As you all probably know, Social Darwinism — the attempt to apply Darwin’s theory of evolution to human society — has been discredited for many reasons, including its association with racism, imperialism and eugenics.
Nonetheless, I would argue, the bumper slogan version of this doctrine: “survival of the fittest,” continues to inform the thought of supporters of neoliberalism and unregulated capitalism.
In short, market capitalism is good because it allows the industrious, talented and ingenious to rise to the top and advance the human species as a whole. Interfering with these market forces merely takes from the “makers” and gives to the “takers,” impeding human progress. Yada yada.
The theory of evolution, however, is not primarily about how “stronger” individuals within a species survive in a species-wide race to be King of the Hill, but about a species evolving and adapting to fit into its particular environment.
For example, owls are “stronger” than mice, in the sense that they prey upon them, but they are not, thereby, “fitter” than mice: both are well-adapted to the environment they inhabit and have thus continued to survive generation after generation.
What am I getting at? Species adapt according to the environment they live in. For human beings, this environment is largely socially created. How well we do is based on social relations, not the ability to outcompete other species in the wilderness.
Since the 1980’s, when Gordon Gecko announced that “greed is good,” in the movie Wall Street, the United States has pursued social policies that reward greed and selfishness at the expense of all other values. While greed and selfishness have always been part of the human condition, it is only this society that have made them the hallmark of success and thus “fitness.”
(Caveat: I am not saying that this based in genetics, as a genetic change of this order would require many generations. Individual human beings are very adaptable creatures, however.)
And here we are: The “elites” in our society have earned their place at the top by being greedy and selfish, not for being “natural aristocrats.” Our society, through its policies, has empowered narcissistic personalities and encouraged them, and society at large, to feel their narcissism is a good thing that is deserving of praise!
Thus we have, not only Trump, but the billionaires supporting him because they don’t want to have to pay taxes; thus, the “Varsity Blues” university admissions scandal; thus, fill in the blank.
Unregulated capitalism doesn’t improve the species by allowing the “strong” to rise to the top, it cripples it by elevating and empowering narcissists lacking in the virtues and values that are necessary to a good society.