Help with social studies?

[Nikesonmyfeetkeepmycyphercomplete]

Explain social darwinism and how it relates to "Big Business.

[Know It All]

"The fittest survive" - that's the short form of Darwinism. Fittest doesn't necessarily mean the "largest" or the "strongest" by itself. Fauna which can survive on less or no water survive in the desert. The strongest, most ferocious lion drives its competitors from their territory and gets the female lions. The fastest, and the youngest adult lioness is more preferred because it brings home food, can breed healthy litter, and provide for its litter. The scavenger bird with the strongest beaks survive the harshest conditions. The idea is, the genetic constitution which aids better survival, adaptability, and better fighting skills, aid the propagation of a species, while weeding out the lesser capable of the species.

Apply this to the society, and social setups. Social Darwinism relates to the survival [and hence, the proliferation] of the individuals, groups, and clans which are better capable of surviving competition to get access to resources.

Big business overpower small businesses because they're so ambitious and dominant in the market, by taking over, purchasing, and merging small business with them. Therefore, big businesses are more likely to survive and grow. Small businesses, unfortunately, are more likely to fail.

This term was actually popularized in the late 19th century in the USA (especially by the big businesses) because it not only explained why the economy was so competitive, but it also justified the elimination of many less ambitious industries (Nature selected the "fittest" businesses herself).

The theory of Social Darwinism is supported by people who took Darwin's biological theory of evolution and natural selection, and tried to apply it to human social situations. Social Darwinists believe that laissez faire government should not interfere in economy or society. They believe that if the government left things alone, then power would flow naturally to the most capable - the fittest.

In practice, Social Darwinism was a defense of monopoly because, according to the theory, monopoly resulted from the natural accumulation of economic power by those most capable of wielding it.

Yet the irony is, these Social Darwinist industrialists and their supporters ignored all the government assistance they received (e.g. subsidies, tax breaks, loans, tariffs, injunctions against labor unions, sympathetic judicial system)