Social Darwinism Essay Example

survival for the fittest is both natural and morally correct. This opinion has had some proponents of social darwinism argue that it is morally incorrect to help those who are weak in the society. This is because, it is considered as a way of promoting the possible reproduction and survival of people who are fundamentally unfit, an opinion that has been criticized by some.

The term “Social Darwinism” became known in Europe in 1879 during the late Victorian era.The concept became popular in the United States in 1944 with its popularity being encouraged by an American historian referred to as Richard Hofstadter. Other personalities who are linked to the development of social darwinism are Thomas Malthus. Herbert Spencer’s work “Progress; Its Law and cause” was published in 1857 two years before Darwin’s, “origin of species” was published.

According to his work, Spencer considered evolution to affect both the biological and social aspects of people Francis Galton who was Darwin’s cousin gave a social interpretation of Darwin’s biological work.Galton pointed out that social institutions such as insane asylums and welfare programs promote the reproduction and survival of the “inferiors” . Social Darwinism advocates for competition especially amongst the males in order for one to survive in future and proposes that the poor need not be provided with aid but should work hard to provide for themselves. However, proponents of the social Darwinism theory in the early twentieth century encouraged better salaries and good working conditions for the poor so that they could compete well.If this was applied in the modern society, it can succeed in distinguishing those who are poor due to inferiority, laziness, or weakness.

The relationship between

Darwinism and social change The concept of social darwinism has led to social change. For instance, in Europe, the cultural and social evolution has made an impact on the society where the Enlightenment thinkers held an opinion that one way through which the societies progressed was through increased development. In addition, one inherent feature of social life that was emphasized by these thinkers was conflict.Social Darwinism integrated the ideas of Darwin’s biological study into social studies.

For example, social instincts, moral sentiments, and sympathy are considered to be subject to natural selection and that they strengthen the societies in which they occur. The social instincts of an individual makes one feel a certain level of sympathy for the others and to offer others some services (Oliver and Anthony, 1994). Based on this reasoning in the social darwinism theory, many leaders in the past have managed to uplift people from poverty by assisting them.In the United States, the concept promoted an optimistic attitude towards the future since it encouraged the American leaders and citizens to work hard in order to become better and successful in future. Some leaders have failed to accept the anti-philanthropic implication of social darwinism. Instead, those who are wealthy and rich have continued to give donations and grants to support the building of hospitals, schools, colleges and social institutions (Smeeding and Michael,1990) which can be used by the poor and weak in the society to improve their lives.

Social Darwinism has been criticized and closely linked to imperialism and racialism, especially if applied in a society where minor groups of people exist. The negative reaction towards social darwinism is due to the confusion created

by the scientific Darwinism theory (Dickens, 2000). The major difference between the two is that, while Darwin’s natural selection theory is scientific, social Darwinism theory is an ethical theory. Wrong application of some Darwin’s scientific theory ideas in the society may result to the violation of moral codes.The positive role of Social Darwinism theory in the society Despite the negative reaction of people to the social darwinism theory, it can be applied constructively to impact positively on the society.

One positive impact of the theory is that, it promotes a nation’s, an individual, or a community optimistic attitude towards the future. For example, a nation such as the United States is considered to have succeeded due to the optimistic attitude of the American people about the future.Optimism encourages hard work and innovation as nations or individuals struggle to become better, and this leads to success. In addition, many leaders and wealthy individuals who are optimistic that their efforts will assist the poor have been motivated to invest huge amount of resources to support development projects in poor communities.

These projects generate great profits which are then channeled back to increase productivity and to promote economic development. Some ideas in the theory have proved to be vital in economic development if they are used to improve the wellbeing of a society.Social darwinism theory also motivates the poor in the society to work very hard in order to prove that the are not “inferior” (Hawkins, 1997). The theory has a positive influence on the society when it discourages wanton handouts to the poor.

When people are poor, their living standards become poor and it becomes almost impossible to cater for

their needs. The poor lack the ability to provide shelter, food, and clothing to their children. Lack of employment and education becomes a great challenge to the poor who might be struggling to improve their lives (Peterson and Martin, 2004).Some of the factors that contribute to poverty include poor governance, low economic development, cultural factors, lack of proper health care facilities and overpopulation in a society with limited resources.

