Okay, we Brits are hardly in a position to point a finger -
But, honestly, I sometimes think the Dutch get a pass as being much more progressive and cooler than they are, because 'coffeeshops', enlightened sex ed, etc?
Quite apart from the ongoing annual mutterings over Zwarte Piet (which is not even 'tradition since time immemorial', but mid-C19th in origin), today I came across this charming thing in a tweet by author of the book in question:
Dutch review of *The Slave Ship*: "Rediker seems to have put together the most extreme examples in his book. With a more moderate stance and less emphasis on the psychopaths among the captains and crew members, The Slave Ship would be more balanced."
Errrr, WHAT??? I cannot even.
We note that in his satirical poem 'Pity for Poor Africans', Cowper's 'reasonable' Englishman, 'shock'd at the purchase of slaves', who 'fear[s] those who buy them and sell them are knaves' is concerned that if they give up the trade, quite apart from the deprivation of 'sugar and rum'
Besides, if we do, the French, Dutch, and Danes,
Will heartily thank us, no doubt, for our pains;
If we do not buy the poor creatures, they will,
And tortures and groans will be multiplied still.
And while I hold no brief at all for the unethical stuff that British docs can get up to and away with for absolute yonks before it either comes to light or the GMC takes action - I refer dr rdrz to Liver-branding transplant surgeon and this charmer being yay dodgy in the realm of AID (a realm in which such stories occasionally surface in other countries - was there not some fairly recent instance in US?), here is Netherlands fertility doctor [who] used own sperm to father 21 children. Not even the only one:
Beek is the third fertility doctor in the Netherlands found to have used their own sperm during fertility treatment. In October 2020, DNA tests revealed that gynaecologist Jan Wildschut, who died in 2009, was the biological father of 17 children. The previous year it was discovered that doctor Jan Karbaat had used his own sperm in the conception of 49 children with unknowing patients. Jue said the protocols of the 1970s and 80s, when fertility treatment was in its infancy, did not bear any relation to those of today.
Should it require protocols not to do that?
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