For example, the people of Tibet rejected Communism when China came into power and reclaimed the area as part of their sovereignty. China felt that it was their duty to push reform on the people of Tibet as well as their own people. Lewis states that “the Red Guards did their best to abolish the culture and institutions of a people whom they considered backward and disloyal” while Tibetans desperately clung to a lifestyle that they were proud to call their own (67). The fallacy of social Darwinism is often used to validate the opinion that natives are simply not keeping up with the pace of modern society, and thus should be treated as if on a lower rung of the evolutionary ladder. Some even use actual evolutionary theory, stating that indigenous people are biologically less complex than conquering settlers. They are viewed as primitive, or backwards. Lewis explains that this theory goes back to the ideas of Aristotle, which claim that “some peoples are naturally inferior to others, who therefore have a right to enslave them and to make war on them, should they refuse to submit”
For example, the people of Tibet rejected Communism when China came into power and reclaimed the area as part of their sovereignty. China felt that it was their duty to push reform on the people of Tibet as well as their own people. Lewis states that “the Red Guards did their best to abolish the culture and institutions of a people whom they considered backward and disloyal” while Tibetans desperately clung to a lifestyle that they were proud to call their own (67). The fallacy of social Darwinism is often used to validate the opinion that natives are simply not keeping up with the pace of modern society, and thus should be treated as if on a lower rung of the evolutionary ladder. Some even use actual evolutionary theory, stating that indigenous people are biologically less complex than conquering settlers. They are viewed as primitive, or backwards. Lewis explains that this theory goes back to the ideas of Aristotle, which claim that “some peoples are naturally inferior to others, who therefore have a right to enslave them and to make war on them, should they refuse to submit”