One of the poverty reduction strategies is to provide development aid, loans, or grants to the needy. This may promote complete dependence of the poor on those who offer the assistance. The vicious cycle of dependence is considered to encourage the poor who keep receiving handouts to rely on assistance rather than work hard to improve their poor living conditions and standards.By discouraging handouts, the poor are motivated to work hard so as to attain economic independence. Social darwinism promotes the access of financial resources by those who are able to utilize the resources appropriately.

These individuals or groups of people who utilize resources appropriately are referred to as the “fittest in the society”. This has proved to be a very important aspect of economic development because it promotes the provision of resources to only those who have the ability or have proved that they can generate great returns by utilizing the resources.For instance, some nations have invested in companies or institutions that are promising in future. When people who are able to utilize resources appropriately are provided with the resources, their ability to succeed is boosted. Providing the “fittest” with the necessary resources and a favorable environment enables the individuals or companies to exploit the opportunities presented

to them in order to succeed (Marger, 2008).

Individuals or poor performing companies are considered to the “inferior” hence the well performing entities receive favors while they don’t.The success of some of the best performing companies in the world has been attributed to the application of the ideas promoted by the social Darwinism theory. This is because many investors tend to invest their resources in companies that do well with the hope that they will also gain from the success of the company. The opinion that help and support should only be offered to recipients who genuinely deserve it has resources provided to those who have shown their ability to succeed while those who perform poorly fail to get any support.

However, those who do not receive favors can also be motivated and challenged to improve their performance in order to compete with the “superiors”. Social Darwinism promotes capitalism, which is considered by many as a motivation to economic success. This has had some well known capitalists such as Andrew Carnegie to combine social Darwinism ideas with philanthropy whereby indiscriminate and direct handouts are discouraged but instead a favorable environment is provided to the people who are willing to succeed.For example, the establishment of education institutions is one way through which the disadvantaged in the society can be provided with skills and knowledge that they can utilize to make their lives much better .

Although capitalism has been criticized as a factor that promotes the exploitation of the poor and weak by the might and wealthy, capitalism sometimes act as a catalyst to an individuals’ hard work, dedication, and commitment to do better in future. Since capitalism encourages

private ownership of property, private ownership of property or wealth creates a sense of pride in a person who manages to succeed.A capitalist economy is considered by its proponents as an economy that offers individuals with great opportunities to raise income and to venture into new and profitable business ventures. Capitalism also allows the most hard working, intelligent, and smart individuals or companies to find new solutions to the existing problems and challenges. However, those who lack these qualities are likely to receive no assistance from the wealthy, who instead generate profits from them . Private ownership that is supported by capitalists encourage the owners to maximize profits they get from them.

Negative impact of social Darwinism One negative impact of the social Darwinism theory is its application by those who are successful in the society to exploit the minors or the poor. This is criticized by many as a setback to the upholding of ethics in the society (Jenkins, 2002). For instance, social Darwinism was used by colonialists in the past to justify why they gave poor treatment to those they colonized. Colonialists considered themselves to be superior while those they conquered as “inferior” or the weak.Brutal colonial governments in the past used the ideas of social Darwinism theory to oppress their subjects.

In the contemporary world, this has led to discrimination of certain individuals or groups of people due to the conviction that those who are weak deserve the ill treatment that results from discrimination. The poor who are discriminated continue to remain poor while the prosperous continue to exploit them. Social Darwinism discourages the poor to participate in efforts to improve their living standards.By

referring to certain people or groups of people as the weak or inferior, those who are looked down upon fail to make efforts to improve their condition. This is because; they are convinced that their efforts to improve their lives are likely to fail because they will always be inferior.

In fighting poverty, one of the best strategies is to empower people who are willing to succeed. Those who are willing to work hard must have an optimistic attitude towards the future (O'Keefe, 2005).This is what those who are condemned to poverty by the application of social Darwinism lack. By lacking an optimistic attitude, the “weak” or the “poor” in the society are likely to continue living in poor conditions.

