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India's Politics May Be the Worst Version of Darwin's Theory Yet: Survival Through Indecency

m.thewire.in

India's political landscape is being dissected through Darwin and Spencer's evolutionary theory — revealing how "survival of the fittest" has mutated into a race to the bottom of decency.

Social DarwinismEvolutionary TheoryCompetitive AuthoritarianismMoral Disengagement
India's Politics May Be the Worst Version of Darwin's Theory Yet: Survival Through Indecency

Theory Briefing

  • India's politics is framed as Social Darwinism in action, where indecency — not fitness — becomes the trait that survives and spreads.
  • The author draws on Herbert Spencer's misreading of Darwin to argue that grassroots hate speech is now a competitive political advantage.
  • Unlike top-down propaganda, hate spreading from the ground up signals a deeper social evolution that institutions struggle to reverse.