Читать книгу Himmler's Island - Richard G. Buchanan PhD - Страница 6

GEORGE walked into The Foundation’s huge but externally nondescript office building identified only by numbers on a small stainless steel plate on one side of the double revolving doors. If George didn’t know intimately how Manhattan’s addresses were organized, he might have missed that identification. He felt what was becoming a familiar trickle of hot sweat down his neck.

Unlike its bland exterior, the inside of the building was in a floor-to-ceiling atrium of dark polished granite, the center of which had an equally dark marble base containing a planting of perfectly tended foliage. While other Manhattan office building’s lobbies had been transformed into security barriers staffed by security personnel, there were neither security facilities nor security personnel. Only shirt-sleeved people walked back and forth across the lobby, the occasional waves suggesting they were all fellow employees.

George walked around the plant base to encounter a large dark stone desk occupied only by a single person in sort of a uniform. George started to say something to the man when the man said; “Mr. Kingson? Take the elevator to the 20^th floor.”

George walked to an open elevator door, and pressed 20. When the door opened on the 20^th floor he saw a large, dark wood desk behind which sat a familiar looking slim blonde woman with her ash blond hair in a headache bun. She gave no hint of recognizing him but said; “Mr. Kingson, you will be meeting with The Chairman and the Review Committee. Go down the hall. . .” pointing to her left, “. . .it is the door marked ‘Meeting Room.”

George followed her directions, found the door and then let himself into the room.

If the room had been designed to intimidate people, it had achieved its purpose: huge with a high vaulted ceiling. Along one side was a raised dais on which was a long table with a deep red cloth skirt. A number of middle-aged dark suited men, none of whom he recognized, were seated behind the table. In the middle a distinguished-looking man, apparently The Committee’s Chairman, sat in a chair with a noticeably higher seat that resulted in his sitting higher than the others.

Below and in front of the dais was a massive mahogany table behind which was a single chair. The Chairman motioned George to sit in it. George followed the instructions and placed his attaché case on the table in front of him.

The chairman asked; “George, do you have The Proposal Preparation materials including hard copies of any additional materials you used?”

George replied; “Yessir.”

He clicked open his case, removed the loose leaf binder and a folder of papers then; placed them next to the case.

The Chairman reached under the table; George heard a click to his left and saw a previously barely discernable door open. A younger man walked through it to stand in front of George.

The Chairman said; “Give them to this man.”

George did what he was told to do, whereupon the younger man walked silently back through the door and closed it to its previous barely discernable form.

The Chairman said; “We will now discuss your Proposal.”

With that, The Chairman and all the men at the table opened leather folios which contained copies of George’s proposal.

George cleared his throat then started;

“Mr. Chairman, gentlemen, the purpose of The Project is to use the science of Eugenics to improve a human population by controlled breeding to increase the occurrence of desirable heritable characteristics. The word Eugenics can be broken down into its Greek roots of Eu, meaning good and genes, meaning born. The science was developed by Sir Francis Galton, Charles Darwin’s cousin, based, in part, on Darwin’s concept of change in a species being due to its genetic modification. As I said, Galton developed the science as a method of improving the human race, and it began to be accepted in, for example, the United States in the 1920s with the founding of the American Eugenics Society, and later the Human Betterment Foundation. Unfortunately Eugenics fell into disfavor because of the perversion of its doctrines by the Nazi. . .”

“George! “ The Chairman said forcibly; “We don’t need to get into that!”

George quickly said; “Sorry, I just wanted to point out deficiencies The Project will avoid.”

“Then make your points without inappropriate references.”

“Yessir, I will.”

“Then you may continue.”

“Yessir. . .”

George cleared his throat again to restart;

“There are two types of Eugenics: negative and positive. Negative is to improve the population by the elimination of individuals with undesirable characteristics, by, for example, sterilization or adding chemicals to the drinking water to make people infertile. On the other hand, Positive, the kind we propose. . .”

The Chairman frowned, leaned over the dais, saying; “George, do not make us regret we have chosen you to make a proposal of your own choice.”

“Sorry sir, the Positive approach is the kind I propose for The Project is to improve the population by increasing the number of individuals with desirable characteristics.”

There were slight nods on the dais suggesting the beginning of a acceptance of George’s approach. He decided to press his advantage as he continued;

“There are three types of Eugenics programs: One, authoritarian pressure where the government compels its citizen’s behavior: Two, promotional volunteering where the government hopes its citizens will participate, and Three, private enticement where a private organization will provide inducements that will induce individuals to participate.”

Additional nods encouraged George to wrap-up this segment of his proposal;

“In summary, the approach is positive, private inducement.”

One Committee Member asked; “To help us understand your proposal, could you give us an example of a negative, authoritarian procedure?”

