Social Darwinism
Statement of the Issue

Beginning with a discussion of Social Darwinism's inherent logical fallacy, this study examines whether or not wealthy industrialists of the nineteenth century actually practiced what Social Darwinism called for. By considering the history of the concept and its relation to capitalism, it becomes clear that not only did wealthy industrialists practice Social Darwinism, but that they embraced it precisely because it provided a justification for the unethical business practices they were already engaged in.

Statement of the Issue

Social Darwinism was a major force in the political, economic, and social landscape of the nineteenth and early twentieth century, but it represents something of a conundrum for the historian attempting to determine whether or not the wealthy industrialists who were proponents of Social Darwinism actually practiced what they preached. The difficulty stems from the fact that Social Darwinism is itself an example of a formal fallacy, namely, the appeal…...

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References

Bannister, R. (1993). Social darwinism: Science and myth in anglo-american social thought.

Philadelphia: Temple University Press.

Klein, S. (2003). The natural roots of capitalism and its virtues and values. Journal of Business

Ethics, 45(4), 387-401.

A nation faithful to democracy is blessed and called to spread this "good news" throughout the nations "(Withrow,2007, p.15 ).
Coupled with this "gospel" was the support and verification of major scientific theories during this period. Social Darwinism was derived from Darwin's work on the evolution of the species. In essence, Darwin's theory of human evolution refers to the principle of the 'survival of the fittest," on which the ideal of human progress becomes possible. Therefore, taking this principle into account, Social Darwinism attempt to explain and justify the social and economic inequalities in society in terms of those who are the strongest and fittest in the society i.e. those who are the most prosperous and who accumulate the most. Therefore, the vision that this theory produced was one that favored and justified the strongest and most successful in society.

In order to understand the impact of Social Darwinism one also…...

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References

Carnegie a. The Gospel of Wealth Reflection Questions. Excerpts of an essay written by Carnegie in 1889. Retrieved from  http://learningtogive.org/resources/stories/gospelofwealth/ 

De Santis, V. The American Gilded Age Revisited. Australian Journal of Politics & History, 29

(2), pp. 354 -- 367. Available from http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/119538983/abstract?CRETRY=1&SRETRY=0

Withrow L. Success and the Prosperity Gospel: from Commodification to Transformation a Wesleyan Perspective. Journal of Religious Leadership, 6(2). Available from http://arl-jrl.org/Volumes/Withrow07.pdf.

If studied carefully, this theory also hints at man's willingness and ability to survive. Those who lack this ability will naturally face extinction, while those who can fight can work things in their favor and hence improve their lot. If not used harshly, social Darwinism can help us understand man's need and ability to survive.
Social Darwinism is most commonly defined as a theory concerning "eugenic population control" and offers "complete commitment to an exclusive genetic and hereditary explanation of man's evolution." (Offer, p. 142) in other words, social Darwinism says that man will survive if he has the ability or else he will meet some natural phenomenon too forceful for him and wither away. People have used this theory to explain natural disasters in poorest of countries, and in poorest of areas in some rich countries. It may actually be interesting to note that in recent past, some of…...

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Reference

John Offer, Herbert Spencer. Routledge (2002)

Popular ideologies like Social Darwinism both reflected and created the reality of England, Germany and the United States in the 1890's. During that time, all three nations were economic and social powerhouses, potentially poised on the edge of greatness (or teetering on the brink of destruction, given the benefit of hindsight). Social Darwinism was likely one of the most powerful ideologies of the time, and it both contributed to the reality of the great nations, and influenced the reality of the times.
During the 1890's, America, England and Germany were all economic powerhouses, as well as great centers of culture and education. All three great nations had not yet felt the effects of the Great ar, which crippled the German economy and likely ultimately strengthened both British and American societies.

In the 1890's, all three nations were gripped, to some extent, by the sheer possibilities the Industrial Revolution and earlier Renaissance had…...

