Social Darwinism: The Gilded Age

Social Darwinism originated during the late nineteenth century, a time commonly referred to as the Gilded Age, which was a time of industrialization and immigration. This concept stems off of Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and natural selection. Following his hypothesis, a man named Herbert Spencer extrapolated this idea to the human race. Believing that some people were born to succeed and reproduce, while some solely existed to suffer and die off, is the summary of his mindset. Eventually, he thought, the human race would consist of only the rich and powerful, because the poor and weak would not be able to reproduce and carry on their supposedly tainted genes. The suffering class were often immigrants who had newly arrived in America …show more content…
American politicians encourage this idea even if they are unaware of the specifics of Social Darwinism. The “rich getting richer” and the “poor getting poorer” is an example of a modern day expression that reflects this theory exactly. Several Republican politicians live off of this idea, condemning the poor for their poverty and praising the wealthy for their so-called success. These government figures install this idea into the minds of many Americans, which means that Social Darwinism is still very much alive in modern America. Back in 2010, a governor named Andre Bauer made a comparison between welfare recipients and stray animals. He says that “you’re facilitating the problem if you give an animal or a person ample food supply” (Goldstene). Literally comparing stray animals to human beings, he perfectly fits the …show more content…
His response was “that’s what freedom is all about: taking your own risks” (Reich). To that, the Republican crowd cheered. Paul’s “freedom” he was speaking of is the process of the selection of the fittest, and “taking risks” is, to Social Darwinists, nature’s way of choosing the best. With this mindset, if one was not able to afford health care, that would be their fault, because they are naturally not worthy of surviving anyway. Furthermore, politicians who follow this theory do not believe the privileged have any obligation to aid the lower-class, despite their most of the suffering being no fault of their own. To Social Darwinists, it does not matter that the lower-class are working much harder to survive than the upper-class; if they are poor, it is their own fault, and it is best to just let them die. No matter how unhuman or evil it sounds, nevertheless, this is the mindset that several of America’s leaders have today. Free health care is appalling to these individuals, because these politicians have never suffered the way the lower-class does everyday. Is America really free if some people are doomed from the moment they are born? Definitely