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.”