The Language of Politics

Linguistic Darwinism: A Primer and Ender

A long time ago back in the 19^th century after Darwin popped up, some of his enthusiasts wanted to apply his revealed principles such as survival of the fittest and natural selection to society and economics. They came up with a cutthroat philosophy called Social Darwinism that was popular in Britain until the welfare state began being built. Dickens' imagery is very much a view of Social Darwinism. In North America, its popularity and influence continued mostly unrestrained until the Great Depression and the growing of the national government's participation in economic life and its efforts to moderate the effects of poverty and want.