Social Darwinism

Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution revolutionized science. Evolution helps us understand how modern humans evolved and can help us make strides in fields like medicine. However, his ideas influenced pseudoscience, which attempted to apply Darwin’s theory to humans. Social Darwinism attempts to justify racism, inequality, and imperialism by asserting that "survival of the fittest" applies to humans and explains why Westerners are superior to non-Westerners (History, 2018). 

Social Darwinism emerged in the 1980s and was led by Hebert Spencer, an English philosopher. Spencer believed that people could genetically pass learned qualities, such as frugality and morality, on to their children (History, 2018). Spencer also didn’t agree with government assistance programs; he viewed them as assisting the genetically inferior and believed it went against evolution by “...delaying the extinction of the “unfit (History, 2018).” 

Spencer also established parallels between his economic views and scientific views. He applied Darwin’s survival of the fittest to the idea of laissez-faire economics during the Industrial Revolution. Laissez-faire is unrestrained capitalism where businesses could operate with little government interference (History, 2018).

Eugenics

The creation of Social Darwinism sparked an interest in Sir Francis Galton to create the “science” of Eugenics. Galton aimed to create a new science that would help strengthen the human race by ridding it of those he deemed undesirable. Eugenics thus tried to create scientific reasoning behind discriminatory practices. Some of the undesirable traits Eugenics aimed to breed out of the human race included mental illness, criminal tendencies, and even poverty (History, 2018). 

While Eugenics failed to make a lasting impression in England, where Sir Francis Galton first introduced the concept of Eugenics, it gained popularity in America. Eugenics was introduced to America in the late 19th century, and quickly became accepted throughout many. Eugenics was first incorporated into American life in 1896, when Connecticut made it illegal for people with epilepsy or who were “feeble-minded” to marry (History, 2018). The Eugenics Records Office was also established and began correlating “bad family traits” such as being a person of color with bad genes, not racism, economics, or the social views of the time. The state of California even took Eugenics a step further and sterilized over 20,000 residents of mental health institutions to stop them from reproducing (History, 2018).

Despite Eugenics being popular in America, it was also prevalent in Germany and loved by the notorious Adolf Hitler. Hitler ordered several eugenic human experiments that led up to World War 2. To maintain the ideal Aryan race that he labeled Germany as, in 1933 he passed the Law for the Prevention of Hereditarily Diseased Offspring (History, 2018). This law caused the forced sterilization of those deemed unfit to reproduce, and escalated to these individuals being killed. 

It wasn’t until the atrocities of World War 2 became public news that people began siding against Eugenics. Once it was associated with Hitler who had just murdered millions of innocent people, people no longer supported the new “science.” Today, Eugenics has modified itself into genetic engineering. Genetic engineering changes or removes genes to prevent disease, cure disease, or improve your body in a significant way (History, 2018). “ A great example is of a Hong-Kong scientist who was imprisoned for unlawfully altering the genes of two baby girls to make them less susceptible to contracting HIV (Normile, 2019). As technology advances, there’s much hope in store to see how genetic engineering can help make strides in medicine and help combat several diseases. Hopefully, this technology can be used to advance the human race, instead of using it to justify racism and discrimination.

References

Gunderman Richard Gunderman is a Friend of The Conversation. Chancellor's Professor of Medicine, R. (2021, January 29). Francis Galton pioneered scientific advances in many fields – but also founded the racist pseudoscience of eugenics. The Conversation.https://theconversation.com/francis-galton-pioneered-scientific-advances-in-many-fields-but-also-founded-the-racismpseudoscience-of-eugenics-144465. 

History.com Editors. (2018, April 6). Social Darwinism. History.com.https://www.history.com/topics/early-20th-century-us/social-darwinism. 

Krisch, J. A. (2014, October 13). When Racism Was a Science. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/14/science/haunted-files-the-eugenics-record-office-recreates-a-dark-time-in-a-laboratorys-past.html. 

Public Broadcasting Service. (n.d.). Herbert Spencer. PBS. https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/carnegie-herbert-spencer/. 

Normile, D. (2019, December 30). Chinese scientist who produced genetically altered babies sentenced to 3 years in jail. Science. https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/12/chinese-scientist-who-produced-genetically-altered-babies-sentenced-3-years-jail.