WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

Weaponized Eugenics: The Realities of a Super Soldier Jacob Shoecraft University of South Carolina, Beaufort.

Psychological Biology Y361 Professor Hollis November 8, 2012

WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

Weaponized Eugenics: The Realities of a Super Soldier 1. INTRODUCTION There has long been a search for the perfect soldier, stretching all the way back to the great heroes of Greek mythology to the super soldiers seen in todays action movies and video games. While there is a good deal of stress put on their inhuman abilities of strength and endurance, another great factor is the lack of fear or stress from battle situations. Though this would result in a large moral conundrum if knowledge reached the general public and those in charge of such a project, it is actually perfectly feasible. With some slight influence, it would be quite easy to get rid of fear, guilt, stress under combat, and lasting trauma. 2. IMPLEMENTATION Soldiers of today, however, have a great deal in common with the peasantry forced to go out and fight in past struggles. Most dont want to be there, and those who are, certainly dont seek out battles in which the possibility of death seems too high. However, the only reason we have such emotions is the tangle of nerves called the amygdala, which controls fear. With a theoretical snip, we could cut those nerves in war-time situations and engage in fear and guilt free combat. Not only could this be used during heavy, casualty intensive firefights, but also during any theoretical morally objectionable order. With this in place, we could possibly engage in splitting up the remaining fossil fuel resources and driving out native populations with no further false pretenses, before competing super powers like China step in to capitalize on them.

WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

With the technological aspect of war surging ahead, its certainly reasonable to turn any professional soldier into an armored, killing machine. Not just in the usually accepted way of tanks and armored strike vehicles, but the concept of light power-armored infantry is becoming a gradual reality within Special Forces operations. Exo-skeletons are currently in production on the MIT campus in one of the most well funded projects of recent years. These suits would be the perfect distribution system for various steroids and amygdala blocking compounds in addition to pushing the physical strength and speed of a soldier up by a substantial amount. The armor would in theory also be connected to a system of geo-synchronous satellites hovering above most regions. This would allow for a greater amount of observation and control on the part of any command station to distribute the compound on discretion. Even so, Erik Baard asserts that the scientists behind this advance into the shadows of memory and fear don't dream of creating morally anesthetized grunts. A current Harvard study has favorable results with Propranolol pills, used for dampening traumatic events and fear inducing situations among accident survivors (Baard, 2003). The fact remains that the implications of such a therapy are far reaching enough that volunteer killers could potentially be able to go through any morally questionable situations, such as shooting human shields. Some critics have even gone so far as to name it the morning-after pill for anything that produces regret, remorse, pain, or guilt." In short, an applicant could potentially serve an almost life-long deployment of constant, heavy combat with little to no post traumatic stress. This could already be put into use today, as researchers within Walter Reed have found that over 15% of Soldiers and Marines returning from combat duty in Iraq met screening criterion for post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a rate significantly higher than pre-deployment rates. (Castro, 2006)

WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

Of course, with so much hassle regarding the amygdala, it might be more beneficial for the State to simply genetically engineer their soldiers. Though mammal genetic enhancement is considered both difficult to implement and tedious, recent breakthroughs have cut both the time and labor required by sizable amounts. This could allow anything from a growth hormone increase to a modified size or effectiveness of the amygdala itself. Coupled with an intense training regimen to improve group cohesion, this could be used to create a truly elite force of professional soldiers or a paramilitary force. A recent study into the development of sociopaths has probed the question of whether they can be created by the destruction of modification of certain areas (Pham, 2007). To not take this into consideration would be folly as well, considering the liberating aspects of living without a conscience. Taken into account the self-serving interests of Sociopaths, it would have to take a lengthy process of drug induced rewards Pavlov-style encouragement for them to associate serving anyone but themselves as beneficial. (Stout, 2005) An army of those who live to serve only themselves and their nation could easily conquer the world. On the subject of human selective breeding, it is interesting to consider the aspect of controlled reproduction in order to produce the perfect soldier. What makes a person brave or cowardly in a war-time situation? The West Germans military argued that it was a mix of preparedness, innate aggressiveness, and patriotism. Interestingly, the subject of soldier psychology is not a subject often breached in most German literature, while American authors tend to focus on it more. Arguably, it would not hard to breed for an ideal offspring, if we could impose a standardized testing on criteria we were looking for among a large population sample. Any industrialized nation with a compulsory military would be well-prepared to locate and encourage/sponsor any well performing military couples likely to produce top tier offspring.

WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

With parentage in mind, Hlbling suggests that one only has to observe for candidates suitable for the role of a super soldier: often alone, without friends and family, but with a firm patriotic zeal. 3. CRITICISMS There are, of course, critics of the super soldier design theory. Some argue that eugenics could only bring about large scale suffering, no doubt referring to negative eugenics, which encourages sterilization of individuals deemed to be less worthy (Hacke, 2009). A full statesponsored eugenics approach in the form of Nazi Germanys infamous Action T4 and genocide was met with much horror and brutality to a good percentage of the German populace. These acts of racism and barbarism had sought to masquerade as a scientific process to further an ideal. The insanity of trying to optimize society by force is both logistically unsound and horrific. A far more effective program would be one where the participants (parents, if the soldier is to be trained from early childhood) would be offered a choice regarding the matter and compensated accordingly, or positive eugenics. It could be assumed that, with a little societal conditioning, every red-blooded American would be willing to donate genetic material or gametes that could be used to form a super soldier. Even then, Genetic Engineering is traditionally met with strong opposition. Critics have gone so far as to call it bad science working together with big business for quick profit, against the public good, against public will and aspirations, against the moral values of society and the world community. (Ho, 1998) This is simply not well thought out. Like NASAs development of materials needed for space travel bleeding back into the civilian market and becoming mainstream, so too would beneficial alterations if they were common knowledge. Blaming

WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

science for expanding in any direction is never the right answer, as it is the natural process of knowledge and our hastened evolution as a species. The unfortunate steps in order to truly optimize a Human for conflict have ensured that it stays firmly tucked out of reach, held back only by the moral quandaries that exist in demanding a sort of perfection that many are unwilling to dare approach. Is it worth it to gain something like that as a species if we lose a part of ourselves along the way? Eventually, the time will come when the need for security outweighs privacy to such a degree that Eugenics and the concepts of super soldiers are favorable by the majority. Similar to a war-time economy in that regard, augmentation is the next logical step.

WEAPONIZED EUGENICS THE REALITIES OF A SUPER SOLDIER

References Captain America and the Struggle of the Superhero. (2009). Jefferson: McFarland and Co.. Copeland, N. (1942). Psychology and the soldier ([1st American ed.). Harrisburg: Military Service Pub. Co.. Hannan, C. (n.d.). The Guilt-Free Soldier - Page 1 - News - New York - Village Voice. New York News, Events, Restaurants, Music. Retrieved November 9, 2012, from http://www.villagevoice.com/2003-01-21/news/the-guilt-free-soldier/ Hero or Coward: Pressure Facing the Soldier in Battle. (1985). Totowa, NJ: Frank Cass and Company Ltmd. Ho, M. (1998). Genetic engineering, dream or nightmare?: the brave new world of bad science and big business. Bath, UK: Gateway Books ;. Holbling, W., Wohlfarter, K., & Rieser, S. E. (2006). US icons and iconicity. Wien: LIT. Technology. (n.d.). The Soldier of Tomorrow. MIT. Retrieved November 8, 2012, from web.mit.edu/lira/www/qualExam/biblio/mitTech_nanotech.pdf Nourse, V. F. (2008). In reckless hands: Skinner v. Oklahoma and the near triumph of American eugenics. New York: W.W. Norton & Co.. Stout, M. (2006). The sociopath next door. New York: Broadway ;. Turda, M. (2006). Blood and homeland eugenics and racial nationalism in Central and Southeast Europe, 1900-1940. New York: Central European University Press.