The End is Near Essay
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Discussion Question: The End is Near (worth 5 points)
This discussion is meant to provoke thought and perhaps even emotions.
You can argue however you want.
I want you to imagine you are living in a post-apocalyptic world. Natural disasters have destroyed much of our infrastructure and now a rogue-planet is about to collide with the earth. Our fate looks ill. The governments of the world have decided to select people from their populations to ship off to a nearby planet/star system. Unfortunately, it is only feasible for your government to ship 2 million people to this new world for colonization. For this reason, your government will be selecting people based on the following criterion:
- Individual has no personal history of mental illness or disease
- Individual has no family or personal history of chronic disease e.g. diabetes, heart disease, kidney disease, stroke etc…
- Individual has no STIs e.g. HIV/AIDS, Syphilis, etc.….
- Individual has a BMI between 18.5 and 24.9 and no family history of obesity (overweight is okay)
- Individual has no history of illicit drug use
- Individual has no history of smoking.
Keep in mind everything you know about chronic disease and its onset related to people’s lifestyles and behaviors. Keep in mind what you know about the BMI system of detecting normal weights (do you think it might discriminate against individuals that it should not?)
I want to know how you feel about this. Remember, your government defends these criteria because it believes the new human gene pool should be as clear of disease as possible. How do you feel about this? Do you think the government is right in being “genetically selective” or do you think this is an irrational kind of genetic/lifestyle discrimination? Do you think this kind of genetic selectivity would pose discriminations problems on the new colony if babies are born with or develop abnormalities/diseases?
REQUIREMENTS:
- 1 original post that is at least 350 words long.
- 2 responses to 2 other posts (1 which you agree with and 1 which you disagree with). You can respond to more than 2 posts if you want.
- Responses must be at least 200 words each. Title your responses “agree” and “disagree.”
- Your posts should be research based. Make sure to link your sources at the end of your work.
This assignment is worth 5 points.
The End is near
It is quite horrific to hear that the world is coming to an end. All that people have labored for will be destroyed. Family relations, cultures and history will no longer be in existent. To ensure continuity of humankind, the government came up with an evacuation plan. However, it is not possible to save all the people. Therefore, the government came up with a plan for saving people with no genetic problems, history of drugs and smoking, genetic problems, mental illness, and, has a BMI that lies between 14.5 and 24.9.
From a moral perspective, one would argue that the selective criterion is not fair since it discriminates people based on their health and genetic status. However, after thinking about it critically, I feel that the government made the right decision. After moving to the new planet, authorities will be required to put all structures in place without the worry of the sick people. By so doing, the government is avoiding to drag earth problems into the new world. Everything on earth will face destruction, and it is impossible for the government to salvage anything apart from its physically fit people who will help in developing the new world.
During a disaster, evacuation of obese people becomes difficult because of their weight. Obese people double the problem, when evacuators try to save them. Some of them are too heavy that they require two or more people to carry them to a safe place. They are not discriminated as the world tries to save them. For instance in UK, patients were left behind because they were too fat to get above the ground. In some cases, medical centers are forced to spend millions of money in modifying air ambulances to accommodate people with excess weight. This means that bringing obese people to the plane that will be taking people to a new planet would mean that some people will be left behind and the government will not attain its 2 million targets. Additionally, there is no enough time for authorizes for modify available ship and aircraft.
The government is trying to begin afresh in the new world that is free of unhealthy habits and diseases. Selection based on genetics is not discrimination but rather a way of avoiding too much burden for the government. However, it is important to understand that some problems are caused by the environment and it is possible that the healthy people will develop diseases. It is likely that people will suffer psychological issues trying to imagine the fate of the families and friends that they left behind. It is also not clear the new diseases that they will develop due to exposure to new climatic conditions. Therefore, when making plans, it is crucial to emphasize the health issues that may come up in future. On the other hand, let us not forget that it will be easier to address new ailments since the old problems will be left on earth.
When medical evacuation choppers in United Kingdom left obese people behind, people thought it was unethical while others were okay with the decision since they know that putting obese people on board would mean that too much space would be occupied and the healthy people would be left behind. Therefore, it better to save many healthy people than saving few obese ones.
