The enhanced and the unenhanced

The entire idea of gene manipulation seems somewhat unethical in a sense that we are dealing with the lives of others who can not yet make their own decisions. Although it may be the direct blood line of the ones conceiving that future person, It doesn’t seem right to be playing God or mother nature. I can understand the prevention or improvement of those plagued with diseases or disabilities to bring them up to par with the standard human being’s performance. The idea of enhancements versus therapy seems like a valid argument. The idea of advancements in biological improvements seems to be like a dream come true but it doesn’t seem like an ethical thing to be making decisions for our children before they themselves get a say in it. Preventing family disease or illnesses such as heart disease, diabetes, or even obesity would only seem logical but to predestine them to a life their parents were unable to obtain for themselves only seems selfish. Just because one is endowed with special abilities such as intelligence or athletics doesn’t mean that they will necessarily move towards goals in that area.
Gene manipulation seems like it would so easily be manipulated to become the next future weapon as well. As sci-fi as it may seem it’s very plausible. People are always looking for cheaper, better, faster, ways of getting what they are unable to obtain. If these gene manipulations become available they will be very expensive and worth more than the average person will be able to afford. This would then create a superhuman race that only the rich would be able to afford to create. This also creating something that would be quite valuable to steal and manipulate and then sell. Its just like any other technology out there, but in this case the we are dealing with super humans and a master race that could be used to conquer and manipulate not only in terms of physical military power but also political and scientific intelligence. Due to the natural tendencies of humans to want control and power, how would we be able to prevent such a tragedy from happening. It almost seems inevitable for such a thing to occur if we were to proceed to this level of genetic manipulation. Countries would begin to breed their future leaders, military, scientists, and etc. in order to gain control and power in the technological and military sense.
People in the day of the enhanced would also cease to be unique. There would be no need for such things as the Olympics as people would have the option of breeding and altering the ultimate Olympian simply by genetic alteration before birth. Those who did not give into the enhancements would seemingly be looked down upon as inferior and normal would be the enhanced. The odd ones out would be those who are born unique and at random, as it was meant to be. I feel like this could potentially sink our world into a very bland and possibly dark stage in history.
http://www.csus.edu/indiv/d/dundons/GMOstory.htm
http://www.cruelscience.ca/research-gm.htm

Dogs Snarling Together

This essay was interesting for about the first 5 pages and after that it became a series of historical facts that were somewhat hard to keep up with. I honestly didn’t know much about the textile and apparel industry at all until I had read this. All I knew was that I liked buying cheap shirts that were sold in a department store and probably came from china. I guess it never really crossed my mind to think that china and other foreign imports were slowly making more and more U.S. factory workers jobless. I was never much of one to care about the quality of my clothing or big into brand names. Clothes are clothes no matter where they come from.
Although Auggie had a very noble and nationalistic cause it seemed that he didn’t completely understand all the logistics of his argument. Julia Hughes seemed to have a more worldly and open-minded view to the import of textiles and apparels. I feel like this is more of where my state of mind lies as well. Due to my multi cultural background I don’t seem to have much national pride. I find imported and exported goods everywhere but I suppose I never really considered the consequences of such things increasing or decreasing and affecting the economy. It is a sad thing America is so far in debt to china that they can’t afford to not take more of their textile and apparel imports. That way many factories wouldn’t have to take such a hit, although the economy is down right now for a number of reason. Yet our debt to china is still somewhat of a crippling factor for this country. In reality I suppose we don’t really need to import that many things from other countries but because we are so readily available and seemingly stable with a better economy than most countries then we are in a sense a dump for imports.
I had no idea about the amount of political play involved in this dispute. I found it to be somewhat astounding as far as Auggies’ argument goes over the broken promises from the president. A broken promise a broken promise, but with the amount of power the president has due to the limiting factors of other political power players, he can only do so much. More people with jobs in America would be a great thing but that is looking within the boundaries of the US only; but what about the third world countries that are providing for thousands more because of this industry. There is the nationalistic way of looking at this and the betterment of all. I suppose each country has their own economy and everyone kind of feeds off of each other but it still seems so small of a thing to be arguing about. This world has many up and coming industries that require many factory workers and as one falls another one will rise. Our world cycles, and this is just a part of it.

Wisdom

I really enjoyed this text! Very thought provoking on a lot of levels. I would have to agree with Thurman’s take on selflessness. I agree that it truly is freeing not to be bound to our self-absorbed selves. I still don’t really understand what Nirvana truly is. To be completely lost to others and not focused on one’s self doesn’t exactly seem like an amazing revelation if that is what the state of Nirvana is. It seems to be only common knowledge that helping others is something that lightens the heart and brings a feeling of contentment. Although its certainly not a lifestyle change that crosses the mind of everyone who finds this to be true.
I felt that his argument for self is somewhat distorted as well. We can not cease to be what we were created to be. We can certainly overcome the natural fear of man and be open to change but we are who we are. Our characteristics, the way we were raised, and the decisions we make dictate our “self”. We are all unique to the combination of our upbringing, mindset, habits, pre-conceived notions, and ability to make decisions. I feel like the thought of being less rigid and more relaxed and open to change and people is an excellent view to have on life though. The Buddha definitely found an amazing view of life that can bring joy but it all seems somewhat meaningless without a greater goal other than reaching nirvana.
I really enjoyed reading about his view on our need to be right. As I read his logical run through on the need to be right, It made a lot of sense. Knowledge is empowering and seems to help us in our security. This is why so many people strive to be knowledgable in specific areas which allows us to feel superior to others in this area and can even lead into a career. It seems as though it is somewhat of a selfish ambition as the need for knowledge is prompted by our need to feel superior or the ability to be right and surpass the knowledge of others. This gives a sense of control, but Buddha seemed to be on a search for knowledge himself. In doing so, he wanted others to be able see his view on life and understand the error in their ways. This is obviously a very faulty argument but it seems somewhat ironic.
I really enjoyed the read and thought it to be quite interesting. I definitely agree with some of the views he hold on life. Some of them are improvements that I believe to be beneficial to my own life. I think that overcoming the fear of man and becoming more connected and open with those around us something everyone should strive for.
http://www.bobthurman.com/