The Political Implications of Darwin's Theory of Natural Selection

In 1859 biologist Charles Darwin published On the Origin of Species which laid out Darwin's theory of natural selection. Natural selection stated that an organism which possessed advantageous traits that allowed it to survive and reproduce easier than became more prevalent in the proceeding generations, eventually resulting in a differentiation of species. This is the basis of evolution and is a constantly ongoing process. Organisms that did not possess the advantageous traits were doomed to genetic extinction. This process allowed organisms to adapt and survive.

While this was a biological theory, there were political implications to Darwin's theory. A man named Herbert Spencer took the theory of natural selection and applied it to society, creating the ideology of Social Darwinism. Spencer felt that there were certain types of people who were unfit for society and did not contribute anything of value to it. These people were at a disadvantage in society but it was due to the fact that they weren't industrious enough. Furthermore, any attempts by the government to redistribute material advantages to these people promoted unnatural selection. This would take someone who Spencer felt wasn't worthy of life and artificially boosted them up which would ultimately hurt society. Allowing these people to survive and thrive would water down the gene pool and create a burden for society.

Spenser argued for a small government that was limited in power. It would especially be limited in the area of charitably. Since he felt that the idea of "survival of the fittest" should be applied to society, society as a whole shouldn't mandate the support of the poor. When the government got involved in the act of charity and comb...

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...es that benefit from mutualism. He argued that people would benefit most from helping each other.

Despite being a mostly left wing ideology, a right wing of anarchism developed as well. This was individual anarchism as opposed to the mutualism advocated by Kropotkin. Anarcho-capitalism is the variation of anarchism that is most commonly associated with the political right. This ideology suggest that there is no need for a state. Real freedom is an individual being able to dispose with their capital in whatever way they see fit. They completely reject the idea of state intervention into the market, as they feel it is self-regulating.

As one can see, despite its original context of biology, natural selection lead to the development of a variety of political ideologies. These ideologies range from the far right to the far left of the political spectrum.