“Poverty, the state of one who lacks a usual or socially
acceptable amount of money or material possessions.”
According to Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, only the
plants and animals best adapted to their environment will
survive to reproduce and transfer their genes to the next
generation. Animals and plants that are poorly adapted to
their environment will not survive to reproduce. Darwin’s
theory of evolution by natural selection was a scientific theory
focused on explaining his observations about biological
diversity and why different species of plants and animals look
different.
In the late 1800s, the idea of “Social Darwinism began to
emerge, in which Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by
natural selection was used to justify certain political, social, or
economic views. Social Darwinists believe in “survival of the
fittest”—the idea that certain people become powerful in
society because they are innately better. Social Darwinism
has been used to justify imperialism, racism, eugenics and
social inequality at various times over the past century and a
half.
After Darwin published his theories on biological evolution and
natural selection, Herbert Spencer drew further parallels
between his economic theories and Darwin’s scientific
principles.
Spencer applied the idea of “survival of the fittest” to so-called
laissez faire or unrestrained capitalism during the Industrial
Revolution, in which businesses are allowed to operate with
little regulation from the government.
Spencer opposed any laws that helped workers, the poor, and
those he deemed genetically weak. Such laws, he argued,
would go against the evolution of civilization by delaying the
extinction of the “unfit.”
Social Darwinism declined during the 20th century as an
expanded knowledge of biological, social, and cultural
phenomena undermined, rather than supported, its basic
tenets.
However, with respect to the current situation that the world is
undergoing, this rather controversial theory may have some
validity to it.
With the Covid-19 outbreak, our lives have hit a pause. The
economy is taking a blow, and people are draining out their
savings in order to support themselves. The purchase of
masks, alcohol based sanitisers, gloves aside, getting a bed
in a hospital even for a symptomatic Covid-19 patient in India
is near impossible due to the lack of facilities. And if by
chance, you do have connections that can secure a place for
you, can even the middle class citizens incur the costs?
Chandan D S Dang, Executive Director, Securenow.in, a
Delhi-based insurance broker said, “Normal treatment cost of
Rs 50,000-1 lakh has now surged to Rs 1-2 lakh for Covid-19
treatment (due to increase in cost of consumables, patient
distancing in hospitals, etc.) and to Rs 6-7 lakh or more where
co-morbidities are involved or treated in expensive hospitals.”
Now, in a country with approximately 1,38,72,97,452 people,
and 22% of the population living below the poverty line, how
will they sustain themselves now that they’re out of jobs, and
have no income?
Here’s where this theory comes into play. Let’s assume that
there are no charities and non-profit organisations, and they
receive no aid from the government.
Who will support the poor?
They might not be “unfit to live”, as per the theory, but without
proper financial aid from the government, they are unfit to
support themselves and their families, which would result in
leading a very difficult life, with barely any food, illiteracy and
maybe even homelessness.
According to a study at Northwestern University, poor eating
habits associated with poverty can increase the risk of certain
diseases for generations, as nutrition-linked diseases imprint
their way onto swaths of the human genome.
This would increase the risk of infection in the whole family,
due to malnutrition.
If these people get Covid-19, who is going to pay for their
treatment? Who will give these people a home to self-
quarantine? Who will pay for the expensive medication?
In these current times, supporting local businesses and
donating to various charities is of utmost importance, just so
we can do our part as human beings and help those who
really need it.
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