Living alongside of people who are fascinated with genetic purity - April 2022


It's April of 2022, and I've been thinking about the number of people here in Arizona who are fascinated with genetic purity. Of course it's not exclusive to here, and it's not exclusive to now. Historically it's been a very popular point of view all over the world.

The first thing that springs to mind when I think of people who are fascinated with genetic purity is "White Supremacy". That is, the idea that people who have particular genetics are somehow better than other people, who don't have those genes. But of course it can be anyone who becomes fascinated by genetics, and since we all have genes, because we all have parents, it can be anyone in any group. People often call this their "race", and use it to differentiate themselves from other people.

Of course, there's only one race: the human race, and as a species the last thing that we would want to be is genetically limited. And since we've been successful for a long time, much of our success comes from how genetically mixed-up we are. You don't have to be a scientific expert to know that small gene pools are terrible for a species.

Speaking for myself, I'm glad of that. I'd like to think that a little bit of Neanderthal DNA in me has helped me to survive. So when people ask me about my genetics, my race (yeah, I know what they mean) I refer them to the flags that I fly on my trike - Scotland, and Italy. If they have more time, I can tell them my other Northern European genetics, and talk more about my Southern European ones. If they'll still listen to me I show them how close Europe is to Africa, and how people walk great distances.

I'm optimistic for the future of humanity. People who have tried to limit genetic diversity have always failed. Life breaks free, life expands to new territories. Painfully, perhaps even dangerously, life finds a way.

Image at the top of this post: Homo neanderthalensis, from the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
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