The term capitalism means the sovereignty
of capital, a free and unrestricted economic system totally based on
profit and where society is in competition within these criteria. There
are three important elements in capitalism: individualism, competition,
and profit-making. Individualism is important because people see
themselves not as a part of society, but as "individuals" standing alone
on their own two feet. "Capitalist society" is an arena where individuals
compete with one another under very harsh and ruthless conditions just
like that described by Darwin, where only the strong survive, where the
weak and powerless are crushed and eliminated.
According to the logic capitalism is based
on, every individual–and this can be a person, a company, or a nation–must
only fight for its own development and advantage. In this war, the best
producers survive, the weak and incompetent are eliminated and vanish.
What is seen as worthy of attention is not human beings, but economic
development, and goods. For which reason the capitalist mentality feels no
ethical responsibility or conscience for the person whom it crushes
underfoot and climbs on top of and who has to live in great difficulty.
This is Darwinism put into total practice in society in an economic way.
By proposing that it was necessary to
encourage competition in all areas of society, and announcing that it was
necessary to provide no opportunities or support for the weak in any
field, the foremost theoreticians of Social Darwinism prepared a "philosophical"
and "scientific" support for capitalism.
In the view of Herbert Spencer, the main
theorist of Social Darwinism, who introduced the principles of Darwinism
to the life of society, if someone is poor then that is his mistake;
nobody must help this person to rise. If someone is rich, even if he has
acquired his wealth by immoral means, that is his competence. For this
reason, the rich man survives, while the poor man disappears
Social Darwinists used Darwin's theory of
evolution as a "scientific" comment on capitalist societies. As a result
of this, human beings began to lose such concepts, which religion had
brought with it, as mutual assistance, philanthropy, and co-operation, and
instead of these virtues to give pride of place to selfishness, cunning,
and opportunism.
In his article Darwin's Three Mistakes,
the evolutionary scientist Kenneth J. Hsü, reveals the Darwinist thoughts
of America's foremost capitalists:
Darwinism was also used in a
defense of competitive individualism and its economic corollary of
laissez-faire capitalism in England and in America. Andrew Carnegie
wrote that the "law of competition, be it benign or not, is here; we
cannot evade it." Rockefeller went a step further when he claimed that
"the growth of a large business is merely a survival of the fittest; it
is merely the working out of a law of nature."
As has been seen from what has been
explained so far, capitalism has dragged human beings to worship only
money and the power that comes from money. This capitalist morality holds
sway in almost all societies in our day. For this reason the poor, the
helpless, and the crippled are denied charity, and are not looked out for
or protected.
Today the reason for countries such as
Ethiopia falling victim to drought and starvation is the dominance of this
capitalist morality. While aid and support from many countries could save
these hungry people, they are abandoned to starvation and poverty.
Another feature of capitalist society is
the way it gives room to inequality within itself. In societies of this
kind the divide between rich and poor grows ever wider, as the poor grow
poorer, the wealth of the rich grows greater.
Throughout history there have always been
societies where the poor and weak were trodden down, where only material
things were important, and where selfishness, self-interest, and cheating
were seen as the only way to become rich But from the second half of the
19th century people with such views entered a very different period. For
the last 150 years people and societies which possess this ruthless
make-up have begun not to be condemned or criticised like the others.
Behaviour of this sort began at last to be accepted as a law of nature.
Robert E. D. Clark explains the situation
this way:
Evolution, in short, gave the doer
of evil a respite from his conscience. The most unscrupulous behavior
towards a competitor could not be rationalized; evil could be called
good.
As we have seen, lack of religion and the
Darwinism which inspired it lay behind all the people, systems, and
ideologies which have brought worry, difficulty, pain, and hopelessness to
the world, particularly in the last 150 years. Those who thought that they
could protect their own interests saw Darwinism as a savior for
themselves.
They were not aware of it, but these people
who thought they were preparing a great trap for all of mankind, actually
prepared it for themselves. Because no matter how much they struggle to
survive,, there is actually one Judge, one Lord, and one Master, whether
of themselves, of the whole world, of everything they try to possess.
Allah is the one Judge and Power. The wealth, strength, and power which a
human being thinks he gains by himself are actually given to him by Allah
to try him. No matter how much he may believe that he is in an arena of
struggle, in actual fact every human being is living a test set by Allah
for himself. Allah reveals in a holy verse that he tries human beings by
means of the opportunities he gives them:
We made everything on the earth
adornment for it so that We could test them to see whose actions are the
best.
(Surat al-Kahf: 7)
Those who think that they have won what
they possess as the result of a "fight for survival" will feel a
heart-rending pain for which there is no compensation, and great sorrow
when they come face to face to face with reality in the hereafter and see
what an empty idea they followed:
The Companions of the Garden will
call out to the Companions of the Fire, 'We have found that what our
Lord promised us is true. Have you found that what your Lord promised
you is true?' They will say, 'Yes, we have!' Between them a herald will
proclaim: 'May the curse of Allah be on the wrongdoers those who bar
access to the Way of Allah, desiring to make it crooked, and reject the
hereafter.' .... The Companions of the Ramparts will call out to men
they recognise by their mark, saying, 'What you amassed was of no use to
you, nor was your arrogance.
(Surat al-A'raf: 44-5, 48)
