The Mirror (English Paper) and NY Post : America's most inbred family

[Humberto]

America's most inbred family who speak in grunts began with identical twin bros

The Whittaker family have heartbreaking genetic defects which have left some of them grunting and barking instead of talking - and they are cut off from civilisation in there shack

www.mirror.co.uk

Meet the Whittakers: Inside ‘America’s most inbred family’ that speaks in grunts

Their family tree is self-pollinating: Inside the lives of a heavily-inbred West Virginia family that only communicates in grunts and barks at passersby.

nypost.com

 

[Humberto]

Well I could write more but they are after trying to convince you that people need to be wiped out.


There's elements of isolation, rural poverty, and systemic breakdown though.

 

[Yossarian]

Weird how America's most inbred family lives in total poverty and Britain's most inbred family lives in palaces

 

[Humberto]

If anything you can imagine what a complete lack of services and social contract leaves some off the main road.

 

[skyscraper101]

I’ve seen the video on YouTube of this family. It’s very sad the squalid conditions they’re living in when a hospital would seem a better place.

 

[Spymaster]

Well I could write more but they are after trying to convince you that people need to be wiped out.

No they're not. If anything the documentary maker seems sympathetic and raised over 40 grand for them.

It does raise some issues though. If a community or family has an over 100 year history of extremely serious physical and mental defects due to interbreeding; they seem happy but are going to continue that lifestyle, should wider society do something about it or let them get on with it.

 

[tim]

Looks like vile, sensationalist, eugenicist clickbait to me and the fact that I here means I have already made one click too many.

 

[Tanya1982]

I came across them on YouTube once, going to Walmart for the first time with a documentary maker - they were unbelievably excited. It was strangely touching. Look, they’re here, living and breathing, so there’s nothing to be gained from making their lives harder. They seem sweet, and innocent, and their neighbours apparently keep an eye out for them. I say leave them alone instead of turning them into a freak show.

 

[Pickman's model]

Well I could write more but they are after trying to convince you that people need to be wiped out.

People are doing a very good job of wiping themselves out

 

[Spymaster]

I came across them on YouTube once, going to Walmart for the first time with a documentary maker - they were unbelievably excited. It was strangely touching. Look, they’re here, living and breathing, so there’s nothing to be gained from making their lives harder. They seem sweet, and innocent, and their neighbours apparently keep an eye out for them. I say leave them alone instead of turning them into a freak show.

But if we agree that procreation via incest probably isn't a good idea, shouldn't steps be taken to prevent it?

 

[Tanya1982]

But if we agree that procreation via incest probably isn't a good idea, shouldn't steps be taken to prevent it?

There are steps taken to prevent it - it’s illegal. But that still leaves the product of after the fact cases living, and there’s nothing that can be done about that.

 

[Spymaster]

There are steps taken to prevent it - it’s illegal.

That's clearly not preventing it though, is it? It's simply legislating against it. Preventing it would be acting on the legislation and imprisoning them, intervening to perhaps disrupt and disperse the community, or take other measures. The insinuation from a couple of posters seems to be that there are calls for more drastic measures, presumably forcible sterilisation and even eradication by the OP, though I can't see any of that in the linked articles.

 

[existentialist]

That's clearly not preventing it though, is it? It's simply legislating against it. Preventing it would be acting on the legislation and imprisoning them, intervening to perhaps disrupt and disperse the community, or take other measures. The insinuation from a couple of posters seems to be that there are calls for more drastic measures, presumably forcible sterilisation and even eradication by the OP, though I can't see any of that in the linked articles.

We "legislate" against incest primarily through social disapproval, which just happens to be enshrined in law. I don't think anyone considering an incestuous relationship is likely to be going "hmm, nice, but...it's ILLEGAL, so no", assuming they're even thinking about consequences rather than responding in the moment. So it probably depends on there being other people around to exercise the before-the-fact stuff in the first place. And, I guess, if all you've got available to you are blood relatives, then the risk of an incestuous liaison goes up. For all I know, there might even be some evolutionary biology doing its work in there, too.

All assuming there isn't some abusive dynamic operating, which would put a much nastier slant on things.

 

[Spymaster]

We "legislate" against incest primarily through social disapproval, which just happens to be enshrined in law. I don't think anyone considering an incestuous relationship is likely to be going "hmm, nice, but...it's ILLEGAL, so no", assuming they're even thinking about consequences rather than responding in the moment. So it probably depends on there being other people around to exercise the before-the-fact stuff in the first place. And, I guess, if all you've got available to you are blood relatives, then the risk of an incestuous liaison goes up. For all I know, there might even be some evolutionary biology doing its work in there, too.

All assuming there isn't some abusive dynamic operating, which would put a much nastier slant on things.

The latter doesn't seem to be he case as this seems to be well observed within this family since the early 1900s. They also seem to live in a community which albeit small (under 800 people) you'd expect would afford opportunities for procreation outside of their own family. Obviously that raises the question, why do they keep doing this?

 

[existentialist]

The latter doesn't seem to be he case as this seems to be well observed within this family since the early 1900s. They also seem to live in a community which albeit small (under 800 people) you'd expect would afford opportunities for procreation outside of their own family. Obviously that raises the question, why do they keep doing this?

Hmm. I wonder if, maybe, after a generation or two of inbreeding, the consequences of that make them less-than-attractive partners outside of the family? I have no idea, but I can't help wondering if there's some kind of feedback loop which sustains this over time.

 

[porp]

and they are cut off from civilisation in there shack...

"There shack"..What happened to copyediting at The Mirror?

Also what happened to minding your own business?I mean really

 

[Spymaster]

Hmm. I wonder if, maybe, after a generation or two of inbreeding, the consequences of that make them less-than-attractive partners outside of the family?

I think that's quite possible. Aside from any physical or mental issues, most of us are probably less likely to want to shag someone whose mother and father are brother and sister.

 

[salem]

That's clearly not preventing it though, is it? It's simply legislating against it. Preventing it would be acting on the legislation and imprisoning them, intervening to perhaps disrupt and disperse the community, or take other measures. The insinuation from a couple of posters seems to be that there are calls for more drastic measures, presumably forcible sterilisation and even eradication by the OP, though I can't see any of that in the linked articles.

Based on Wikipedia, it seems like the youngest was born in 1984 so something did put a stop to this 40 years ago. With that in mind if there are no kids involved then I'm inclined to adopt a live and let live approach.