Another classic from Lothrop Stoddard, "The Revolt Against Civilization: The Menace of the Under-Man," is now available for purchase. Before Idiocracy, before
@jollyheretic's Spiteful Mutants, before the Mystery Grove Communism Tweet- there was the Menace of the Underman.
Shortly after Western Civilization reached its zenith at the turn of the 20th century, increasing outbreaks of social unrest growing in both scale and savagery brought forth uncomfortable questions regarding potential externalities of the tremendous strides it had made over the 19th.
The Faustian spirit had never enjoyed such a winning streak over nature, yet the latter always manages to get its shots in. Advances in medicine saved and extended countless lives, and the Industrial Revolution ensured those lives would be accompanied by previously unthinkable material comfort and plenty- yet this historic loosening of evolutionary constraints man suffered under since time immemorial meant it was no longer survival of the fittest, but the survival of nearly everyone else, as well.
Up until then, if an individual was too dim-witted or antisocial toward his fellow man to sufficiently make his way in the world to secure resources for a family, his line would be ended. Conversely, those who were thoughtful, prudent and responsible would be rewarded with a disproportionate number of offspring. Yet with the brutal selection pressure removed, this was no longer the case. The impulsive, inconsiderate man who is a slave to his baser instincts could now expect to be rewarded with the fruits of those instincts. It was during this time that Imperial Germany under Bismarck even created the world's first welfare state.
Those who began studying this dynamic and considering the societal consequences if it were left unchecked for several generations increasingly feared it would mean nothing less than the collapse of civilization. Contrary to popular belief, Nazi eugenic practices were not primarily driven by the infamous quest to forge a "Super Race,” but to prevent a future where the might of the Third Reich would crumble beneath the cumulative weight of an intellectually and morally stunted population. One could say they were not so much chasing the Übermensch as they were avoiding the Untermensch.
It is easy to accuse these parties retroactively of using this an an excuse for cheap bigotry, but their concern was genuine- no one is claiming they were morally pure, but they were very much driven by the terror that all they’ve built would be torn down from malignant traits in the human character that would eventually prove be too widespread for them to stop.
While century-old scientific theories rarely survive the ravages of time completely intact, any honest man willing to observe his surroundings today must concede the enduring substance of this proposal. Even if these eugenicists were every bit as evil as they’re so frequently claimed to be, could any thoughtful resident of today’s West- who witnesses evil of an intensity and quantity that went unheard of in civilization for centuries and now appears in their feed so frequently it can hardly elicit a reaction- genuinely claim that their concern over the Under-man was unwarranted?
(Link below)