It's funny that those who demand tolerance the most from others rarely exhibit the trait themselves.

As a sociological theory, Social Darwinism originated with the publication of “Physics and Politics”, by Walter Bagehot, an English economist. Bagehot asserted the idea that social groups developed into nations through intergroup struggles. However, Social Darwinism reached its most radical formulation with Ludwig Gumplowicz’s work, The Racial Struggle. This work theorized that social evolution was a product of group conflict.

As a system of belief, the primary focus of Social Darwinism was on the acquisition of wealth and power, i.e., money should be used to gain power, and power should be used to protect wealth. As such, this belief system was composed primarily of five basic principles, which were drawn from history, law, economics, religion, and biology. These principles are:
- The least government is the best government;
- The sanctity of property;
- The acquisition of wealth is a mark of divine favor;
- The principle of White and Nordic supremacy; and
- The pseudo-scientific principle of the ‘survival of the fittest.’

As an ideological code for behavior, Social Darwinism is the foundation upon which the American social structure has been built. The human interaction that it fosters is reflected in the perpetuation of dominant/subservient relationships, which has been the source of cultural racism. This divisive ideology is sustained by social policies that reveal the underlying and inherent beliefs of the society: that the most successful classes are biologically superior, and should rule those viewed as less advanced. The implementation and practice of these beliefs gave formation to the rigid social norms that were implemented after the emancipation of slaves, and lasted until the Civil Rights Movement. Although Dr. Martin Luther King is presented historically as the key figure of the movement, its father was Reverend Vernon Johns.

As a response to the social gains made by Civil Rights Movement, a resurgence of conservative politics was initiated in the 1960s. Within two decades, and backed by corporate funding, it was positioned to influence American social policy. To gain further control, and through the Reagan presidency, proponents of conservative politics launched a five pronged attack on the American society. The aim was to reassert control over the society in the face of gains made by African Americans.

According to Bertram Gross, in his work Friendly Fascism: The New Face of Power in America, the idea was to enhance and promote social division. Generally, the strategy has been to: (1) promote militarism, racism, and anti-Semitism to divide people; (2) promote divisive social issues to divide political camps; (3) promote a first strike foreign policy upon the pretense of treat; (4) promote policies that undermined or eliminated the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th amendments to the Constitution. Collectively, these are the Constitutional guarantees to free speech, not to be unreasonably searched and seized, held without due process, having a speedy trial, trial by jury, and not to have excessive bail imposed. The fifth tactic Gross identified as the most insidious, which involved the creation and support of foundations whose aims are to promote confusion within the public mind by using the process known as triple speak. Christopher Lasch characterized these aims as “The Revolt of the Elite.”

In his book by the same name, Lasch collectively identifies these operatives as “symbolic analysts”, who live in the abstract and have separated themselves from common people, who live in the body. These are “lawyers, academics, journalists, systems analysts, bankers, etc.”, “who traffic in words and numbers for a living.” They are accused by Lasch of betraying democracy by intensifying social divisions, degrading public discourse, and promoting a spiritual predicament, “the heart of our existing social and political crisis.”