Social Darwinism is a broad group of beliefs that applied Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection to explain specific sociopolitical and economic viewpoints. As mentioned in the discussion, supporters of this theory believed in “survival of the fittest,” which holds that only certain people rise to positions of prominence in the community because they are intrinsically superior. Spencer, unlike Darwin, felt that individuals could receive specific genes from their parents. However, what is noteworthy is that the supporters of social Darwinism took it to the extreme. For example, Spencer was against any legislation that aided workers, the poor, or people he considered inherently inferior (Ohuima et al., 2017). Thus, the negative eugenics is not only about the insufficient knowledge of the traits that could be eliminated but the encouragement of imperialism and racism that comes with this practice.
What is significant about social Darwinism is that it is not only the development of Darwin’s theory but a commonly accepted approach. People from all fields, including academics, legislators, businessmen, and others, fully advocated the Eugenics movement. This movement even became an academic subject at Harvard, Dartmouth, and several other prestigious universities (Ohuima et al., 2017). While it is true that eugenics can have a positive side by eliminating immorality and other undesirable traits and instilling desirable variants, such as integrity and frugality, there are more negative aspects. The negative side of eugenics is that it not only violates human rights but takes everybody back to the times of fascism and the nazi movement. Hitler believed that the future of the Aryan race relied on its capacity to keep its genetic pool pure (Ohuima et al., 2017). Thus, the idea of “planned breeding” is not only immoral but bestial.
Reference
Ohuima, O. R., Anweting, K. I., & Akpan, B. S. (2017). Different faces of racism: An exposition. An International Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences, 4(2), 187-211.