Progressives believed that God did not sentence some people to lives of poverty. Rather, poverty resulted primarily from the greed of other people. Affiliated with the Progressives were followers of the Social Gospel Movement. These people believed that God wanted his followers to emulate Jesus Christ, putting aside their own personal wants and assisting those people who were less fortunate.
During the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuryies followers of these two groups sought to reform society to protect people in the United States from the greed of business owners and politicians.
Despite a hostile Supreme Court, Progressive Era reformers became increasingly successful in curbing the abuses of laissez-faire capitalism. For example, in , Congress passed the Pure Food and Drug Act that prohibited companies from selling contaminated foods and misbranded drugs.
By , both the federal government and many states had adopted Progressive reform legislation aimed at ending child labor and improving working conditions. That year saw three major candidates for president, all espousing Progressive ideas Democrat Woodrow Wilson, Republican Howard Taft, and Progressive Theodore Roosevelt, who had broken from the Republicans because he believed Taft was not progressive enough.
The idea of passing more laws to correct society's ills had replaced the Social Darwinist view that civilization best advanced when the "fittest" had their way while the "unfit" were allowed to die out. Americans had increasingly come to believe that society could choose its future, which might require government regulations on private enterprise. In England, Herbert Spencer grew increasingly pessimistic as he witnessed a swelling tide of legislation that attempted to end the evils of industrialization and laissez-faire capitalism.
Spencer died in , and was buried in the same London cemetery as that great enemy of capitalism, Karl Marx. Herbert Spencer Social Darwinism.
Herbert Spencer William Graham Sumner. Thoemmes: History of Ideas: Herbert Spencer. Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Herbert Spencer. Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy: Herbert Spencer.
Dead Sociologists' Index: Spencer. Victorian Web: Herbert Spencer. Invitation to Cultural Evolutionism: Herbert Spencer. Bartlett's Familiar Quotations: Herbert Spencer. Brainy Quote: Herbert Spencer. Giga Quotes: Herbert Spencer.
Project Gutenberg: Herbert Spencer. First Principles Online book by Herbert Spencer. History of Economic Thought: Herbert Spencer.
Open Directory Project: Herbert Spencer. Google Directory: Herbert Spencer. Yahoo Directory: Herbert Spencer. Some social critics today argue that the United States is in a new Gilded Age. As evidence of this, they point to the decrease in government regulation of industry, recent disclosures of corporate financial abuses, a weak union movement, and an increased concentration of wealth among a small percent of Americans.
A current controversy involves attempts to eliminate the federal estate tax. Called the "death tax" by its critics, this tax falls on the wealthiest 2 percent of American families. The highest tax rate for the largest estates is currently set at 55 percent.
Under President George W. Bush's tax cut law, the federal estate tax will gradually decrease until it ends completely in But this will not be permanent. In , the estate tax will return at its rates. Form small groups to discuss the following proposed federal estate tax laws.
After the discussion, the members of each group should take a vote on what they believe is the fairest law.
Each group should then report to the class the results and reasons for its vote, including minority views. Acton, Harry Burrows. Cambridge, Mass. New York: Time, [originally published ]. Social Darwinism in American Thought.
Boston: Beacon Press, [originally published ]. New York: Macmillan Pub. Oxford: Oxford University Press, Alumni Volunteers The Boardroom Alumni. Curriculum Materials. Add Event. Main Menu Home. Spencer's View of Government Herbert Spencer believed that the government should have only two purposes. Social Darwinism and the Law Around , the U. For Discussion and Writing Social Darwinists believed that society naturally evolved by individual competition and the "survival of the fittest.
Scientists and evolutionists maintain that this interpretation is only loosely based on Darwin's theory of natural selection. They will admit to an obvious parallel between Darwin's theory of Natural Selection and Spencer's beliefs. In nature, the strong survive and those best suited to survival will out-live the weak. According to Social Darwinism, those with strength economic, physical, technological flourish and those without are destined for extinction.
It is important to note that Darwin did not extend his theories to a social or economic level, nor are any credible evolutionists subscribing to the theories of Social Darwinism. Herbert Spencer's philosophy is only loosely based on the premises of Darwin's work. However, according to evolutionary theory, nature is a "kill-or-be-killed" system. Those that cannot keep up are either left behind or cut off.
If evolution, through chance, is solely responsible for life as we now know it, why should that process be countered? If "survival of the fittest" or "kill or be killed" cannot apply in what we define as "decent society," then, which is wrong, society or evolution?
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