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fortunateclassesof societywerereadilytranslatableintodemandsthatthe American
peopleshouldshoulderthe whiteman’s burdenandembarkon missionarycrusades
overseas.”^115
“Far frombeingdeliberatetoolsof capitalistinterests,as criticscharged,” notesArthur
Herman,“Americancoloniesanddominionsin far-offtropicalplaces” wereconsidered
by socialistsandProgressivesto be “a salutarycounterweight to thosemeasuresat
home.”^116 Despitehis generallyblinkeredoutlook,SidneyWebbdid understandone
fundamentaltruththatSpencer’s moderncriticsordinarilyskateover—“no consistent
eugenicistcan be a ‘LaissezFaire’ individualistunlesshe throwsup the gamein despair.
He mustinterfere,interfere,interfere!”^117
SocialistNovelistsand TheirNot-So-NovelIdeas
Therewasalsoscience-fictionwriterandself-described“ChristianSocialist”^118 Ed-
wardBellamy(1850–1898).Bellamyadvancedhis ownbrandof eugenics,^119 thoughit
wasa sortless invasivethanthatof Shawandthe Webbs.Thisassessmentof Bellamy
maycomeas a shockto anyonewhoreadwhatHofstadterwroteabouthiminSDAT.
Hereis yet anothercasewhereSDAT—which,in no uncertainterms,christenseugenics
“the mostenduringformof socialDarwinism”^120 —dressesup a vocaleugenicssupporter
as a eugenicscritic.And,thoughHofstadterat leastconcededthataspectsof Lester
Ward’s publicstatementscoincidedwiththe aimsandpremisesof eugenics,Hofstadter
disclosesno suchqualificationsaboutWard’s friendBellamy.^121 Just as he did withWard,
Hofstadterpaintsa pictureof Bellamyas an implacableenemyof socialDarwinismand
thus,by implication,a crusaderagainsteugenics.Hofstadternarrates,“In an address
beforea BostonaudienceBellamydeclaredthat‘the finalpleafor any formof brutality
thesedaysis that it tendsto the survivalof the fittest;and veryproperlythis pleahas been
advancedin favorof the systemwhichis the sumof all brutalities.’.... the competitive
systemapparentlycausesthe unfittestto survive,not in the sensethatthe rich are worse
thanthe poor,but that the systemencouragesthe worstin the characterof all classes.”^122
AmericanThoughtquotesfroma “Declarationof Principles” thatBellamyauthoredin
supportof nationalizingindustry.“The principleof the Brotherhoodof Humanityis one
of the eternaltruthsthatgovernthe world’s progresson lineswhichdistinguishhuman
naturefrombrutenature.Theprincipleof competitionis simplythe applicationof the
brutallaw of the survivalof the strongestand mostcunning.Therefore,so longas compe-
titioncontinuesto be the rulingfactorin our industrialsystem,the highestdevelopment
of the individualcannotbe reached,the loftiestaimsof humanitycannotbe realized.”^123
Bellamymostnotoriouslypressedthis pointin his 1888utopianpropagandanovelLook-
ing Backward, 2000 –1887. In it the narratorfrom1887,JulianWest,goesintosuspended
animationand awakensin a perfectsocialistsocietyin the year2000.Thisis not somesort
of satiretargeting“perfectsocieties” in the spiritofBraveNewWorld(moreon that book’s
authorlater);it is the sort of civilizationto whichBellamygenuinelyaspires.In the story,
the reanimatedJulianWestis greetedby Dr. Leete,the benevolentrepresentativeof the
idealcivilization.LeeteinformsJulianthathumansachievedheavenon Earthoncethey
abandonedthe profitablecommercialismthat nineteenth-centuryeconomistsof Spencer’s
ilk defended.“Selfishness,” Dr. Leeteruefullymeditates,wasthe free-marketeconomists’
“onlyscience,andin industrialproductionselfishnessis suicide.Competition,whichis
the instinctof selfishness,is anotherwordfor the dissipationof energy,whilecombina-
tion is the secretof efficientproduction.”^124
Haveanotherglanceat Bellamy’s explicitphilosophy—a glancecloserthanthe one
thatHofstadtergivesus. InLookingBackwardDr. Leetefirststatesthatthe menand
womenof his day marryfor “love” ratherthanfor the sakeof financialsecurity.Yet Dr.