Final answer:
The quote is advocating for social Darwinism, an ideology that applies Darwin's theory of biological evolution to social and economic realms, suggesting that business should operate without government intervention allowing only the strongest companies to survive. The concept has been criticized and is often a misinterpretation of Darwin's original work on natural selection.
Step-by-step explanation:
Understanding Social Darwinism
The quote you've provided is advocating for a concept known as social Darwinism. This term derives from the application of Charles Darwin's biological evolution theory to social and economic systems.
Proponents of social Darwinism believe that, just as in nature where the most apt survive and the less capable perish, the business world should operate without government intervention, allowing only the most efficient and capable businesses to thrive.
Herbert Spencer, who coined the phrase "survival of the fittest", played a significant role in popularizing the concept of social Darwinism.
This ideology was widely used in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to justify the practices of large corporations like the Carnegie Steel Company and the Standard Oil Company. They focused on efficiency, lowering costs, and dominating the market.
However, the application of social Darwinism in business has been criticized for justifying anti-competitive behaviors, such as the creation of trusts. Such strategies might actually hinder the evolution of more efficient business practices and are often achieved through unethical means, undermining the concept of fair competition inherent to the idea of natural selection.
Moreover, social Darwinism has been used to justify imperialism and racial hierarchy, ideas that Darwin himself and many modern scholars reject.