Survival of the Fittest

Introduction

According to Darwin's Origins of Species that was published in 1859, in the process of nature selection and evolution, the weaker ones will be unavoidably weed out by the stronger ones. His theory had caused philosophers, sociologists, and others began to adopt the idea that human society had also evolved. One of the most well-know theory inspired by Darwin is Spenser's social evolution, popularly known as the Social Darwinism, which centers around the idea of " Survival of the fittest"(Wikipedia, 2007) In the following essay, the author will try to explain some of the key characteristics of this philosophy, as well as providing some critics on its ruthlessness that are against this concept. However, there will be strong and positive arguments presented against those critics in defense of the idea of social Darwinism. Last but not least, a conclusion will be formed and the justification of author's belief will be given.

The Origins of Social Darwinism

Herbert Spencer, who was the original inventor of the idea of social Darwinism, published a huge number of books regarding the concepts of " survival of the fittest", "Society advances," Spencer wrote, "where its fittest members are allowed to assert their fitness with the least hindrance" (quoted in Bergman, n.d) He went on to argue that the unfit should "not be prevented from dying out". His whole idea is based on the favor of competition and individuality. In his theory, he also mentioned about government should involve as little as possible, and also encouraged government not to aide the poor, since it would only promotes laziness and vice and many more other subject matters. In modern time, his words are still considered by many as a golden rule of doing business, for example, Andrew Carnegie had wrote in his biography that "the law of competition, be it benign or not, is here; we cannot evade it; no substitutes for it have been found; and while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department" (quoted in Bergman, n.d).

Characteristics

Some words that are closely linked with the idea of " Survival of the Fittest" from the point of view of the authors are "individualism", "inequality", "profit making", "competition", and "minimum government involvement". Although there are many critics against the social Darwinism theory, the author strongly believe that this is by far the best system that should be employed by the society. It not only creates prosperity in a nation, but also as well serves the function of promoting good virtues. Many critics would disagree with this statement, since " survival of the fittest" is often associate with the traits of "dog eats dog", ruthlessness", "selfishness", and "egotism" ( The Western Socialist, n.d).

Individuality

In a society where " survival of the fittest" rule is applied, most commonly in a Capitalism society, individuals are expected to take care of him/her self, and they are the masters of their own destinies. It will serve as a motivation for hard work. As an enfant, we learn that in order to get more food or attention from our parents, we need to cry louder than our siblings; as a adolescent, we learn that in order to be popular, one must be good at sports or having an attractive personality or looks; when going into the working world, one must work harder than others to get promotion, which will lead to higher salary and a better living; even when we get old, we will need to take care of our own health in order outlive people from our generation. It seems like a cruel concept, but this is the way how people can constantly improve themselves, and through these stages in life, we eventually learn how to plan for ourselves, how to become responsible for our right and wrong doings, instead of relying on someone or something. Since individual knows that they are going to be rewarded, either materialistically or psychologically, they become much more motivated and diligent along the process. Planning for you does not equal to selfishness, but simply means to take the responsibility and look after yourself.

Inequality

This phrase is also closely associated with inequality, different input will and shall results in different outcome. It is only fair for someone who had tried to be better than anyone else to succeed, because he had put in more efforts than any other people in order to become the "fittest". Although it is important to grant everyone an equal opportunity at the very beginning, but however, how each individual take advantage and utilize that opportunity will create very different end results.

Competition

Under the concept of " Survival of the fittest", it will naturally create competition, and competition is the fundamental component of any good economy. Companies will need to constantly innovate themselves in order match up with the level with their competitors, and not to be weed out. As a result, the market has much more choice, and variety; with each company trying its best attract the customers. The effort of every companies/ individuals attempting to better itself will create a much more prosper society, as compares with a market that is closely control by the government, where nobody is consider to be the "fittest", but everyone is equal.

The Role of Government

In a communism or socialism society, where government is highly involved in taking care of its citizens' welfare and ensuring that no one is left out in the society, people tends to rely heavily on others, and the incentive of hard work becomes very little and pointless. Workers will not see the meaning of productivity, so the efficiency decreases, education become less important, not only because they are offered by the government, but because at the end, everyone will be receiving a similar salary with jobs alike. One possible consequences is that the people who used to work hard before will realize that there is no point for them to continue to do so, because in the society that they live in, there will always be someone else there to ensure their basic survival needs are met. This is a chain effect, and at the end, your country/ society will just be left with majority of people depending on others and becoming lazier. The whole economy will go down because laziness is being

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