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Works Cited

European Imperialism in the 19th Century. 12 October 2003. http://www2.sunysuffolk.edu/westn/imperialism.html

Note Access.com. Art Education in the Twentieth Century: A History of Ideas. Social Darwinism and the Quest for Beauty. 12 October 2003.  http://www.noteaccess.com/APPROACHES/ArtEd/History/Efland/51890FirstWW.htm 

Social Darwinism. 12 October 2003. www.ioa.com/~shermis/socjus/socdar.html

St. Marys. RACISM AND SOCIAL DARWINISM. 13 October 2003. http://husky1.stmarys.ca/~wmills/course203/8Racism.html

Vatican II

Vatican II, officially known as the Second Vatican Council, was a meeting of many leaders of the Catholic Church to discuss both theological and social issues pertaining to the Church in the modern era. Convened by Pope John XXIII in the 1960s and continued by his successor Paul VI, the main goal of the Second Vatican Council was to establish the Church's role and meaning in the modern world, which it recognized as fundamentally changed from the role of the Church in previous eras. Many different topics of concern were examined during the many phases of Vatican II, and the Council produced a number of documents on these varying subjects that help to define Church doctrine and perspectives on the modern world. When it comes to the social thought and action of the Catholic Church following Vatican II, one of the most important documents produced by the Council is…...

By the 1980s, theories had begun to swing the other way again, with doubts being cast on the relevance of aggregate social strain theories (Bernard 1987). Even social strain theorists were finding new and more individualistic and specific features within the theory (Agnew 1985).
In the past two decades, social strain theory has continued to be attacked by some as an antiquated and invalidated method for explaining subversive and criminal behavior, with some theorists stating outright that the empirical evidence supports alternative explanations far better than it supports traditional social strain theories (Burton et al. 1994). Other researchers have found evidence that in their view directly refutes certain aspects of social strain theory while seeming to support certain other conclusions and hypotheses that are a part of the overall explanation for criminality (De Clercq & Dakhil 2009). Ultimately, all of the problems and discrepancies that have been found with social…...

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References

Agnew, R. (1985). A revised strain theory of delinquency. Social forces 64(1): 151-67.

Bernard, T. (1987). Testing social strain theories. Journal of research in crime and delinquency 24(4): 262-80.

Burton, V., Cullen, F., Evans, T. & Dunaway, R. (1994). Reconsidering strain theory: Operationalization, rival theories, and adult criminality. Journal of quantitative criminology 10(3): 213039.

De Clercq, D. & Dakhil, M. (2009). Personal strain and ethical standards of the self-employed. Journal of business venturing 24(5): 477-90.

Northrop Frye recognized this fact but believed that the satire missed its mark:
It completely misses the point as satire on the ussian development of Marxism, and as expressing the disillusionment which many men of good-will feel about ussia. The reason for that disillusionment would be much better expressed as the corruption of expediency by principle (Frye 1987, p. 10).

What links 1984 and Animal Farm most directly is that both are anti-utopian in nature, for Orwell had developed a certainty that government in a utopian society would always be corrupted and would lose sight of its principles because of expediency.

Animal Farm was written during World War II. There is evidence that he was planning a novel that would become 1984 even before he wrote Animal Farm, and there is a relationship between the two books that is not often noted:

The form each book took was very different, but there was…...

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References

Brander, L. (1954). George Orwell. New York: Longmans, Green and Co.

Crick, B. (1986). The making of Animal Farm. In Critical Essays on George Orwell, B. Oldsey and J. Browne (eds.). Boston: G.K. Hall.

Frye, N. (1987). In George Orwell, H. Bloom (ed.). New York: Chelsea House.

Green, T.H. (1995). Liberal legislation and freedom of contract. In Sources of the Western Tradition, M. Perry, J.R. Peden, and T.H. Von Laue (eds.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin.

(Huff, Social ork, 2000, Chapter 1, p.3)
Private efforts were not enough to treat the ills caused by the unchecked capitalism of the Gilded Age, however, an age that brought tremendous wealth to some Americans and tremendous poverty to others. During the first depression occasioned by this split between the haves and the have-nots in 1890, private relief organizations could not cope. "In Mulberry Bend, the heart of the Italian district, one-third of all babies born in 1888 died before their first birthdays. Traditional agencies such as the Children's Aid Society and the Salvation Army were overwhelmed, incapable of meeting the demands placed on their services." (Huff, Social ork, 2000, Chapter 1, p.4) "The old shibboleths commonly accepted as the major causes of poverty, low character, indolence, and intemperance, were replaced with more systemic theories," that sought economic and social causes as the cure, rather than moral reform. (Huff, Social…...

