Everyone is talking about Atlas Shrugged in reference to current economic woes, but to me the arguments of the Faux News crew are more reminiscent of those made by Herbert Spencer and other "social Darwinists" in the latter half of the 19th century. (Check out Banquet at Delmonico's for more);
- Log in to post comments
More like this
Via Lessig and as explained beautifully by Colbert, payday loans are evil.
The Colbert Report
Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
The Word - Have Your Cake And Eat It, Too
colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor
NASA Name Contest
Being a Democrat is no…
Comedy Channel went wild on Iceland last night.
For those who could not stay up late...
Kevin? Kevin!?
No, call him "Tim", Mighty Tim
If you must.
The Daily Show With Jon Stewart
Mon - Thurs 11p / 10c
Volcanolypse 2010
www.thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes
Political Humor…
Paul Offit on the anti-vaccine movement:
The Colbert Report
Mon - Thurs 11:30pm / 10:30c
Paul Offit
www.colbertnation.com
Colbert Report Full Episodes
Political Humor & Satire Blog
Video Archive
Looks like a win to me. Colbert appears to get it. I like how he doesn't…
tags: Obama Now Experiencing Presidential Puberty, cultural observation, social commentary, news report, health care reform, parody, satire, humor, fucking hilarious, television, Colbert Report, Stephen Colbert, Ezra Klein, streaming video
Stephen Colbert interviews Ezra Klein, who explains the…
You know the folks who take this seriously are the ones most likely to end up on the B Ark anyway, so it hardly seems to be something to realistically worry about.
Wow... All the CEO's, hedge fund managers, tv pundits & Randits gathered on one island!
Time to reconsider my position against nuclear weapons...
As far as I know, Spencer was a Lamarckist, rather than a Darwinist.
Johannes; I did think about that when I posted. I don't actually like the term "social Darwinism" but I have to admit I used it in the title to grab people's attention. If I said "Spencerism", which would probably be more accurate, I'm sure some people would miss the irony. I probably should have gone for accuracy though.
Moopheus:
Given the overlap between the set of people who talk about "going Galt" and the set of people responsible for [expletive deleted-ing] the country, a better analogy might be Magrathea. Let's see, the Magratheans destroyed the Galactic economy by creating massive wealth imbalances, then went and hid, not planning to come out until it was all over. Hmmmmm.
I smell a thesis here. "The Static Electricity Motor and the Infinite Improbability Drive: From Golgafrincham to Galt's Gulch." Definite possibilities for subversive exegesis.
The main problem with "social darwinism" (besides the stupidity of the name) is that it focuses only on selection at a single level: the individual. Evolution requires selection operate based on measurement of optimized function of all levels of operation: protein, organelle, cell, organ, organism, and society. Social Spencerism is a dumb "greedy algorithm" designed to optimize individual function without regard to ability to operate within society.