During the Golden Age, many wealthy industrialists embraced social Darwinism, and laissez-faire, because it reinforced their right of wealth and position. Most did not read about or fully understand social Darwinism, but parroted what they heard from others. Some, like Andrew Carnegie, actually had a backwards understanding of social Darwinism. In his essay on social Darwinism in 1900, Carnegie described an evolution that progressed from a complex state to a simple state, when in actuality evolution operated in the reverse. Even though Carnegie seemed to have an incorrect understanding of social Darwinism, he was a big supporter of Herbert Spencer, a prolific author on social Darwinism who originated the phrase “survival of the fittest.” Most social Darwinism industrialists practiced what they preached only when it benefited them. Few fully acted on it, and when supporters, such as William Graham Sumner, spoke up for social Darwinism and laissez-faire they were ridiculed by so-called social Darwinists that didn’t support the action because it went against their interests.
What is social Darwinism, and why did Golden Age industrialists embrace it?
What do the theories of social Darwinism and laissez-faire have in common?
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