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Works Cited

Murray, Jill. (1996) "The Social Work History Online Time-Line." The School of Social Work. Retrieved 10 Nov 2005. http://www.gnofn.org/~jill/swhistory/

Huff, Dan. (2000) Social Work: Progress and Reform. A Cyberhistory of Social Work's Most Formative Years. Retrieved 10 Nov 2005 http://www.idbsu.edu/socwork/dhuff/history/central/tc.htm

Thomas Hardy's The Woodlanders was published in 1887, a few years after the death of Charles Darwin. However, the novel was set in the middle of the 19th century, in about the same year that Darwin published On the Origin of the Species. Hardy may not have selected his setting arbitrarily. The Woodlanders has often been read within the context of Darwinian influences in society and literature. However, literary critics tend to emphasize the fusion between Romantic and Darwinian depictions of nature in The Woodlanders to show how Hardy drew from Darwin to develop his characters and themes. Irvine, for example, claims Hardy was an "evolutionary pessimist," and this is certainly apparent in The Woodlanders, which provides an overtly pessimistic view of human nature but especially of patriarchy (625). In fact, Hardy's The Woodlanders shows that while Darwinian principles of evolution sometimes favor members of the species with no moral…...

Darwinism and the Standard Social Science Model
If the Standard Social Science Model is mistaken, then we are less altruistic than would otherwise be the case'.

Put another way, the same statement could read, "If culture is not the underlying cause of human behavior, then human beings are more selfish than they would be if culture were the underlying cause of human behavior." An evaluation of this statement rests not only on an assessment of the truth of each part, but also on the relationship between the two parts of the claim. Is having A (a false presumption put forth by the SSSM) the condition for having B (self-centered human beings)? Let us investigate the premise as well as the argument.

The Standard Social Science Model claims that "only genetically determined human behavior is 'natural' or biological" (Zimmer, 1.) This means that when an infant pulls away from fire, or screams when frightened…...

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Resources

Young, J. Valid Argument Forms. As retrieved June 11, 2004 from  http://www.uncfsu.edu/jyoung/chapter_4_notes.htm 

Dawkins, Richard. Interview as retrieved June 11, 2004 at  http://www.pbs.org/faithandreason/transcript/dawk-body.html 

Social Science Model as retrieved June 11, 2004 at http://www.facub.stjohns.edu/~beasleyt/socialsciencemodel.pdf

Zimmer, J.Raymond. Evolutionary Psychology Challenges the Current Social Sciences. As retrieved June 11, 2004 at http://www.asa3.org/ASA/topics/Evolution-PSCF9-98Zimmer.html

According to Economic Darwinism principle, people will prefer to replace the alternative with the lowest potential (in terms of return, profit, solvability, etc.) with another random solution, which may it could turn out to be more successful than the initial option. In the project evaluation process, all alternatives receive different points according to the criterions and requirements of the company. Of course, that only the investments with a positive return will remain in the battle for the best alternative. Every such alternative will be further on debated, in order to see which of the project solution best fit the company's development policy.
Conclusion:

The principle of Darwin applies both to economic and social aspects of life, as we have seen in this report. The two pillars of the principle are present in the everyday activity of managers, especially in the field of project selection and management.

ibliography

1) Article on 'Economic Darwinism', elaborated…...

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Bibliography

1) Article on 'Economic Darwinism', elaborated by Brigitte Sloth (Institute of Economics - University of Southern Denmark) and Hans Jorgen Whitta Jacobsen (University of Copenhagen - Denmark) -  http://www.econ.ku.dk/okojacob/workpapers/ED.pdf

unemployment and tax reform on our social structure including theoretical framework on functionalism, social conflict and symbolic framework and so on and so forth. The orks Cited eight sources in MLA format.
Unemployment

Unemployment has long been the cause of ruin of the American society as well as the global social structure. Persistence in unemployment and the related tax reforms have done much harm than have benefited the mankind on this face of earth. There have been several effects of unemployment and tax reforms on our social structure. The passages below of our research paper will look into not only these effects but will also include theoretical framework on functionalism and social conflict. Before we begin our discussion on the effects of unemployment on the social structure as well as on the effects of tax reforms, it is essential that the readers have a look at the precise yet comprehensive definition…...

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Works Cited

Social Structure." Encyclopedia Britannica. 2003. Encyclopedia Britannica Premium Service. Retrieved 10 Jul, 2003 at  http://www.britannica.com/eb/article?eu=117544 .

