Hunting Down Social Darwinism Will This Canard Go Extinct

8 Chapter 1

argumentsfor Manchesterismare entirelyunlikethoseof Spencerand Sumner.Thenthey
upholdtheirownmoralsuperiorityby proclaimingtheirownhatredfor Spencerand
Sumnerfor givingfree-marketeconomicsa bad name.Oneexampleof this phenomenon
can be foundwithBrinkLindsey—the formervice-presidentof researchat the libertarian
CatoInstitute.
In his bookThe Age of Abundance, LindseytrashesSumner’s meticulousdefensesof
capitalismas corrupt“rationalizations” thatdid nothingbut “providecomfortfor the
comfortable.. .”^26 Andit is conspicuousthat Lindseyhimselfwouldaccusea fellowfree-
marketerof socialDarwinism.In a priorbookof his,Againstthe DeadHand, Lindseytook
afterSpencerandSumnerby likeningthe marketto a biologicalecosystem.Againstthe
DeadHandproclaimsthat privateenterprisefunctionsaccordingto the sameprinciplesof
“the evolutionaryprocessof naturalselection.Themarketsystemacceleratesthe evolu-
tion of usefulnewideasin a two-stepprocess:First,it increasesthe numberof ‘mutations’
by decentralizinginvestmentdecisions.” Thatis, saysLindsey,a purelysocialiststate
confiscatesfundsfromeveryoneandplacesthesefundsintoa commonpoolof capital.
Thenthe centralgovernmentis the solepartyto decidewhichenterprisesanyof this
capitalis to be investedin. By contrast,the capitalistecosystempermitsanyonewhois
bothwillingandableto investhis owncapitalin whicheverenterprisehe judgesbest.
Buddingentrepreneurscompetewithone anotherto draftthe bestbusinessplan.Theytry
to winthe favorof potentialinvestorsandpersuadethemto committheircapitalto the
endeavor.Secondly,the marketecosystem“thenapplies” the “mutations” to

the ruthlessselectionpressuresof profitandloss.... Entrepreneurswhosuccessfully

developand applynewgoodideasare rewardedwithprofits.Thoseprofitsperformvital

signalingfunctions:Theyencouragethe originalentrepreneurto expandoperations,

whileat the sametimetheylurein newcompetitorsto the market.In otherwords,profits

are the signalsthatleadto the propagationof goodideasthroughoutthe economyby

attractingadditionalresourcesthatwillbe devotedto applyingthoseideas.Meanwhile,

entrepreneurswhoseideasfail are stuckwithlosses.Losses,likewise,act as signals:They

driveentrepreneursto contracttheiroperationsor elsefoldcompletely.Accordingly,

lossesare the meansfor reducingthe resourcesdevotedto lesssuccessfulideas.The

profit-and-losssystemthuscreatesfeedbackloopsthatconstantlypushthe rearrange-

mentof resourcesto concentratethemon applyingthe bestideasfor creatingvalue.^27

Disappointingly,as a contrastto Sumner’s take-no-prisonersstyleof argumentation,
Lindseyhas his booksdelivera milquetoast“defense” of capitalismthat doesnot explain
the virtuesof a radicallyunfetteredmarket.Lindseydoesnot deignto defendLockean
rightsexplicitly.InsteadAbundancearguesthatmodernDemocratsshouldacquiesceto
somemodestderegulation.Thisis on the groundsthat,throughoutthe twentiethcentury,
marketforceshavefurtheredthe enfranchisementof womenand racialminoritiesand the
preservationof endangeredspecies.Lindseyis righton thiscount,thoughthereis no
wisdomin the denigrationof Sumner.
No less thanthe eminentLudwigvonMiseswasnaïve in proclaiminghis disagree-
mentwithsocialDarwinism,unawarethatthe termwascoinedfor the purposeof mak-
ing a strawmanof suchfree-marketersas himself.^28 In thattradition,a 1981WallStreet
JournaleditorialdefendedPresidentReagan’s tax cutsand deregulationpoliciesby assur-
ing readersthattheywerenot “just anotherversionof late-nineteenth-centuryrobber-
baronsocialDarwinism.”^29
Andthe socialDarwinismappellationhas nastierapplications.Take,for instance,
AmericanEnterpriseInstitutepresidentand SyracuseUniversitypoliticalscientistArthur
C. Brooks—the sameArthurBrookswhosefindingsaboutthe linksto happinessand
incomeI citedin BookTwo.