Survival of the Fittest

As a society, we've come to the understanding that "survival of the fittest" is not the optimal way to organize society.  In essence, we reject the idea of "you're wrong, I'm right, because I won the fight!"  If we all accepted this principle to guide society, then you could strangle me and take my computer just because you were stronger or had a better strategy for offing me.  You're right to take my stuff would be obvious since you were able to defeat me.

Again, we collectively figured out that this made life just a bit too brutal, too savage to endure for a lifetime.  We decided to create "laws," which the majority accepts as a reasonable means of organizing society.  With this development, we have "survival of the richest."  Those with money survive longer than those without it (http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/23/us/23health.html).  And this is just within the United States!  The life expectancy of Ethiopians is 55 years, which is 23 years less than that of Americans.  Keep in mind, that the American statistic includes all the casualties of the real weapons of mass destruction: McNuggets and Whoppers.

Gangs do not abide by many of society's laws because they are not protected by those laws.  They create their own cultures with their own laws for the purpose of acquiring the resources that matter, namely money.  With this money, they provide food, shelter, and security forces to protect their members and their economic infrastructure.  The larger society does not acknowledge their ambition, savvy, and hard work in maintaining these gangs because they don't play by "our rules."  Those that play by "our rules" and are unsuccessful at amassing wealth and power to pay for health care, food, and shelter are just.....lazy.  (I'm not making this up; I see this theme repeated again and again in comments sections of news stories about people who have experienced hardships that have left them economically disabled.)

I am hopeful that we will one day see this current economic system as another form of savagery, which will give room for a new system to flourish.