Thursday, April 3, 2008

Survival of the fittest

I think it is worth pointing out this misconception of the capitalistic interpretation of Darwin's theory:

"Business often invokes the Darwinian maxim of "survival of the fittest" to defend its competitive actions. The phrase is, in fact, a misinterpretation of Darwinism. Darwin did not speak of survival of the fittest; rather, he described those who survived as fittest for a specific ecological niche. There is a big difference between those two ideas.
But this is the way of industrialism -- "the survival of the fittest" as it has been incorrectly interpreted. The "winners" are the companies that consistently overstep and exceed carrying capacity. Corporate capitalism recognizes no limit; has no habitat."

Paul Hawken, The Ecology of Commerce. A Declaration of Sustainability. (Chapter "The death of birth").

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