between the ages of three and five. At five they have to undergo performance and temperament testing, and consideration is given to the foal and two-year-old evaluations of their offspring. If the stallion and his youngsters are all deemed to be of sufficient quality, he's granted a provisional breeding license until his first group of foals are fully mature and then re-evaluated. Performance testing includes the 100-Day Test, which covers dressage, jumping, and a few other things that must all be completed within a single competition season--and temperament still counts. Horses that bite or buck or refuse to listen to their rider do not get to breed on, which is why European warmbloods can be as expensive as luxury sedans.

Due to my belief in "mild" eugenics, I had myself sterilized at the age of 24. If humans were required to pass physical and mental testing a quarter as tough as what those horses face, I would have failed very early on--my family genetics suck, and I'm pretty sure I was born with a total lack of mothering instinct. On paper, species-wide eugenics applied to humanity looks like it could save the planet, but I know full well that the emotional and intellectual issues involved are much too complex to be boiled down to "You didn't pass parenting license qualifications, sorry." No matter how many children might be saved how much misery, the right to live and breed no matter the wisdom of breeding or the agony of living will always win.

[xoxoxoBruce]

The European warmblood horse registries, at least your synopsis, sounds wonderful, building the perfect machine for the job. The job of course being winning in the show ring because they are the perfect machine. The perfect machine of course is the one winning in the show ring because they are the perfect machine... which is the job... they were built for... winning.

Um, who decided of the final most goodest design... to build for the job... of winning in the ring... because it's closest to the goodest design?

Then the other 99.999% of those horses who deviate from the goodest design, have to be... dog food? French people food? I suppose people could use them for other purposes they weren't designed for, after all, Lamborghini builds tractors as well as high end super cars too.

What could go wrong? I mean look at the wonderful job the dog breeders have done over the last hundred years.

Hmm, maybe that's not the best example. Oh, I know, Monsanto. Wait, apple growers. nevermind