Social Darwinists took Charles Darwin's theories on evolution and natural selection and applied them. Taking authentic ideas and distorting them to maintain injustices against the poor and lower classes. Hard-working citizens who did everything they could to ensure the well-being of their families were left behind. Considered “less capable” or “weaker” than those of the upper classes, skilled workers were forced to work in “unskilled occupations”. All this time, the rich were considered the fittest and treated as such. The poor were seen working up to sixty hours a week, finding themselves unemployed for one month a year. Despite their hard and seemingly endless work, they still lived below the poverty line. While the poor suffered, the rich continued to accumulate more capital. Although it seems unfair, Social Darwinists have led the rich and the government to believe that, biologically, the rich were destined to become rich. They posited that the poor were destined to be poor, only to work for low wages because of their low level in the evolutionary pyramid. Say no to plagiarism. Get a custom essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get the original essayGovernment aid programs were avoided because sociologists and theorists believed that these aid programs would enable the poor to continue to breed more “inferior” individuals into the population. These erroneous beliefs would lead to the forced sterilization of those who were thought to have no contribution to make to society. Indeed, their offspring (who would not be born) would be incapable of continuing this negative behavior. Currently, only twenty-two states have laws allowing compulsory eugenic sterilization. Although these laws exist, very few are enforced in modern America. These individuals who distorted the words of Charles Darwin firmly believed that no intervention should be made to help lesser beings. They religiously followed and believed the statement “survival of the fittest,” taking it literally. Anyone who isn't "fit" shouldn't be breeding at all, let alone living. It should be noted that this saying, “survival of the fittest,” was not coined by Darwin, but rather by sociologist Herbert Spencer. Ultimately, their attempts to avoid the poor and create a utopian society in which the rich prosper proved futile. Although wealth disparities still exist today, finding a well-paying job in the United States is not as difficult as it was a century ago. Hard-working men and women can support themselves and their families through work and government assistance, something these theorists were opposed to. More and more first-generation students are breaking this stigma, seemingly rising above the evolutionary totem pole presented by theorists. Although Darwin's theory of evolution is supported by science, it simply does not work as fast as Social Darwinists believed. It is not because a group of individuals is less fortunate that the generations of men and women who follow will not remain poor. In the case of Social Darwinism, fairness and equality prevailed. Social Darwinism is no longer an accepted way of thinking, which is how things should be in this world..