Question

Which of the following is one of the positions supported by social Darwinism?

A. Government should not support programs designed to promote social or economic equality.

B. Government should regulate big businesses.

C. Competition for wealth is bad for the economy and should be made illegal.

D. The government should take any action necessary to alleviate poverty.

Answer 1

The correct answer is A.

Social darwinism consists on the application of the Darwinist concept of natural selection to the organization of human societies. In this case, it is referred to the organization of the economic system.

Social darwinism supports the adoption of laissez-faire economic policies, that consisted on free functioning of the markets with minimum goverment intervention. Markets alone, would produce the most efficent outcomes, and assigning to each agent what he deserves according to their actions.

Therefore, the goverment should not intervene in the economy to vary the market outcomes.