''Right-wing Social Darwinism produced several ideas that were attractive and convenient to the ruling classes of Europe and North America, and especially to Germany’s warlike and antidemocratic elites. The most important idea may have been “struggle,” the notion that all relations between individuals and between nations were defined by a merciless battle for survival. Struggle followed inevitably from the laws of nature as discovered by Darwin, and therefore had no moral significance. The Christian injunctions to “love your neighbor” and “love your enemies” had no place in the animal kingdom; neither should they control the behavior of human beings...''
''At the Nationalists’ 1931 convention, their leader, Alfred Hugenberg, declared that the German people could gain “freedom and space” only through “energetic self-help,” and not through a “hypocritical pacifism.” Hugenberg demanded a colonial empire for Germany in Africa, as well as new land for settlement of Germany’s “vigorous race” in the East, contending that “the reconstruction of the East, far beyond Germany’s old borders, is only possible by Germany.” “Energetic self-help” was a euphemism for war, praised in unmistakably Darwinian terms.''
Not sure why you are posting that, but it illustrates my point before.
I don't think Darwin himself thought in "superior" and "inferioir" species. He describes for instance the Galapagos birds, and says they diverges because they adapt to the island they ended up upon.
Birds on island A maybe have a long beak because it is good to eat the stuff on that island, while the birds on island B has a short beak because it is good for the stuff there.
It doesnt mean that long or short beak is "superior", its best on island A and that is that. Like it is best to wear a rain coat when it rains and a t-thirt when it is sunny, and noone in their right mind would claim the rain coat is "superior" and then wear it all the time.
Anyway, yes, a bunch of morons went all haywire on all this superior/inferior stuff anyway. It was a big thing in the beginning of the 20th century.
And it MIGHT exist in a line or two somewhere in Darwin's work, even though I doubt it.
Anyway, today this is TOTALLY removed from modern biology. If you ask an evolutionary biologist to please can he show you a "superior" species he will laugh at you. If he even understands what you mean. No species is better or worse than any other, they are just adapted to different niches, and all species are likely to eventuallly go extinct as ecology changes over millions of years.
....sleepytyme....
:
interesting nuance what is idol for one is God for enemy.
The evolution theorist couldn't have known that people like Hitler would exploit Darwin's ideas in such horrifying ways: the “scientific” strand of racism
http://www.salon.com/2014/04/19/charles_darwins_tragic_error_hitler_evolution_racism_and_the_holocaust/
''Right-wing Social Darwinism produced several ideas that were attractive and convenient to the ruling classes of Europe and North America, and especially to Germany’s warlike and antidemocratic elites. The most important idea may have been “struggle,” the notion that all relations between individuals and between nations were defined by a merciless battle for survival. Struggle followed inevitably from the laws of nature as discovered by Darwin, and therefore had no moral significance. The Christian injunctions to “love your neighbor” and “love your enemies” had no place in the animal kingdom; neither should they control the behavior of human beings...''
''At the Nationalists’ 1931 convention, their leader, Alfred Hugenberg, declared that the German people could gain “freedom and space” only through “energetic self-help,” and not through a “hypocritical pacifism.” Hugenberg demanded a colonial empire for Germany in Africa, as well as new land for settlement of Germany’s “vigorous race” in the East, contending that “the reconstruction of the East, far beyond Germany’s old borders, is only possible by Germany.” “Energetic self-help” was a euphemism for war, praised in unmistakably Darwinian terms.''