Functionalism, Conflict Theory and Symbolic Interactionism. Retrieved 10 Jul, 2003 at http://www.*****/free_essays/4/sociology/functionalism-confict-theory-and-symbolic-interaction.shtml

Social and psychological effects of unemployment. Retrieved July 10, 2003 at  http://www.e-resaneh.com/English/Social/Social%20and%20Psychological%20Effects%20of%20Unemployment.html 

Saunders P. Direct and indirect effects of unemployment. Paper presented at the Australian National University in the F.H. Gruen Lecture Series on Welfare and the Labor Market: The New Frontier for Reform.

Minimizing Poverty Is a Government Initiative
The Progressive Era

Poverty reduction has remained a central debate in periodical democratic societies. Schemes have been established to enable citizens to be economically viable either at paid-employment or self-employment level. Activists, philosophers, and politicians have suggested technical, liberal, and legal approaches towards poverty eradication. In fact, most of the debate in relation to the field of poverty examines whether poverty is a natural phenomenon associated with human beings. As this report will identify, fighting poverty is a double-edged sword since, after all, poverty is not the only member of the league. Close players include capitalism and politics. The commencing research proves that reducing poverty is a sequential process that requires considerate participation from all stakeholders. The research will principally cite Darwin's Social Darwinism theory, the 1933-1936 national initiative New Deal and Johnson Lyndon Economic Opportunity Act.

Social Darwinism vs. Progressivism

Introduction

There are close similarities between Darwin's Social…...

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References

Claeys, G. (2000). The "Survival Of The Fittest" And The Origins Of Social Darwinism. Journal of the History of Ideas, 61(2), 223.

Davies, G. (1992). War On Dependency: Liberal Individualism And The Economic Opportunity Act Of 1964. Journal of American Studies, 26(02), 205.

Hausman, W.J. (2007). Jason Scott Smith. Building New Deal Liberalism: The Political Economy of Public Works, 1933-1956. Enterprise and Society, 8 (2), 459-461.

Johnston, R.D. (2013). Review Class Unknown: Undercover Investigations of American Work and Poverty from the Progressive Era to the Present Pittenger Mark New York University Press New York. Journal of the Illinois State Historical Society (1998), 106 (2), 347-349.

" (Dafler, 2005) Dafler relates that for more than thirty years children who were 'half-caste' "were forcibly removed from their families, often grabbed straight from their mother's arms, and transported directly to government and church missions." (Dafler, 2005) This process was termed to be one of assimilation' or 'absorption' towards the end of breeding out of Aboriginal blood in the population. At the time all of this was occurring Dafler relates that: "Many white Australians were convinced that any such hardship was better than the alternative of growing up as a member of an 'inferior' race and culture." (2005) it is plainly stated in a government document thus:
The destiny of the natives of Aboriginal origin, but not of the full blood, lies in their ultimate absorption by the people of the Commonwealth, and [the commission] therefore recommends that all efforts be directed towards this end." (eresford and Omaji, Our State…...

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Bibliography

Dafler, Jeffrey (2005) Social Darwinism and the Language of Racial Oppression: Australia's Stolen Generations ETC.: A Review of General Semantics, Vol. 62, 2005.

Erich Fromm Foreword to a.S. Neill SummerHill (New York, 1960).

Hawkins, Social Darwinism; Shibutani, Tamotsu and Kwan, Kian M. Ethnic Stratification: A Comparative Approach. New York: The Macmillan Company (1965).

Jacques Ellul, the Technological Society (New York, 1967), 436.

As such, Yunus' business model for Grameen Bank directly contradicts Social Darwinism, since the former is giving collateral free loans to individuals who are not fiscally fit -- and who are oftentimes exceedingly destitute -- and enabling them to get the financial means to survive.
Additionally, it is critical to examine the role that women play in both Social Darwinism and in Yunus' enterprise with Grameeen. Women are the bearers of children, and regardless of what Social Darwin advances about the fittest of a species, no species can survive without the means of replicating itself. For humans, of course, such a conception prioritizes women over men. Therefore, it is highly significant that the bulk of the individuals receiving loans form Grameen are women. From a Social Darwinism perspective this fact is extremely noteworthy, since women can produce a more direct effect on the livelihoods of their children.

Still, it is interesting…...

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References

"PBS New Heroes Ep1 01 Kailash Satyarthi Child Slavery India." (2011). Youtube.

Retrieved from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zmHyARnDxI0 

"PBS New Heroes Ep2 03 Fabio Rosa Low Voltage Electricity Brazil." (2011). Youtube.

Retrieved from  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LfmFEBRmgLU