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so what if it is?

Posted by Baldur on Tuesday, January 16 2018 at 10:18:56PM
In reply to isn't that posted by sadlife on Tuesday, January 16 2018 at 1:08:54PM

Social Darwinism can mean several things, some of which contradict each other. It's chief feature is that it applies an understanding of evolutionary mechanisms to human beings.

From the Wikipedia entry on Social Darwinism:

"The term was popularized in the United States in 1944 by the American historian Richard Hofstadter who used it in the ideological war effort against fascism to denote a reactionary creed which promoted competitive strife, racism and chauvinism."

I'm definitely opposed to promoting strife (whereas ordinary competition is fine), opposed to racism (though understanding that there are racial differences is fine and is not racism as traditionally defined), and opposed to chauvinism.

But of course evolutionary forces and natural selection apply to human beings and human culture the same way they apply to every other species and even to technologies. Pretending otherwise because of an inability to separate shades of meaning is not wise or good, it is merely blinding oneself so that one can maintain one's illusions without being contradicted by reality.




Baldur






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