George responded; “Certainly sir: governmental compulsory control such as abortion.”

“Thank you.”

The Chairman said; “Now we all understand George, so discuss your inducements.

“Yessir. The plan is to move those who are accepted to an incredibly beautiful Caribbean island. . .”

One on the dais interrupted; “I can understand ‘incredibly beautiful’ as an inducement, but why an island?”

George answered; “Two reasons: privacy and isolation.”

“I don’t think I understand what the difference is.”

“Privacy addresses the issue of being secluded from observers. Eugenics is still a controversial subject so allowing observation of what we are doing. . .”

The Chairman leaned forward again; “We?”

“Sorry sir, allowing observation of what is being done before The Project’s goals are met is not in The Project’s best interests. Caribbean islands tend to be sparsely populated, and the location selected would be virtually unpopulated.”

The person who had initially raised the question asked; “And Isolation?”

George said; “Isolation means inaccessibility. Once couples are induced to participate, it would be better for them not to be able easily to go back and forth from our facilities. The location selected will be one that makes travel to and from it difficult, and inducements to stay attractive, so Participants will be less inclined to leave. May I continue?”

The Chairman said; “Certainly.”

George continued; “In our location luxurious accommodations that are also environmentally friendly will be. . .”

Another Committee Member interrupted; “Why environmentally friendly?”

George responded; “Because research has shown that highly intelligent individuals who might be inclined to be relocated tend to be concerned about the environment and thus may become more easily convinced to be relocated.”

“I see.”

“May I continue?”

“Certainly.”

“Not only will it be environmentally friendly, but Participants will be encouraged to make The Project even more so.”

A different Committee Member; “Participants?”

George replied; “Yes. If we call them Participants because they are participating in The Project, they will feel they have some ownership of The Project, and thus are more likely to become more enthusiastic and to stay in The Project.”

The Chairman said; “Your Proposal indicates that you will utilize both an individually administered intelligence test and a physiological assessment as measures of intelligence. Why?”

George replied; “Many of those who oppose Eugenics do so because they contend it is not a science but a pseudo-science and therefore it is a thinly-disguised form of racism. . .”

The Chairman interrupted; “George, I thought we told you about not using negative statements.”

George replied; “Sorry but I must refer to them here because they are criticisms that the design of The Project needs to address.”

“Very well, go on.”

“As I have indicated, intelligence is a well-accepted indication of improvement, and using two assessments of intelligence lends credence to its measurement. The individually administered intelligence test that was selected is the gold standard of intellectual measures, and the physiological measure is an absolutely objective measure. Do you want me to discuss them?”

The Chairman replied; “That will not be necessary. Continue.”

George said; “Yessir. Further, the scientific criteria of improved intelligence—a statistically significant increase—is the one that will be adapted.”

“And how long will it take to achieve this increase?”

“The estimate is it will happen in the sixth generation of Participants.”

Another Committee Member asked; “And how long is a generation?”

George answered; “Nominally twenty-five years.”

“So six generations is one hundred and fifty years!”

“That’s correct, but that is not the amount of time The Project will have to take to meet the criteria.”

“And why not?”

“The first generation of Participants are those who initially come down, and some of them will have children—the initial second generation.”

“So now for those who don’t come down with children it’s five additional generations; that’s still one hundred and twenty five years.”

“In theory yes, but I believe I can shorten the generation time.”

“But if you don’t, we have to be prepared to fund your project for at least one hundred and twenty-five years.”

“That’s correct.”

Another Committee Member questioner; “How many couples will be the initial Participants?

George answered; “At least a hundred.”

There was a very long pause, then The Chairman said;.

“George. You do realize you’re asking to be financed to build a luxurious resort on a Caribbean island, and support at least one hundred couples and their children for five additional generations. We are well funded and patient, but you are really trying our patience aren’t you?”

“Yessir.”

“Well?”

George took a very deep breath, then said; “This is my proposal for The Project that, according to the materials you provided. . . .”

“George, do we have to speak to you again about this matter?.”

“Sorry. . .the materials that were provided. Based on those materials, this is what I believe has to be done for The Project to achieve its goals.”

Feeling he could say no more, George stopped.

The Chairman then looked around the dais to see slightly nodding to more confidentially nodding heads. Then he turned back to look down at George and said; “We are inclined to support your Project.”

“Thank you.”

“Do not thank us. Get The Project done!”

“Yessir.”

“You will begin working out the details now with one of our assistants.”

Before George could say anything, The Chairman pushed a button under the table. Just as The Committee rose, turned on its heels and left silently, the door on the left opened and the same man who had collected George’s materials re-entered with a stack of papers under one arm and a laptop under the other.