Eugenics debate resurfaces in online forums

The return of eugenics in Spanish public debate

In recent days, a debate on internet forums has revived proposals that seemed buried since the Second World War: the forced sterilisation of poor people as a solution to crime and poverty. Far from being marginal, the discussion has escalated into arguments about genetic purity, the elimination of "defectives" and control over reproduction.

Participants defend positions ranging from the chemical castration of the poor to the elimination of newborns with malformations. A recurring argument is that the children of the poor "steal, mug and beg", and that preventing their birth would save society trouble. Others propose more drastic methods, such as poisoning the drinking water.

The currents of the debate

On one side, there are those who favour drastic and direct measures: mandatory sterilisation from birth, even eliminating newborns with genetic defects. On the other, those who consider these ideas unrealistic and prefer to cut social benefits and promote mass deportations. Both positions share an undercurrent of social Darwinism and contempt for the most vulnerable.

The pushback comes from those who point to the rich as the real cause of inequality, or from those who joke about the antiestéticar of being castrated. But the overall tone of the debate is so harsh that it recalls darker times.

The missing data

There are no figures to support these proposals. Criminological evidence shows that poverty is not inherited genetically, but is the product of structural inequality. The discussion therefore reflects a social tension fuelled by precarity and distrust in institutions more than a rational analysis of public policy.

The debate remains open: while some demand a hard line against the poor, others remind us that history has already passed judgement on these ideas. For now, the forums remain the thermometer of a society that has yet to come to terms with its own contradictions.