Inferior Genes Exclusion Act
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The Inferior Genes Exclusion Act (Japanese: 劣悪遺伝子排除法) was one of the first laws passed in the Galactic Empire after its founding in 310 UC (1 IC / 3110 CE). Indicting billions of Imperial citizens to imprisonment, torture and death, the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act legislated the greatest genocide in human history, and became a symbol of the tyranny of the Goldenbaum Dynasty and the High Nobles who presided over it.
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History
- "The law of the universe is the law of the jungle. It's survival of the fittest! Human society cannot be an exception. A society where the number of inferior people has increased beyond a certain level loses vitality and grows weak. I ardently wish for the prosperity of the human race! Accordingly, it is my holy duty as the superintendent of humanity to exclude those elements which weaken humanity."
- - Kaiser Rudolf von Goldenbaum, upon the creation of the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act.
Established by Kaiser Rudolf von Goldenbaum in 319 UC (10 IC / 3119 CE), The Inferior Genes Exclusion Act was a eugenics policy aimed at increasing the 'vitality' of Imperial Society by eliminating undesirable genetic traits from the gene pool. The IGE Act (or IGEA) was accompanied by several other ultraconservative political reforms, including the abolition of social welfare in Rudolf's fledgling Empire.
At its heart, the IGE Act was a policy of forced sterilization directed at people deemed to be abnormal or inferior. This included the poor and the handicapped. People considered to be mentally ill were summarily executed. Eventually, having a family member that was subject to IGEA became a shameful, embarrassing thing, and even those who would have survived under the law — primarily the handicapped — would often be smothered by their parents in infancy. Several parliamentarians of the Imperial Senate openly criticized the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act, and their defiance incited Rudolf — or gave him the excuse to — permanently dissolve the Imperial Senate.
Eventually, the IGEA, whose enforcement was handled by the Empire's Ministry of the Interior, became a law carried out by individual judgement — no trials or legal recourse for the accused, only swift, brutal enforcement of the IGEA. Citizens deemed to be political enemies or dissidents would be decried mentally ill, and executed. Proof was neither required nor requested. Often, people would be gunned down by the police in the street, simply for participation — or even proximity — to a protest or anti-government rally. Millions of people were exiles to barren planets in the deep frontier, and countless citizens disappeared in the night to labor camps and prisons. Many became 'living dead' after being subjected to harsh medical experiments and lobotomies, or chose to commit suicide in prison. (LOGH: 'Julian's Journey, Mankind's Journey')
The first person to helm the Department of Social Discipline, which enforced the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act, was Ernst Falstrong, formerly the Empires's head of the Ministry of the Interior and a personal friend to the Emperor.
In law for more than 400 years, the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act was eventually no longer regularly enforced by the Goldenbaum Dynasty sometime during the reign of Maximilian Josef II, though it remained technically in effect. (LOGH: 'Cool, Clear Artificial Eyes', Legend of the Galactic Heroes Gaiden: 'Enemy, Friend, Enemy, Enemy, Enemy...')
Legacy
Despite the sheer number of people killed, the Imperial Government kept no official records of their systemic murder, instead using various euphemisms to obfuscate the fates of those arrested and 'disappeared' by IGEA enforcers. In Rudolf's lifetime alone, the IGEA is believed to have resulted in the deaths of approximately 1.3% of the total human population--estimated to be roughly 3.9 billion dead.
While shocking, the systemic murder is arguably less horrific than the pronounced effect of the IGEA mass-sterilization campaigns, which would drastically reduce the total population of the human species. By 796 UC (487 IC / 3596 CE), almost 500 years after the Exclusion Act was implemented, the total human population had only recovered to 12% of what it had been at its peak. (Legend of Galactic Heroes Volume 1: Dawn)
Appendices
Alternate names
- Inferior Genes Elimination Act (Novels)
Background information
- In just one year, the Inferior Genes Exclusion Act resulted in the deaths of roughly 4 billion Imperial citizens. At that time, the total population of the Empire was 300 billion — that's nearly 1.3% total. (LOGH: 'Julian's Journey, Mankind's Journey')
- The Empire refrained from keeping clear records of those killed under the Exclusion Act: instead, deaths were recorded as accidents, the result of disease or natural causes, and disappearance. (Legend of Galactic Heroes Volume 1: Dawn)
