COULD FURRIES BE MADE TO EXIST?

An exercise in creative thought.

By Steve Corbett, AKA Iron Badger.

I’ve been asked off and on if I ever thought that furries could exist in the real world as the result of genetic manipulation.

I believe they could- but my reasons for that belief may not sit well with many of the askers.

The following is an essay I have written to put all of my thoughts in a more concrete form, and as an exercise in creative thought and speculation.

Furries.

There are several different definitions of what exactly a “Real life furry” would or should be.

For the purposes of this essay, we shall define a furry as an anthropomorphic biped that is the result of mixing human and non human, or animal genes to create a new life form that blends physical and visual characteristics of both the original donor human and the donor animal species.

The furry in question is likely smaller than a human, has a human body with plantigrade legs and feet, an animal’s head with possibly human and animal blended features, longer scalp hair (for aesthetics), and a tail.

It will be assumed that the furry is more or less a human with animal-like characteristics, instincts and behavior as this template represents the easiest and most compatible shape that the widest range of human potential customers will relate to in a positive manner.

First, some facts that many people may or may not be aware of.

The human population of the western world has been steadily shrinking since the 1970s.

That is to say, the birth rate has been well under the death rate for over 30 years in all western countries, and the trend is continuing to grow.

(A fact noted with some alarm by the corporate world that is dependant on youth labor out of high school.)

This trend alone will lead in time to a shrinking population; that population inheriting a steadily larger share of wealth and property left by older relatives.

A situation that could duplicate the end of the black plague in Europe, that left the surviving population with a lot of fluid wealth, that lead to the explosion of art and science in the renaissance as those survivors decided to spend that fluid capitol.

However, there is a possible extra wrinkle….

I saw a news article about 5 or 6 years ago about a new pill that a pharmaceutical company is developing.

This pill once perfected will allow the mother taking it to choose the gender of her child while pregnant.

The news agency conducted a survey after hearing of this announcement, and the results were surprising.

98% of men answered that if given the chance to choose the gender of their first child, they would choose a boy.

But what was surprising was that fully 95% of women also chose a boy for the first child.

If such a pill were to become popular and only half the western world used it, then in a generation fully \xBE of the entire western world would be male….

(The normal gender mix in human populations is around 50/50 male and female from natural birth.)

And most families these days are having only one child…if they choose to breed at all.

Now think about that a moment.

\xBE of ALL western populations being male.

Maybe the entire planet, if the pill becomes available cheaply in the third world.

Imagine the magnitude of the population crash this could cause.

The type of population that would exist.

A population that will have enormous fluid wealth; and having been raised on the Internet.

Probably a population that has difficulties relating to other humans in a mature fashion. (Mostly relating to females, who will be RARE.)

These rich Internet kids will seek companionship; but that companionship will have to be something that they can be comfortable with.

(IE, neither threatening nor emotionally demanding- and the few females can pick and choose at will, remember. So they can have the pick of the best males available as they see fit.)

A whole population of lonely male virgins with money to burn on anything at all they choose…

Enter the corporations seeking virgin territory to exploit financially.

(So to speak.)

Corporations always chase the money, and this new generation will be largely immune to slick marketing; having been exposed to it their entire lives and probably hating it.

How to cash in on all that lovely money, just sitting in trust funds and bank accounts?

Genetic science is in its infancy, currently.

That is changing very fast already.

The market for “companions” created genetically is potentially more vast than anything else you can name, under these circumstances.

It would start out with better, smarter pets.

A dog who you can talk to.

A cat who could play video games with you.

A Bengal tiger small enough to sit on your lap?

A fox with perfect house manners who can let himself out to do his business- or use the toilet the same as you do?

A ferret that loves to cuddle, can play checkers and can watch the house while your out?

Anything becomes possible in terms of programmed personality, behavior and instincts, as well as size and appearance.

In time, and probably sooner than later, the customer base will start thinking in terms of more than conversation- especially with literally anything you can imagine possible to create given a sufficiently advanced and comprehensive enough genetic technology.

Why create furries then?

Why not just whip up plenty of human type sex toys/slaves?

There’s that little law against slavery.

And genetically created humans still look like humans- no matter what they are programmed to be like, say or do.

We are a visually oriented species, after all.

And no matter what the PSA crap claims, we make most of our judgments on how we react to something based on what it looks like.

Furries are just far enough removed from humans in appearance that few people would really object to the idea of owning a woman who looks like, say, a dog.

Frankly, many furry fans these days seem unable to distinguish between a true animal and an anthropomorphic that is human in all but basic appearance.

Think how much easier the idea becomes to accept for people who are not already furry fans.

They would be desperately lonely, and will have grown up with the real prospect of NEVER finding a girlfriend or wife in their entire lives, simply because they do not exist.

Furries by then will be a long established idea, and all over the Internet.

Waiting only to be developed by a corporate entity seeking new markets and holding the technology in their hands.

I am sure there will be more than simply furries made as well.

Scalies. Winged fairy-like girls. Mermaids?

With centuries of folklore to draw upon and the ability to customize the appearance and behavior of a genetically engineered life form, anything becomes possible.

The only likely legal requirement at first is that they be obviously nonhuman, so there is no confusion over the legal status of such a creature being found wandering the streets.

Will they become free in time? Given citizen status?

Not likely.

Why?

Simply put, they will be expensive to purchase, and the early ones will probably be sterile by design.

Therefore a large and expensive investment.

They will also probably be just smart enough by design to be able to serve- but never a threat, or able or want to challenge their own status.

Probably, they will also have instincts implanted that make them happy to serve their masters. Maybe even made in such a way that they cannot be happy unless serving.

And unable to take care of themselves without human help and supervision.

No corporate entity will knowingly make a product that could potentially put them out of business.

Furry-engineered life forms that are capable of making a court case for emancipation would certainly put them out of business.

Fast.

So our postulated furry critters will likely exist one day.

They will be happy, obedient and probably just smart enough to do our laundry, clean the house and hop eagerly into bed on command.

They will probably not be able to breed- at least at first- can be made to look like anything we want, and will possibly have a limited lifespan of around 40 years.

(Could be more, could be less- the corporations will want to be able to sell replacements on a regular basis, and fast growth usually translates directly to short lifespan in animals.)

Is it right?

Define “right”.

Our current idea of right and wrong is based on current assumptions of morality, and past history has shown us that morals are subject to change- sometimes damned fast and very radically.

The better question is-

Will our descendants see it as right or wrong?

For them, as long as they take good care of their furries and love them, would we be wrong to judge them harshly for having and keeping them?

With governmental agencies in place to police the trade and punish abuse-

How would it be different then the way we keep our pets now?

This essay is intended to provoke thought.

Its not intended to pick fights.

If you object to what I have written here- do the work to come up with your own version of a possible future history instead of flaming me.

Much of what I have come up with here is possibly better suited to being the background for fictional stories than as a serious projection of the future.

But I WAS asked, and have now answered.

-Badger-