“Survival of the Fittest” is a phrase I hate;
dog eat dog darwinism leading to nazism
and war. I sang folk songs for years,
“Gonna Study War No More!” Benign
and happy; I did not write one line
of poetry, but I wrote it with grateful tears,
and my poetry was the fittest possible;
but survival wasn’t the point;
Keep the ugly to show us the beautiful,
let everyone live, let everyone share the stage;
don’t remove anyone in a jealous rage.
The “survival” part is the part that’s bad;
“fittest” is good, but “survival” implies death.
I’m for “fittest,” but not “survival of the fittest.”
And equally, “survival of the unfittest”
is pernicious and wrong, and yet
nazis, behind a veil of false benevolence,
use “survival of the unfittest” to usurp power
in the victim market. Illogical, poison flower!
They seem different, nice. But we realize they, too,
are nazis—but too late!
Survival of the unfittest. Unfortunate fate!
You see this. Don’t you?