xvi Preface
raisethosesamechildrenintoadulthood.Therefore,whetheror not a personpracticesa
specificcustomdoeshelpdeterminewhetheror not that persontransmitshis or her genes
to the nextgeneration.And,add the evolutionarypsychologists,giventhat parentsusual-
ly teachthosesamecustomsto theirownchildren,it followsthatwhenpracticinga
customhelpsa mansurviveandraisehis ownchildren,it is not merelythatthe custom
helpstransmitthe man’s genesacrossgenerations;it alsohappensthat,insofaras the
customhelpsthe mansurviveandreproduce,thatcustomhelpstransmititselfacross
generations.A custom,then,countsas an evolutionaryadaptation.
Furthermore,whenseveralcustomsare groupedtogether,thosecustomsconstitutea
culture.Amongsuchsetsof culturalcustomsare politicalsystems—thatis, capitalism
versusgovernism.Andalthoughno societyis purelycapitalist,it is the casethatsome
societiesare freerthanothers.Youcan comparetwosocietiesthatare similarethnically,
whichhavea similarracialbackgroundandwhichinvolvepeoplespeakingthe same
language,but in whichone societyis freerthanthe other.Youcan comparethe progress
of less-freeHungaryagainstfreerAustria;less-freemainlandChinaagainstfreerTaiwan;
less-freeEastGermanyagainstfreerWestGermany;less-freeNorthKoreaagainstfreer
SouthKorea;andless-freeCubaagainstfreerPuertoRico.Therewasa pointwherethe
peopleof bothless-freeHungaryandfreerAustriastartedout in roughlythe same
place—extremepoverty—but in whichpeoplein the freersocietyultimatelygaineda
higherstandardof livingthanthosein the moregovernistsociety.Thattrendappliesin
eachof the comparisons.Youcan alsoexaminethe southernandnorthernhalvesof the
townof Nogales,whichis dividedby the U.S.-Mexicanborder.The peopleof bothhalves
are of similarancestryand speakSpanish,yet, throughoutthe decades,thoseof the freer
U.S.half prosperedmoresignificantlythanthoseof the less-freeMexicanhalf.
Theseresultsillustratethatthe survivalof the fittestdoesapplyto socialscience,
thoughnot in the mannerin whichsocialDarwinistswerepurportedto believe.A social
Darwinist,we are expectedto think,wouldproclaimthatif the peopleof NorthKorea
and SouthKoreastartedin roughlythe samepoverty,and if the SouthKoreansultimately
grewmoresuccessfulthanthe NorthKoreans,it wason accountof the SouthKoreans
beingof a geneticallysuperior“race” thanthe NorthKoreans.But the racesand genetics
are, in the pertinentrespects,basicallythe same.Thesurvivalof the fittestappliesin a
differentrespect.HerbertSpencercoinedsurvivalof the fittest, and whathe meantby that
wasthatwhena groupof organismssurviveand thrivein a particularenvironment,it is
on accountof an adequatematchbetweenthe organismsand theirenvironment.Survival
of the fittestrefersto the survivalof organismsthatfitin withtheirsurroundings.When
organismsare unableto surviveandprosperin a specificenvironment,it indicatesa
mismatchbetweenthoseorganismsandthatenvironment.Shouldorganismsbe unable
to survivein a particularenvironment,it is not necessarilybecausethe environmentis
perfectwhereasthe organismsare unworthyof it. It maybe the casethatthe organisms
are just fine and that the environmentitselfis inadequate.Notethat the politicalsystemof
a humansocietyis not merelya human-createdadaptation,but thatit is alsoa human-
createdenvironment. Whenhumansthrivein a capitalistsocietyand sufferundera com-
munistone,it is not on accountof the peoplein the capitalistsocietybeinggeneticallyor
raciallysuperiorto thoseof the communistsociety.Rather,in the pertinentrespects,the
genesof the peoplein the capitalistsocietyare roughlythe samein qualityas the genesof
thosein the communistsociety.Prosperityundercapitalismis the survivalof the fittest
on accountof howthe peaceablefreedomthat capitalismaffordshappensto be the sort of
environmentwhichis mostfit for humans.By contrast,governismproducesan environ-
mentthat stiflesthe abilityof peopleto supporttheirownwell-being.Governism,then,is
an environmentunfitfor humans—and the moreseverelygovernismis applied,the less
prosperousare thosehumansin comparisonto howtheywouldfare undercapitalism.