The Standard Reader
The Standard Reader Books in Brief Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World by Wesley J. Smith (Encounter, 219 pp., $25.95) Regular readers of Wesley Smith’s web and magazine commentary...
...We have instead begun to choose the revolution for ourselves, moved by the common desires for extended youth, better health, greater strength, or above-average children, and never quite aware of where the road we have begun to travel may be leading us...
...Right along with this spiritual devotion, Smith also observes the operation of the profit motive...
...He notes, for instance, the tone of those who argue most vociferously for the freedom to research without constraints, and he finds that it reveals an abiding ideology, indeed almost a religion, of “scientism...
...We are building our biotech future choice by choice, and doing so fundamentally as consumers...
...And to judge by the decision made recently by the citizens of Smith’s home state of California, it could not have come too soon...
...The Standard Reader Books in Brief Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World by Wesley J. Smith (Encounter, 219 pp., $25.95) Regular readers of Wesley Smith’s web and magazine commentary on bioethics questions will find much that is familiar...
...Over the years, he’s broadened his case, but something of the old Naderism is present in the ironic title: Consumer’s Guide to a Brave New World...
...He points out that academic scientists are increasingly moved by the lure of valuable patents, often to the detriment of basic scientific transparency and honesty...
...The dark side of our brave new world is not as obvious as that of Huxley’s, though it may turn out to be even worse for us...
...Smith started out his career in public-policy debates as a Naderite, coauthoring works with Ralph Nader, and his initial forays into the life issues were dominated by the idea that we ought to be worried about such things as, say, euthanasia, because they represent large corporations threatening the poor...
...In Huxley’s dystopia, dreadful war and the breakdown of social order led the people to demand that government offer stability, which the government did by resorting to biotechnology...
...More than a consumer’s guide, the book is an illuminating citizen’s guide to the future...
...But in our time we have not been forced into the arms of a new eugenics by war or disorder...
...The real prize comes in the later analytical chapters...
...The book’s first section offers an accessible overview of the basic scientific, political, and moral issues— though a primer may be wasted on the likely reader of such a book...
...Smith’s analysis revolves around the character— perhaps flavor is the better word—of the increasingly prominent debates surrounding stem cells, cloning, genetic engineering, enhancement techniques, and other new human biotechnologies...
...But it is only when one sees Smith’s argument put together in book-length form that the coherence of it all stands out...
...Yuval Levin...
...Smith’s book reminds us that at the very least we should also be sure to do so as responsible citizens, thinking of the big picture and the consequences...
...The biotech advocates see themselves as offering the world a path to rational salvation, available to all if only we will put aside our ancient prejudices and join the march of progress...
...Smith has a sharp eye for the market and offers several uncommon insights about the march of biotechnology...
...Still, the biotech revolution we are witnessing today will not be driven by government or by the scientific establishment, but by the choices of individuals as consumers...
...The recently passed stem-cell referendum in California, which created a $3 billion taxpayerfunded institution run and overseen by the very people who most stand to benefit financially from any advance it produces, offers a stark example of this insufficiently appreciated element of the debate...
...In this sense, Smith’s all-too-common allusion to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World falls short...
Vol. 10 • November 2004 • No. 11
