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Social Darwinism is a 19th-century concept of ethical behavior based on Charles Darwin’s ideas. It justifies neglect, abuse, and even mass murder of weaker individuals or groups. Although largely dismissed, some still argue its merit. Its application ranges from libertarianism to the justification of colonialism and racial extermination, such as Nazi Germany’s Holocaust. There is little evidence that Darwin’s theories apply to human interaction, society, or ethics.
Social Darwinism is a set of precepts concerning ethical behavior towards others developed in the 19th century that derives from some of Charles Darwin’s ideas. Herbert Spencer is credited with being the first to make this extrapolation of Darwinian thinking to human social and ethical behavior. Particularly during the Industrial Revolution and up until the mid-20th century, some people excused negligent, negligent, or mass murderous behavior by relying on Spencer’s theories, which had never been proven. For the most part, Spencer’s ideas have been dismissed, although some people still argue that his concepts had merit.
The concept behind this idea is based on Darwin’s observations that the weakest members of animal populations tend to be eliminated over the course of several generations. Survival of the fittest ensures a stronger species, where the best qualities are selected and reproduced. When this idea is applied to society, it justifies a variety of controversial viewpoints. First, you don’t need to help people who are struggling financially, socially, or educationally, because if they’re really fit, they’ll fix it and overcome whatever problem they have. If not, they sink to the lowest social standing and will be less likely to reproduce; this is patently false, however, as evidenced by high birth rates in underprivileged populations.
Furthermore, social Darwinism, and its idea of the strong having rights over the weak, means that people can excuse many abhorrent actions against anyone who is weak. The push by many businesses during the Industrial Revolution to prevent governments from establishing any kind of basic protections for workers is part of this theory. If workers are disadvantaged and weak, it doesn’t matter if they are abused. The strong have the right to treat the weak in any way they like, and no government should interfere in this process. The “behind the times” mentality that characterized factory formation and governance during this period suggested that anyone of the weak who was truly strong would eventually rise above adversity and succeed.
Two of the worst applications of this theory involve colonialism and racial extermination. Countries taking other people’s land often justified their actions as having the greater force and, therefore, were perfectly entitled to take what they could from weaker nations and treat those nations’ subjects with scant respect. Even more shocking was Darwin’s theories of creating a “fittest” population applied to justify the mass execution of specific racial groups, as Nazi Germany did in the mid-20th century.
In its mildest applications, Social Darwinism is akin to a libertarian viewpoint, where everyone should have equal freedom and no person gets special privileges or supports anyone else. People rise or fall based on their merits and how those merits interface with the demands of society. The scariest applications of this theory justify things like the Holocaust. These justifications are compounded, if possible, because there is little evidence that Darwin’s theories are applicable to human interaction, society, or ethics.
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