Homo Sapiens 1900

'There are times when saving a life is a greater crime than taking one.'  This quote near the beginning of the film, Homo Sapiens 1900, not only struck me as criminal, but it also seemed to excuse the bad medical practices that were occurring, specifically sterilization and the mass extermination movement to follow. This excuse was even validated as many government officials, doctors and even the general public agreed with the eugenics movement, that is, until Hitler took it too far during the Holocaust. Then, suddenly, the eugenics movement had opposition. As shown in the propaganda clip, Hitler’s Blood Tonic, the Americans can easily see past Hitler’s faulty logic and overzealous eugenic ideals. But why was this so hard to see before the Holocaust? Essentially the logic used to justify it was the same, and many, other than those who were being sterilized, thought eugenics was a perfectly sane idea as it corresponded with the populations racist ideals. The only difference, however, is eugenics wasn’t represented as comically as the propaganda clip, but rather shown as scientifically proven; therefore, the general population couldn’t see the ridiculousness of it.