Gregory Claeys Survival Of The Fittest

During this period, many Americans, and particularly industrialists and the emerging middle class, came to embrace the doctrine of laissez faire. The poor were so because they lacked ability and determination. The rich were comfortable because of their superior talents and thrift, argued supporters of a new ideology which turned Charles Darwin's theory of evolution into a new vision of society's "survival of the fittest."

In the book, Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler, it presents a perfect example of a Survival of the fittest lifestyle. Only the best, the smarter, and the stronger ones, is able to survive, while the weaker individuals will be killed or dead. Lauren Olamina, the main character and her group travels towards the north by finding freedom. Many people did not have the mindset to be as strong as Lauren to survive, but she was extremely careful. She has always looked out for potential enemies wanting to harm or kill, but she was also creating allies to build her Earthseed community.

By “survival of the fittest,” Carnegie means that the most capable people will succeed and prosper, while the others fail. He is promoting the idea of Social Darwinism, the belief that wealth is a measure of one’s inherent value and those who had it were the “most fit.”

It held that only fierce competition could produce progress. Applying the principle of "survival of the fittest" to society, they argued that intervening to assist the poor violated laws of nature and would only impede progress." also, Social Darwinism appealed to Americans as it allowed them to do and treat others in a way that was not

During the 19th century, economic and social inequalities were at a peak. The Gilded Age yielded many inventions and advancements that led to extreme wealth and power, but it also led to poverty and despair. Both Sumner and George had theories of how poverty could have been eliminated, but their points were sometimes on opposite spectrums. This paper will discuss how some points were similar, but also very different in aspects to relieving poverty in the 19th century.

Our world today has altered immensely since the days of Adam. It is a perfect example of the maxim "survival of the fittest.'' Due to the captivating

History and literature have developed in a parallel manner, as organisms often co-evolve with each other. With the publication of Darwin’s groundbreaking work, the Origin of Species, a new group of people, the Social Darwinists, applied the theory of natural selection to social hierarchy. A most notable Social Darwinist, Herbert Spencer, coined the term “survival of the fittest”, implying that people in higher social groups were more “fit” to survive than those who were in lower social groups (Bannister, “Social Darwinism”). This idea of social evolution contributed to the dehumanization of people. More social theorists, scientists, and

Darwin’s Theory of Natural Selection, a scientific theory that supported the belief of evolution, was manipulated and applied to different areas of life, and thus it became the shaping force in European thought in the last half of the nineteenth century. Darwin, through observation of organisms, determined that a system of natural selection controlled the evolution of species. He found that the organisms that were most fit and assimilated to the environment would survive. They would also reproduce so that over time they would eventually dominate in numbers over the organisms with weaker characteristics. This new theory was radical and interesting to the scientific world but its effects reach far beyond this small institution of

This was also equated with “fitness” and if you were not “fit” you didn’t fit in, and had no place in society itself. With companies taking control of the economy such as steel mills and oil refineries the concept of “survival of the fittest” quickly become a very popular mindset and way of living for some. The Darwinist believed that the lower class should get no help and would argue that the government should stay out of economic affairs all together. This idea set the line between higher and lower classes and many would argue against this idea. (Roberts) New York Times wrote several articles on this matter from both sides. One article over Prof. Romans would argue on the religious side of this topic about how the idea of Darwinism has no correlation with evolution once so ever. (Prof.Roman) The Gilded Age was times of hardship for the lower class but allowed businessmen to become glorified rulers of the economy such as Rockefeller and Carnegie who were making millions to tens of millions of dollars a year were the average businessman was only making $500 a year. In this day and age men lived by this and it eventually became the way of life for millions and is how the king of the economy came to rule in the Gilded Age. (L, P and Patricia)

Throughout history, the circumstances that people were born into were not equal. While some were born on hospitable lands where people and animals could flourish, others were born on desolate and isolated lands that proved unsuitable for plants and livestock. These uncontrollable circumstances as well as others created the different types of lifestyles that people live by. Through the book Guns, Germs, and Steel, Jared Diamond illustrates the five themes of world history by explaining a chain of effects stemming from the first people interacting with their given environments. Diamond aimed to show his view that the social and racial hierarchy of the present only developed because of the conditions different groups of people had to cope

In the article “ Lifeboat Ethics: The Case Against Helping the Poor”, Garrett Hardin (1974) argues that wealthy people should not be responsible for the poor and that the consequences of feeding the poor are detrimental to the environment and to the society as a whole. Hardin was a well known philosopher and ecologist. He earned his bachelor's degree in zoology from the University of Chicago in 1936 and also earned his doctorate degree in microbiology from Stanford University in 1941 (Garrett Hardin, n.d.). The main issue that he tackled was human overpopulation and one of the books that he wrote that analyzed this issue was called ‘How Global Population Growth Threatens Widespread Social Disorder’(1992). Because the author has a sufficient

Spencer applied the principles of Darwinism to human social, political and economic issues and proclaimed that the survival of the fittest applies to human societies which became Social Darwinism. In John Offer’s “Critical Assessments of Leading Sociologists” he traces Spencer’s influence and dissects various points made by Herbert Spencer himself. He quotes Herbert Spencer when analyzing Spencer’s perspective of Social Darwinism. “The prosperity of a species is best supervised when among adults each experiences the good and evil results of his own nature and consequent conduct.” Spencer also states “It is much better that the ruminant animal, when deprived by age of the vigor which made its existence a pleasure, should be killed by some beast of the prey, than that it should linger out a life made painful by infirmities, and eventually die of starvation.” It is at this point that Spencer begins to cross Darwinism’s take on natural selection to social conditions. While Spencer is still speaking in reference of animals, he describes the death of animals as a means of relieving their pain and suffering. This is where Spencer begins to speak in reference to humans. “A sad population of imbeciles would our schemers fill the world with, could their plans last. A sorry kind of human constitution would they make for us – a constitution continually going wrong, and needing to be set right again – a constitution ever

They took up the scientific ideas of natural selection and the survival of the fittest and applied the concepts to the human social world.

Social Darwinism was a sociological theory that merged Charles Darwin's theory of natural selection and the work of Herbert Spencer, Malthus, and other scientific and sociological theorists to justify imperialism, racism, and conservative economic policies. The overall acceptance of the power of nature in defining human beings developed during the 18th century Enlightenment. Europe’s exploration not only brought about immense economic and agricultural growth, but also exposed them to “human behavior and life patterns within environments and under circumstances dramatically different than their own” (4). The most popular catch phrases of Darwinism, “struggle for existence” and “survival of the fittest”, when applied to the life of man in society, suggested that nature would provide that the best competitors in a competitive situation would win, and that this process would lead to continuing improvement” (6. Hoft). This misinterpreted sense of superiority engulfed much of society at the time and was used to justify the logistics behind certain actions regarding capitalism, racism, and imperialism. Furthermore, it served as the backbone of some of the most heinous acts imaginable including the genocide and sterilization of certain groups of people.

Darwin's survival of the fittest was a strong belief Roosevelt held and theorized all life followed the ideas of natural selection. Natural selection and survival of the fittest are theories that the strong will naturally survive by both, eliminating the weak and having greater likelyhood to pass on.