I recently was involved in a very long "discussion" regarding Social Darwinism with a friend of mine, who shall remain nameless. It is my opinion that Social Darwinism exists in our society. For those of you who are unaware of this concept, let me explain it to you. Darwinism is the idea that evolution occurs and only the fit will survive (i.e. the strongest, etc). Perhaps you've heard the expression "eat or be eaten" or "kill or be killed." If so, then you know what I'm talking about. Social Darwinism is the idea that these concepts exist in our current society, although not within these exact terms. It is my belief that since we are animals, we must find a way to express these basic desires within each other. And since most of us don't go out and kill, it is manifested in our need for competition. This competition is achieved through sports, jobs, capitalism, etc. This form of competition is essential part of human nature. Without it, we would not work harder and strive to be better. My friend is an anarchist and he believes in evolution through cooperation. He feels that if we lost all authority figures for whatever reason, we would work together and cooperate. I think this is a load of crap :). I feel that we are all selfish people at heart, and my proof of this is that we need to be taught how to share and how to cooperate in elementary school. If we lost all authority, chaos would ensue and we would fight until someone else came into power. Competition is why capitalism works and cooperation is one of the reasons why communism failed. But thats just my opinion, I could be wrong... 2/10/01