Social Darwinism is a term that was invented during the late 19 th century with the goal of describing the idea that, just like plants and animals, humans compete in a struggle for existence, a situation that results in ‘survival for the fittest.’ Social Darwinism is based on the theories of evolution, as was developed by Charles Darwin, a British naturalist. Some social Darwinists insist that the government should not interfere with human competition in any way by making an attempt to regulate the economy or deal with the social ills. Rather, they should advocate for the laissez-fare political and economic system, which favors self-interest and competition in business and social affairs (Leonard, 2009) . Darwinists are typically against the advocacy of the ‘law of the jungle.’ Rather, they propose arguments that are in justification of power imbalance between individuals, nations, and races because of the belief that some people are better positioned to survive compared to others.
The term social Darwinist is loosely applied to any on individuals who loosely interprets the human society in terms of competition, biology, natural law, or struggle. Social Darwinism encompasses a variety present and past social theories and policies, from theories that explore the biological causes of human behavior to attempts to reduce the government’s power. Many people view the concept of social Darwinism as a good explanation for the philosophical rationalization of capitalism, racism, and imperialism. The term results in negative implication for most of the people on whom it is used because it is considered as a rejection of social responsibility and compassion.
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During the mod-19 th century, the United States was considered as a well-rounded and lively city that was the center of all opportunities. All this was until the emergence of the Industrial Revolution, after which the States started being referred to as ‘the Cosmopolitan City,’ or the ‘Empire City.’ As time went on, it was evident that while the New York City had a major impact on the growth, economy and wealth of the nation, it was also a source of major destruction (Cummings, 1957) . The growth of New York as a city resulted in the expect population growth, and several business people operated on business systems that supported the growth of the rich people, leaving no support for the poorer crowd. This marked the emergence of the Gilded Age, where the poor people were largely dependent on the rich. This age was marked by stingy and uneducated individuals, with a continually growing gap between the rich and the poor.
During this time, the concept of social Darwinism is what controlled the thoughts of many regarding the inevitability of progress, the futility of reform, and survival for the fittest. For instance, John D. Rockefeller, the famous robber baron used his Standard Oil Trust to control his oil business. He had a social Darwinian way of thinking, something through which he eliminated his competitors and created a trust that forced the government into regulating business practices (Leonard, 2009) . The concept of social Darwinism originated in Britain during the late 19 th century. There is no point where Darwin addresses the issue of human evolution in his study On the Origin of Species (1859), which he primarily focused on the evolution of animals and plants. He brought in the concept of natural selection specifically focused on people in his work, The Descent of Man (1871), a work which was considered by critics as a justification for the cruel social policies at imperialism abroad and at home. Herbert Spencer further coined the term ‘survival for the fittest’ in social Darwinism to describe the expected outcome after competition between two or more social groups. According to Spencer, through competition, social evolution eventually results in automatic prosperity and personal liberty that has never been experienced in human history. For this reason, Social Darwinism was considered as an acceptable explanation for inequality during the “Glided Age” of industrialization.
Later in the 1890s, social reformers began using Darwinism as a concept to advocate the introduction of social policies and to advocate for a stronger role for government, and this movement later came to be known as the reform Darwinism. According to reform Darwinists, human beings need new institutions and ideas as they adapt to the continuously changing conditions of the world. A good example is the argument of the U.S. Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendell Holmes Jr. that the Constitution of the Unites States needs to be re-interpreted to deal with the changing circumstances and issues in the American society. Some reformers used the concepts of evolution as a justification of racist and sexist ideas that weakened their professed beliefs on human equality and freedom (Cummings, 1957) . For instance, eugenics is considered as the most extreme type of reform Darwinism, and it is a term that means well-born. According to eugenists, particular social and racial groups, such as the wealthy Anglo-Saxons, were ‘naturally’ more superior compared to other groups. They proposed establishing control on human heredity by implementing laws that restricted breeding and forbid marriage among individuals considered as ‘social misfits’ such as the mentally ill and criminals.
While the concept of social Darwinism was highly influential and greatly used at the start of the 20 th century, it rapidly lost its support and popularity during the First World War (1914-1918). Between the 1920s and 1930s, several political observers blamed social Darwinism for being the key contributor to German militarism and also promoting Nazism (Leonard, 2009) . It is also during this period that the major advances in anthropology greatly discredited this concept. American anthropologists, Ruth Benedict and Margaret Mead, and German American anthropologist, Franz Boas proved that the human culture is what separates people from animals. By shifting emphasis on culture rather than biology, these anthropologists discredited the biological foundations of social Darwinism. Eugenics was also later discredited after the scholars got a better understanding of genetics, and it was eventually disgraced by Adolf Hitler, a Nazi dictator who used the eugenic arguments on the creation of a ‘master race.’
Social theories founded on biology later gained a renewed support after 1953 where a British biologist, Frank Crick, and an American biologist, James Watson managed to successfully describe the structure of the DNA, which is considered as the building block of life. Today, social Darwinism is considered in terms of socio-biology, and it is considered as a concept that largely downplays the role that culture plays in human societies and it also justifies warfare and poverty in the name of natural selection (Cummings, 1957) . That said, the view of society and social/economic progress being guided by social Darwinism still make sense today regardless of the many efforts to eliminate it.
References
Leonard, T. C. (2009). Origins of the myth of social Darwinism: The ambiguous legacy of Richard Hofstadter's Social Darwinism in American Thought. Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization , 71 (1), 37-51.
Cummings, S. (1957). Mark Twain's Social Darwinism. The Huntington Library Quarterly , 163-175.