Empowering people who are pessimistic about their future becomes a very difficult task. The successful and wealthy proponents of social Darwinism fail to offer assistance to the poor and those who desperately need assistance for survival because they are convinced that those who are poor in the society choose to be poor.Some people refer to this as “voluntary poverty”. According to the theory, the fittest and the strongest should flourish while the unfit, inferior, or weak should be allowed to die. This no doubt discourages any assistance to be offered to those who are considered to be weak and unfit.

Every individual in the society has a moral responsibility to assist those who need assistance (Richard, 1985). Moral values demand that one should not allow an individual to die if his or her assistance can save the life of that person.Because the poor or the weak are considered to be poor due to their laziness and their low

ability to succeed, then they do not deserve any assistance. This contradicts the moral values and ethics of a society that encourages assistance to those who are suffering in the society. Furthermore, it promotes division and animosity between those who are wealthy and those who are poor .

The theory considered to degenerate humanity and to undermine the existence of charity and compassion in the society. Some Applications of Social DarwinismSome applications of social Darwinism in the past have proved to do more harm than good . This is due to the negative implications of applying some Darwin’s natural selection theory arguments in the society. Darwin’s theory supports the idea that the members of the same species must compete for the limited resources for them to survive. In addition, the theory supports the notion that some traits are useful for one to survive while others are not. When these ideas are integrated into the society, then they conflict with the moral values that a society upholds in relation to protecting human life (Hawkins, 1997).

Based on the social Darwinism theory, some proponents of this theory argue that the powerful and the civilized nations have the right to appropriate the limited resources that belong to the weak. The nations are considered to have the strong traits that enable them to survive while the weak that lack the ability to utilize their resources to survive can be exploited; hence it has been used by some nations to justify imperialism. Social darwinism has been applied to promote colonialism. Colonialism in the past involved the exploitation of the natives and their resources by the colonialists.When it occurred, colonialism was considered to

be inevitable and natural and the justification of colonialists to conquer others was that the natives were weaker and more unfit to survive.

Dominating over them therefore was seen as having the strong and superior power over the inferior. Apart from colonialism, social Darwinism has encouraged exploitative forms of capitalism in the society. For instance, some workers have and still continue to receive very poor payment in exchange for long hours of intensive labor (Marger, 2008).By having the wealthy take senior positions of employment, they receive good payment because they are fit, superior, and strong. Unfortunately workers in the low classes of work receive very poor payment because they are inferior or weak. Big companies and business have in some cases refused to acknowledge labor unions or organizations concerned with fighting for the wellbeing of the poor and the unfortunate in the society (Thompson and Joseph, 2005).

Social darwinism has in the past been used to justify the support of eugenics program.These programs aimed at weeding the undesirable and unfit genes from the society. For example, the American eugenics movement became popular between 1910 and 1930. The passing of sterilization laws had a law that restricted immigration of people from particular areas who were considered to be unfit. In addition, although social Darwinism is linked to the events that led to the Holocaust.

According to the opponents of the theory, the killing of the Jews by the Nazi in Germany was meant to eliminate an “inferior” group of people who unfit to survive. ConclusionThe Social darwinism theory has since its inception attracted a lot of criticism due to the implications it has on the ethics and moral responsibility

of a society. The ideas incorporated in this theory are similar to those of Darwin’s natural selection theory. While Darwin’s natural selection theory is scientific, the Social darwinism theory is ethical because it relates to the society. The critics of the theory argue that the ideas in the natural selection theory cannot be integrated in the society and it’s considered to do more harm than good because it promotes the exploitation of the poor and weak by the wealthy and prosperous.

According to the moral values and ethics in a society, the wealthy have a duty to uphold human dignity by assisting those who are suffering or living under very poor conditions. On the other hand, the theory is considered to be advantageous to the society since it discourages laziness and complete dependence of some nations or individuals on others. It is important to note that whether the Social Darwinism theory is advantageous or disadvantageous to a society depends on how it is applied.