MARXISM AND DARWINISM. 39 



arise, for where these do not exist society dissolves; 

 society can only exist where these exist. 



These instincts, while they have their origin in 

 habit and necessity, are strengthened by the struggle 

 for existence. Every animal herd still stands in a com- 

 petitive struggle against the same animals of a differ- 

 ent herd; those that are best fitted to withstand the 

 enemy will survive, while those that are poorer 

 equipped will perish. That group in which the social 

 instinct is better developed will be able to hold its 

 ground, while the group in which social instinct is low 

 will either fall an easy prey to its enemies or will not 

 be in a position to find favorable feeding places. These 

 social instincts become therefore the most important 

 and decisive factors that determine who shall survive 

 in the struggle for existence. It is owing to this that 

 the social instincts have been elevated to the position 

 of predominant factors. 



These relations throw an entirely new light upon 

 the views of the bourgeois Darwinists. Their claim 

 is that the extermination of the weak is natural and 

 that it is necessary in order to prevent the corruption 

 of the race, and that the protection given to the weak 

 serves to deteriorate the race. But what do wc see? 

 In nature itself, in the animal world, we find that the 

 weak are protected; that it is not by their own per- 

 sonal strength that they maintain themselves, and that 

 they are not brushed aside on account of their per- 

 sonal weakness. This arrangement does not weaken 

 the group, but gives to it new strength. The animal 

 group in which mutual aid is best developed is best fit 

 to maintain itself in the strife. That which, according 

 to the narrow conception appeared as a cause of weak- 

 ness, becomes just the reverse, a cause of strength. 



