ADAPTING IN SOCIETY OR DISSAPEARING?

Fascism is known as an ideology that was born and flourished in the 20th century. It spread quickly across the world in the wake of World War I, with fascist regimes coming to power in Germany and Italy in particular, but also in such countries as Greece, Spain and Japan, where the people suffered greatly from the oppressive and violent methods employed by their governments. Against this oppression and violence, they could do little more than cower before it. The fascist dictator and his administration heading such systems, where brute force, aggression, bloodshed and violence were the rule of the day, they sent waves of terror throughout the society with their secret police and fascist militia, paralyzing the people with fear. Furthermore, fascist administration was implemented in almost all levels of society, from education to culture, religion to art, the governmental structure to the military system, and from the policing organizations to peoples' private lives.

Social Darwinism is a belief, very popular in many countries like Italy and Germany, and elsewhere. It consists that in states only the strongest or fittest people should survive and flourish in society, while the weak and unfit should be allowed to die. The theory was chiefly expounded by Herbert Spencer, whose ethical philosophies always held an elitist view and received a boost from the application of Darwinian ideas such as adaptation and natural selection.

Fascist movements have commonly held social Darwinist views of nations, races, and societies. They argue that nations and races must purge themselves of socially and biologically weak or degenerate people, while simultaneously promoting the creation of strong people, in order to survive in a world defined by perpetual national and racial conflict.

Social Darwinism applied to a social context too, of course. In fascism, it provided a justification for the more exploitative forms of capitalism in which workers were paid sometimes pennies a day for long hours of backbreaking labor. Social Darwinism also implied that the rich need not donate money to the poor or less fortunate, since such people were less fit anyway.

Social Darwinism wasn´t applied just in Italy, also it took place in Germany, were the Nazis used social Darwinism to promote their racialist concept of the German nation as part of the Aryan race and the need for the Aryan race to be victorious in what the Nazis believed was a race struggle—an ongoing competition and conflict between races. They attempted to strengthen the Aryan race in Germany by killing those they regarded as weak.

I think that it was a very strict ideology applied in society were species have to adapt, being strong, that´s the only way people will survive and the other people, not strong, weak, will disappear over time. This ideology start spreading in many European countries, were the people start applying it to their governments and life. I think that all people are equal, and eventually in a society with classes, one will be stronger than the other, but that doesn´t mean that the weak people will start disappearing or dying.

Made by: Daniela Sanguineti Cornejo.