Editing Social Darwinism (section)

===Nazism, eugenics, fascism, imperialism===
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Social Darwinism was predominantly found in laissez-faire societies where the prevailing view was that of an individualist order to society. A different form of social Darwinism was part of the ideological foundations of [[Nazism]] and other [[fascism|fascist]] movements. This form did not envision survival of the fittest within an [[individualist]] order of society, but rather advocated a type of racial and national struggle where the state directed human breeding through [[eugenics]].<ref name=" Thomas C. Leonard ">Leonard, Thomas C. (2005) [http://www.princeton.edu/~tleonard/papers/mistaking.pdf Mistaking Eugenics for Social Darwinism: Why Eugenics is Missing from the History of American Economics] History of Political Economy, Vol. 37 supplement: 200–233</ref> Names such as "Darwinian collectivism" or "Reform Darwinism" have been suggested to describe these views to differentiate them from the individualist type of social Darwinism.<ref name="TCL"/>

As mentioned above, social Darwinism has often been linked to [[nationalism]] and imperialism.<ref name="Perry-Chase-Jacob-Jacob">{{cite book |last1=Perry |first1=Marvin |last2=Chase |first2=Myrna |last3=Jacob |first3=Margaret |last4=Jacob |first4=James |last5=Daly |first5=Jonathan W. |last6=Von Laue |first6=Theodore H. |year=2014 |title=Western Civilization: Ideas, Politics, and Society |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jy5BBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA634 |volume=II: Since 1600 |edition=11th |location=Boston, MA |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |pages=634–635 |isbn=978-1305091429 |lccn=2014943347 |oclc=898154349 |quote=The most extreme ideological expression of nationalism and imperialism was Social Darwinism. In the popular mind, the concepts of evolution justified the exploitation by the 'superior races' of 'lesser breeds without the law.' This language of race and conflict, of superior and inferior people, had wide currency in the Western nations. Social Darwinists vigorously advocated empires, saying that strong nations—by definition, those that were successful at expanding industry and empire—would survive and others would not. To these elitists, all white peoples were more fit than nonwhites to prevail in the struggle for dominance. Even among Europeans, some nations were deemed more fit than others for the competition. Usually, Social Darwinists thought their own nation the best, an attitude that sparked their competitive enthusiasm. ... In the 19th century, in contrast to the 17th and 18th centuries, Europeans, except for missionaries, rarely adopted the customs or learned the languages of local people. They had little sense that other cultures and other peoples deserved respect. Many Westerners believed that it was their Christian duty to set an example and to educate others. Missionaries were the first to meet and learn about many peoples and the first to develop writing for those without a written language. Christian missionaries were ardently opposed to slavery. |access-date =1 February 2016 }}</ref> During the age of New Imperialism, the concepts of evolution justified the exploitation of "lesser breeds without the law" by "superior races".<ref name="Perry-Chase-Jacob-Jacob" /> To elitists, strong nations were composed of white people who were successful at expanding their empires, and as such, these strong nations would survive in the struggle for dominance.<ref name="Perry-Chase-Jacob-Jacob" /> With this attitude, Europeans, except for Christian missionaries, seldom adopted the customs and languages of local people under their empires.<ref name="Perry-Chase-Jacob-Jacob" />