Tied to Social Darwinism in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries was the idea of racial superiority and competition. Although a simple racial view of Social Darwinism was that the white nations had to civilize the savage colored nations of the world, there were other more complicated ones. Darwin's theories of evolution were used to distinguish differences between the races of man based on genetic branching and natural selection. Genetic branching is the process that occurs in all species, including humans, in which groups of a species become separated from one another, each developing their own genetic characteristics different from other groups. It is because of genetic branching that we today have the human races or human populations. Popular at the time was the idea that the Nordic race of Northern Europe was superior because it evolved in a cold climate, forcing it to develop advanced survival skills that it later applied in modern times by being expansionist and adventurous. Natural selection was also thought to have worked at a faster pace in the frigid north, eliminating the weak and unintelligent more thoroughly than it did in warm climates such as Africa. Nordicists reasoned that if animals adapted to their own climates, both physically and mentally, then humans did as well. These ideas were wholly supported by the leading anthropologists and psychologists of the day, including the esteemed biologist Thomas Henry Huxley, an early defender of Darwin's theories, for which he was nicknamed "Darwin's Bulldog", and the influential psychologist William McDougall.
A simpler racial attitude based on Social Darwinism is the belief that races just need to be aggressive in order to survive. Darwin's theory of natural selection clearly saw each individual and species as being in a constant struggle for existence, with the best fitted prospering and less well suited tending to diminish in numbers, gradually leading to extinction. This was developed in Social Darwinism to the belief that throughout history it was the weak species and races that died out or were exterminated, with the White race regarded as the greatest race because it had an attitude of superiority and a will to conquer. The White man had conquered the savages in some places and in other places had simply wiped them out, as the Americans had done on their continent and the British had done in New Zealand and Australia. It was the White race, the race that had created the great Western Civilization, that deserved to survive from the viewpoint of "survival of the fittest", but in the modern world the White race was falling victim to inner politics while the yellow and brown hordes of Asia were building up their strength in preparation to overthrow the White man's domination of the globe. Many believed that it was only a matter of time before the White race and its Western culture were supplanted by "inferior" races and cultures. These ideas were supported by many influential men in the early twentieth century, including the American journalist Lothrop Stoddard in his book "The Rising Tide of Color Against White World Supremacy" and later the heroic aviator Charles Lindbergh believed that the White nations should keep technological advances, especially aviation, to themselves for their own advantage.
Influence of Social Darwinists
Europe
Social Darwinism enjoyed widespread popularity in some European circles, particularly among German intellectuals in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Competition for empire encouraged increasing militarization and the division of the world into colonial spheres of influence. The interpretation of Social Darwinism then emphasized competition between species and races, rather than cooperation.
United States
Spencer proved to be an incredibly popular figure in the 1870s, particularly in the United States < . Authors such as Edward Youmans <, William Graham Sumner < , John Fiske , John W. Burgess , and other thinkers of the gilded age all developed theories of Social Darwinism as a result of their exposure to Spencer (as well as Darwin).
Sumner abandoned Social Darwinism by the mid 1880s, and some contemporary historians do not believe that Sumner ever actually believed in Social Darwinism.[2] The great majority of American businessmen rejected the anti-philanthropic implications of the theory. Instead they gave millions to build schools, colleges, hospitals, art institutes, parks and many other institutions. Andrew Carnegie , who admired Spencer, was the leading philanthopist in the world (1890-1920), and a major leader against imperialism and warfare.
Novelist Jack London wrote stories of survival that incorporate his views on Social Darwinism[3]
Criticisms and controversies
In the past, socialists have alleged that capitalists used Social Darwinism to justify laissez-faire capitalism and social inequality . Others have used it to justify a variety of beliefs such as racialism or imperialism . Many used Social Darwinism crudely to argue against any sort of universal morality or any sort of altruism.
At its most extreme, some pre-twentieth century Social Darwinists appear to anticipate Eugenics and the race doctrines of National Socialism . Because critics tried to link Social Darwinism in the public mind with racialism , imperialism and Eugenics , such criticisms are sometimes applied (and misapplied) to any other political or scientific theory that resembles Social Darwinism. Such criticisms are often levelled, for example, at evolutionary psychology (which had a conversely, Jewish origin).
Similarly, capitalist economics , especially laissez-faire economics, is attacked by some socialists by equating it to Social Darwinism because it is premised on the idea of natural scarcity, also the starting point of Social Darwinism, and because it is often interpreted to involve a "sink or swim" attitude toward economic activity.
However, there were few "Social Darwinists" after the 1880s who advocated capitalism and laissez-faire. Most of them demanded a strong government that would intervene in the economy or society to weed out inferiors. They did not believe the marketplace could do that. For example, Ludwig von Mises , an advocate of laissez-faire, argued in his book Human Action that Social Darwinism contradicts the principles of liberalism .
Social Darwinist theory itself does not necessarily engender a political position: some Social Darwinists would argue for the inevitability of progress , while others emphasise the potential for the degeneration of humanity, and some even attempt to enroll Social Darwinism in a reformist politics. Rather, Social Darwinism is an eclectic set of closely interrelated social theories -- much in the way that Existentialism is not one philosophy but a set of closely interrelated philosophical principles .
The key argument is that nature works by survival of the fittest; so does society; those who have survived or flourished did so by natural processes; it is unnatural and inefficient to try and change that through philanthropy . Success or failure is usually dependent on natural traits.
Modern legacy
In the time since then, evolutionary theory has de-emphasized inter-species competition as well as the importance of violent confrontation in general.
In its contemporary forms, Social Darwinism remains a very important social theory in the United States and in some conservative political movements elsewhere.