One of the most renowned biological theories to date, Charles Darwin’s theory of natural selection established the concept of “survival of the fittest” in which species adapt and change, and the organisms with the best suited mutations dominate (Campbell and Reece 13). Deriving the foundation of this crucial theory, English sociologist Herbert Spencer developed a theory of his own: social Darwinism. Merriam-Webster defines social Darwinism as “an extension of Darwinism to social phenomena and, specifically, a sociological theory [that proposes] that sociocultural advance is the product of intergroup conflict and competition, and [that] the socially elite classes possess biological superiority in the struggle for existence” (“social Darwinism”).
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Their ideology established Germans as the master race, or “a people whose members consider themselves genetically superior to all others and therefore [are] justified in conquering and ruling them” (“master race”). Equipped with this dogma, Nazis began classifying social groups such as Jews, gypsies, people with disabilities, and Poles as races. The Nazis believed that superior races had not just the right, but the obligation to subdue and even eliminate inferior ones. Hitler himself stated at the 1933 Nuremberg party rally that “[a] higher race subjects to itself a lower race … a right which we see in nature and which can be regarded as the sole conceivable right” (Bergman). This ideology, based in social Darwinism, helped rationalize the genocide of over six million non-German Aryans.
Social Darwinist thinking continues today as well, in respect to unceasing sexism and racism. The Ku Klux Klan is an organization founded on the principles of white supremacy, firmly believing that the Caucasian race is the elite one, and that all other races are inherently inferior. This extends to immigrants, Catholics, and Nords – all of which the Klan considers to be fundamentally
Their ideology established Germans as the master race, or “a people whose members consider themselves genetically superior to all others and therefore [are] justified in conquering and ruling them” (“master race”). Equipped with this dogma, Nazis began classifying social groups such as Jews, gypsies, people with disabilities, and Poles as races. The Nazis believed that superior races had not just the right, but the obligation to subdue and even eliminate inferior ones. Hitler himself stated at the 1933 Nuremberg party rally that “[a] higher race subjects to itself a lower race … a right which we see in nature and which can be regarded as the sole conceivable right” (Bergman). This ideology, based in social Darwinism, helped rationalize the genocide of over six million non-German Aryans.
Social Darwinist thinking continues today as well, in respect to unceasing sexism and racism. The Ku Klux Klan is an organization founded on the principles of white supremacy, firmly believing that the Caucasian race is the elite one, and that all other races are inherently inferior. This extends to immigrants, Catholics, and Nords – all of which the Klan considers to be fundamentally