Question

Explain what a conservative Social Darwinist would believe that the government should do about poverty and exploitation of labor.
How would the Social Darwinist justify such recommendations?

Answer 1

Answer:

Many Social Darwinists embraced laissez-faire capitalism and racism. They believed that government should not interfere in the “survival of the fittest” by helping the poor, and promoted the idea that some races are biologically superior to others.

Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the fittest”—the idea that certain people become powerful in society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and social inequality at various times over the past century and a half.

In the late 1800s, many Americans enthusiastically embraced Spencer's "Social Darwinism" to justify laissez-faire, or unrestricted, capitalism. In 1859, Charles Darwin published Origin of Species, which explained his theory of animal and plant evolution based on "natural selection."