“Herbert spencer” theory of social Darwinism is inspired by, a Darwin quote, “survival of the fit”. He took that quote and applied it to social world in which we live. However, in social Darwinism the quote was modified as “survival of the fittest”.
By “Survival of the fittest” Herbert spencer means that, the strong individuals in society will survive whereas, weak will perish. He believed that, Strong will rule over the weak, because, they are capable to do so. However, the strength is not necessarily related to physical strength but political and material strength as well. In simple words his theory states that, if a person is not capable of succeeding in business and politics or any other material related endeavor, he is not fit for the society. Furthermore, those individual should be eliminated from society by natural selection. Government should not impede the natural selection process, by involving in to social welfare activities like, eradication of poverty, unemployment etc. rather than the resources which government invests on social welfare, should be invested in, productive work for example, developing buildings, machineries, road and other means of production. The crux of the theory is the fittest individuals will survive in society whereas “less fit” will be eliminated naturally, moreover, state should not hinder the natural process by social welfare.
