Week 6

These photos are from Jacob Riis' project titled "How the Other Half Lives". This project, which later turned into a book, highlighted the dangerous conditions that poor immigrants were subject in the 19th century in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Riis' assumption was that if people were made aware of what was happening in the shadows of society, people would be moved to provide more assistance for this disadvantaged population. In fact, Riis' book actually did lead to improved conditions on the Lower East Side, even in a time where society was becoming increasingly skeptical of social welfare.
    The Social Darwinism that was emerging at this time believed in pretty much the opposite of what Riis believed. Social Darwinism believed that society would perish if these poor were allowed to continue to exist and made a strong argument to not provide any assistance at all. It doesn't necessarily surprise me that some people thought this way back in the 19th century, but sometimes I wonder if Social Darwinism is truly dead. According to Social Darwinism, essentially any attempt to improve society is wrong.

  In 2011, Herman Cain said "Don't blame Wall Street, don't blame the big banks. If you don't have a job and you are not rich, blame yourself" (shown in the video above). This statement exudes Social Darwinist philosophy - placing the blame of any inadequacy solely on the individual, and not allowing any critique of the system itself. Though Social Darwinism is perhaps not regarded as a widely acceptable ideology today, the theory seems to be becoming more acceptable in American politics. We can certainly still see this in the current presidential election. Many (if not all) of the Republican candidates want to limit or completely eradicate some governmental programs aimed at helping these disadvantaged populations. Though they claim that they "want to turn the power over to the states", this is a horrifying possibility. As social workers, I think that we need to get even more involved in government and have our voices be heard.