Benjamin Kidd's Point of View

-Background: Kidd was a prominent nineteenth-century Social Darwinist

-Kidd says that "progress is a necessity from which there is simply no escape." He continues that throughout history (even before man) everyone has been constantly competing, and because of this competition, they have been adapting and improving.

-He concludes that because of this competition every living thing is getting better and more perfect. He says that we owe "the most-perfect in life" to this constant competition and betterment.

- He commends the Anglo-Saxon race for spreading "altruistic influences" to the "inferior peoples" around the globe. He mentions that the Anglo-Saxon race should be proud because they have not been as cruel with natives as previous explorers have been.

-He notes that throughout the world natives in all countries are dying out as a result of their contact with white people. He attributes this to the fact that natives are an inferior race and are unable to catch up to the white man, so they die out. He explains that it is a misconception that the evil nature of the more "civilized" white man is what has killed the natives; rather, it is the white man's virtues that have outperformed the natives.

- He says that the people of successful races all share similar traits, such as an "energetic, vigorous, virile life." He claims that people who are conquered are, on the other hand "careless, shiftless, and easily satisfied." He points to the competition and intensity in the "superior" races as the reason they are surviving while the "inferior" races are dying out.

-He closes by urging the reader to face these "stern facts of human life and progress" openly and honestly.

-From Social Progress and the Rivalry of the Races by Benjamin Kidd