Social Darwinism
is a theory of social selection
based on the laissez-faire economic doctrine that is combined with a heavy racial bias. It originated in
the 1870s in the United Kingdom, Western Europe, and North America.
It was popularized in the 19
th and 20
th century
Europe and United States and embraced heavily by the Nazi party.
These beliefs are based on theories of evolution developed by British
naturalist Charles Darwin. The core belief of social Darwinism is
that the human race is subject to the laws of natural selection,
resulting in “survival of the fittest”. Because the theory of
social Darwinism has such negative connotations and also because of
the genocides carried out during the Second World War, few people
identify themselves as social Darwinists today.
In British India
during the mid-1870s, India was effected by El Nino. The effect of
the tropical storms on the crops of India were devastating. Also
occurring during that time there was a large celebration being thrown
for Queen Victoria’s coronation Empress of India. More than 60,000
people showed up for the celebration. Princes, retainers, and friends
of the British Empire were feasted over the course of a week. This
may have been the largest catering event in history! While ruling
British elite were feasting and posing for photographs, millions of
Indians were slowly dying from starvation. The Viceroy of India
justified his inaction with arguments backed by the beliefs of Social
Darwinists. The gist of the argument was that the famine could been
seen as an instrument of natural selection and that the only people
to perish would be the unfit. It was the Viceroy’s opinion that to
intervene would be to interfere with a rule of nature.
The irony of this argument is that until the British came along, the
Indians grew their own food and had access to food from other groups
in the community that would have shared. When the British forced the
poorest peasants to grow cash crops like wheat and rice instead of
their own food, these fail safes that guarded against starvation
disappeared. Granted, these actions by the British brought the
Indians into the world market, this is what condemned them to death
in the late 1870s. While the Indians were starving and selling their
children for food and killing themselves in utter desperation, the
food that could have saved them was ready for export to Britain and
America on the docks of Madras. If the British would have left India
alone, the people would have been growing their own food there and
they would not have starved.
When the Viceroy of India was finally forced to take action, he setup
a system of outdoor relief that was basically the British equivalent
of Nazi concentration camps to assist the Indians. The first rule in
getting relief was that they could not obtain relief or a job within
10 miles of their home. This often meant having to walk long
distance, sometimes hundreds of kilometers. Once at the outdoor
relief camp, Indians were put to work doing heavy labor and confined
to camps were there daily caloric intake was less than many Nazi
concentration camps. These were quite literally death camps. During
the famines of India in the 1870s, 8 million Indians died. Famines
also returned in the 1880s and 1890s. Almost a total of 30 million
Indians starved to death while under British rule.
As a rational thinker, I can see and recognize the science behind
natural selection. I also understand however, that the theory of
natural selection is intended to be only a description of a
biological phenomenon. Regardless of whether or not this theory is
accurate, it is not meant to imply that this is a positive biological
phenomenon and it certainly does not seem that it was meant to be
used as a moral guide in human society. It seems that those who have
power seek to justify the reasoning that they have power when most
self-conscious. Or, perhaps it is better said that those who crave
power are constantly looking for reasons to alienate their
opposition. Either way I look at it, I am disgusted and appalled by
the actions taken in the name of social Darwinism against humanity.
