Page 124 - The Social Weapon: Darwinism

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Ruthless Practices in the Colonies
u
The Social Darwinist views that dominated the colonial
elites revealed themselves in policies adopted towards the na-
tive peoples. These administrations did not regard these peoples
of the countries they ruled as human, but as primitive, interme-
diate life forms, and usually inflicted suffering, destruction and
unhappiness. Social Darwinism was one major factor in these
countries' ruthless policies. As already seen, the aggressive mea-
sures adopted by some nations, that in their arrogance regarded
other nations as inferior, acquired false legitimization through
Social Darwinism. These countries regarded themselves as per-
fectly justified in adopting such policies, which only increased
their greed and aggression.
The Opium Wars are an interesting example. Great Britain
began selling opium to China in the early 1800s, even though at
the time the production, sale and consumption of opium were
forbidden in Britain itself. The English governing class, who
scrupulously protected their own people against this scourge,
soon made the Chinese people dependent on opium. After his
son died of excessive opium consumption, the emperor decided
to put a stop to the British importing the drug into his country. A
government official, Lin Zexu (Lin Tse-Hsü), was sent to
Canton—the East India Company's largest port—about putting
an end to the trade. Since the British merchants did not favor co-
operation, Zexu had the opium warehouses closed. The British
immediately followed this with military intervention. The
Chinese were routed and forced to accept a humiliating treaty,
under which the opium trade in China was regarded as legal.
Lin Zexu lost his post in the government and was sent into exile.
The Portuguese, for their part, exercised their “superiority”
by effectively making slaves of the natives. They kidnapped na-

The Social Weapon: Darwinism