Unnatural Selection

Photo by Francesco Califano on Unsplash

By Geoff Carter

This has been a period of unparalleled prosperity in this country—for the few. While the average wage-earner’s take home pay has stagnated, giving them less real buying power than it did even ten years ago, a few rich and powerful citizens have seen their fortunes grow almost exponentially. According to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities website, “income growth for households in the lower and middle…slowed sharply…while incomes at the top continued to grow strongly.”

This disparity was especially evident during the pandemic. According to Forbes, billionaire wealth is up 35%—from $3.4 trillion to 4.6 trillion dollars in the period from January 2020 to the present. Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos’ net worth alone grew $86 billion dollars. Of course, during this time many average Americans struggled to keep food on the table and a roof over their heads. As businesses suffered or even folded during quarantine, many found themselves out of work. The rich got richer, and the poor got poorer. And the middle class has gone on life support. 

Bezos is in fact so wealthy he is engaging in a personalized space race with Elon Musk and Richard Branson, two other billionaire elites striving to gain footholds in the fledgling space tourism industry. Musk has already sent one of his Tesla cars into orbit, while Branson recently launched himself to the outer edges of our atmosphere; Bezos is planning to launch a crew into orbit next year. But how on Earth did they gain enough wealth to create their personal NASAs? By being apex predators.

In the late nineteenth century, the theory of Social Darwinism, an assertion that the same laws of natural selection that work in Nature also apply to human individuals, groups, and societies was espoused by—among others—Herbert Spencer. The theory was used as a justification for colonialism, imperialism, racism, and—of course—capitalism. Though now largely discredited, the very structure of American capitalism seems to have been built on the belief system that some human beings are more able, and thus more deserving, to get a larger share of the pie than other weaker humans. 

Bezos and his ilk are a different breed—and not in a good way. They are intelligent, shrewd, and ruthless, but they also seem to have thrived from an underdeveloped sense of community. They are capitalist predators. How many small companies did Microsoft snatch up or put out of business during its rise to the top? Why do WalMart workers have to apply for food stamps because their paychecks are insufficient to support a family? Why are unions barred from Amazon workplaces? Because their CEOs are apex predators, perched on the very top of the food chain. And, like all predators, they mow down everyone on their path to the top.

In the wild, tigers, wolverines, and sharks kill because nature has given them sharper teeth, longer claws, and faster legs. Predatorial humans consume lesser beings because they seem to have inherited—or acquired—higher levels of greed and underdeveloped levels of empathy; and they also seem to have an entirely overdeveloped sense of ruthlessness and cunning. There are in fact very much like the ultimate predator—the honey badger. They don’t care. They don’t give a shit.

While the scientific notion of social Darwinism has been discredited by most, hints of it can still be seen in our social fabric. As an example, the outmoded and despicable belief that the white race is superior to all others still lives on, despite all evidence to the contrary. An unspoken corollary of this belief is that in the workplace, people of color earn less than their white counterparts. Or women, for that matter. During the last four years—and not by accident—those that espouse these beliefs have become emboldened by those in power who refuse to even recognize racism in our society—mostly because it benefits them monetarily to do so.

In a tropical rain forest, a coral reef, or on the plains of the Serengeti, the only rule in the animal food chain is survival of the fittest. Humans, on the other hand, because of our superior intellect and empathic sensibility have created a society where every citizen is appreciated, cared for, and protected. At least in theory. While many nations of the world have developed universal health care, free college tuition, and state-sponsored daycare for their people, the United States seems to have reverted to a laissez-faire culture of the social Darwinists: survival of the fittest.  

In the United States, the rich—the most powerful and ruthless manipulators of our culture—are protected, emboldened, and even revered. Monster corporations like Exxon, FedEx, GE, and Amazon enjoy tax exemptions and subsidies to the point where many of them pay no taxes whatsoever. The CEOs in charge of these behemoths also take advantage of loopholes provided by our convoluted tax code. Many pay little or no taxes. Why? Because they are apex predators—and we love apex predators. This, after all, is the home of Shark Week.

The notion of Social Darwinism continues to endure in this country. Whether we are discussing institutional racism, income inequity, misogyny, or poverty, it is painfully apparent that there is a double—or triple—standard in this country. The inherent belief that land barons, captains of industry, and corporate CEOs have acquired their fortunes because they are superior beings is deeply ingrained into our national consciousness. 

The truth is that these people—these versions of apex predators—are lesser beings. They tend to characterize themselves as sharks, lions, or grizzlies, but they truth is they are little more than scavengers, jackals and hyenas living off the work of others. They have no sense of community, propriety, or empathy. They take what they want and do as they please. Many of the qualities that define us as human beings: sacrifice, compassion, and empathy are necessarily foreign to those who ruthlessly eliminate everything—and everyone—in their paths. 

Today, the richest in our country enjoy more privilege, more esteem, and more freedom than any other class of citizens. They are treated as royalty. When they are—on very rare occasions—held accountable for criminal activity and sentenced to prison time, they serve that time in minimum security facilities with many amenities unknown to those serving hard time. 

These CEOs are not heroes; they take advantage of the weak, the ignorant, the desperate, and the underprivileged. We not only need to stop idolizing them; we need to criminalize and demystify their predatorial sensibilities because, by and large, many of their corporate policies are inherently unfair and sometimes even unlawful. And when these predators are caught breaking the law, they deserve the same sentences in the same facilities as the rest of us. I would like to see them behind bars with the rest of the animals. Or launched into deep space.