Robin Hood, a hero from English medieval literature, the defender of the weak, was steeling money from the reach, giving it to the poor. A glorious champion of humanity, indeed. But is it so? Was he really a hero? Keep this question in mind as we talk about the weak and the strong about Social Darwinism, an idea certainly not developed by Charles Darwin. In fact, it was before his On the Origin of Species was even published, that Herbert Spencer wrote on the topic.
Now, I am sure all of you are to some extend familiar with the theory of Natural Selection proposed by Darwin. In a nutshell, it explains how stronger species survived the evolution while others went extinct. Social Darwinism is built upon and is the application of Natural Selection to the human society. In other words, stronger humans must survive to create a better society.
According to Lamarckism, throughout their lives, humans (as well as other organisms) acquire a set of characteristics that they pass to their offspring. Proponents of that theory argue that if I, for instance, have a talent for calligraphy, most likely my children will also be talented in calligraphy. Social Darwinists, thus say that in order for the humanity to develop, we must promote the carriers of stronger genes.
When it comes to the weak though, ideas vary from one thinker to the other. Some claim we should help the weak, the poor, and the miserable, but stop short of doing so at the expense of the strong. Others argue that the weak must fight their way to well-being without any help from the society and by doing so, some of them will join the ranks of the strong. The last group of thinkers, however, argue that the weak must be pushed toward extermination. Friedrich Nietzsche once said “That which is bending deserves to be pushed.”
Now, let me explain why I am a supporter of Social Darwinism. For me, weakness stands very close to stupidity. Let us consider this scenario: metaphorically speaking, if you notice your child is constantly putting himself in a danger always waiting for you to tell them to be careful, not to do whatever they are doing, you are not helping him. I urge you to take the chance, and watch them do it. If they notice the danger and stop then congratulations your kid is more likely to be smart and survive the natural selection later in life. If they harm themselves, they will learn from their mistakes and probably become stronger. If they die so mote it be. So maybe Robin Hood was not a hero, but a threat to humanity.