Ordinary wars of conquest are to me far less wicked, than to go to war in order to maintain smuggling, and that smuggling consisting in the introduction of a demoralizing drug, which the government of China wishes to keep out, and which we, for the lucre of gain, want to introduce by force; and in this quarrel are going to burn and slay in the pride of our supposed superiority.
– Theologian Thomas Arnold regarding the Opium Wars
My first history of the “Prosperity Gospel” (at least the fairly systematic part of the history) covered the gilded age, especially the latter part of it. Re-reading it, I noticed that I had skimmed over earlier forms of this gospel. Of course, I had covered much of these earlier forms in other series, especially when discussing Organic Movements v. Astroturfing. However, I have written very little on this blog about social Darwinism.
“Darwinism,” a topic of controversy even today, would seem to be the main one that divides “people of faith” and “people of science.” However, the figures whom we refer to as “social Darwinists” are very much in line with the prosperity gospel. The two most influential are Herbert Spencer from England and William Graham Sumner from America. Both believed that life was evolving toward “perfection” and that the “favored” races of imperialist powers carried the most highly evolved traits of humanity. Further, Spencer believed that different “races,” even the most favored, should not mix. Thus, in a letter to the Japanese government, he expressed his opposition to any form of immigration, since,
"if you mix the constitution of two widely divergent varieties [of humans] which have severally become adapted to widely divergent modes of life, you get a constitution which is adapted to the mode of life of neither – a constitution which will not work properly." He goes on to say that America has failed to limit the immigration of Chinese and restrict their contact, especially sexual, with the presumed European stock. He states "if they mix they must form a bad hybrid" regarding the issue of Chinese and (ethnically European) Americans. Spencer ends his letter with the following blanket statement against all immigration: "In either case, supposing the immigration to be large, immense social mischief must arise, and eventually social disorganization. The same thing will happen if there should be any considerable mixture of European or American races with the Japanese."
- Wikipedia, “Spencer” entry linked above.
Although, in his 1850 book, Social Statics, Spencer expressed distaste at further imperialism, his readers found his ideas on the need for competition and his concept, “survival of the fittest” much more compelling than his qualms. This book came out the same year that England sent troops (for the second time) to the other side of the world to keep the Chinese addicted to opium. The year after his 1864 book, Principles of Biology* was published, the English brutally suppressed the Morant Bay Rebellion in Jamaica**. Meanwhile, Darwin’s cousin, Sir Francis Galton, coined the term, “eugenics” and introduced “scientific” racism to humanity.
Spencer and Galton’s work inspired many promoters of the capitalist project and its “prosperity gospel.” More importantly, the “scientific” aspects of social Darwinism allowed these promotions to take innumerable apparently opposing sides. We’ll cover two of these promoters, William Graham Sumner and William James – and their inspiration of other champions of capitalism through competition among races, classes, sexes, families, and other groups – in our next entry. In the meantime, my readers might enjoy the below clip about class and competition from Monty Python.
* This book is part of a series, to which the link leads
**English (direct) aggression around the world continued until the end of World War II, after which the country engaged in relatively minor skirmishes such as the Falklands War.
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