r/K: The Evolutionary Biology of Left vs. Right

          “The time is near at hand which must determine if Americans are to be free men or slaves.”  – George Washington

 

          Greetings, my fellow Freedom lovers!

          I have often wondered why Collectivists (Liberals, Progressives, etc.) are the way that they are. Why they always seem to side with America’s enemies over their own country, or side with criminals over victims. Or advocate so fervently for policies which will inevitably destroy this great country, while at the same time claiming to love America. Why they invest so recklessly in illogical and destructive ideas like Obamacare. Well, I’m happy to report that I’ve found the answers! In a nutshell: They’re rabbits.

          There is a theory of evolutionary biology known as r/K, which delineates reproductive strategies of animal species which have evolved over time to ensure their survival. In the equation r/K, “r” represents maximal reproductive rate of an individual while “K” represents the carrying capacity of a given area or environment. r/K selection theory describes two distinct reproductive strategies that a species can use to exploit different environmental extremes: limited resources versus unlimited resources. Particular species can also be separated into “r-type” and “K-type.”

          For example, rabbits (r type) will start reproducing early and reproduce as often as possible, leaving one parent to care for the offspring and investing almost no effort in raising their young. Their food source is virtually unlimited, therefore rabbits have no incentive to compete for food or teach their young any skills beyond basic survival. Because their survival is ultimately dependent upon rapid reproduction, rabbits are unaffected by a predator feeding on their population. Each rabbit will, of course, attempt to preserve its own life; but employ a “better you than me” evolutionary attitude. “r-types” regard others as expendable.

          For wolves, on the other hand, resources are limited. Therefore they wait longer to begin reproducing, compete for the best mate, and both parents devote time to the care and training of their offspring. Wolves protect one another and cooperate to ensure the safety and effectiveness of the pack, because they do not consider each other to be expendable.

           You may already begin to see how r/K can be used to explain human behavior, but I will elaborate. First, let’s dispel a popular notion about predators: The word “predator” has negative connotations for us. We often describe criminals as predators; but they are not. Wolves, for example, contribute to their environment by maintaining equilibrium with other inhabitants, by keeping the r-type animals from overpopulating. Criminals and thugs do not contribute to society, because they are parasites.

          So, in terms of humanity, r-types are cowards. Why are humans cowards when rabbits are not? To put it succinctly, humans alone among all the animal species have the intelligence to move beyond simple evolutionary imperatives, to choose individually what he or she will be or do. In light of that fact, it boggles my mind as to why anyone would choose to be an r-type. I don’t merely mean in the sense of courage or cowardice, so let’s look at other parallels.

          In an r-type environment conflict and competition are unnecessary and avoided, which is what Collectivists are known for, hence their hatred for things like free market capitalism and guns for self defense. They abhor competition because they lack the skills and the drive to compete. Additionally, because they exist in a world free of competition, they display no loyalty to other members of their species; which makes something like abortion acceptable to them. Collectivists also promote low-investment, single parenting and efforts to get younger children into sexual education. The ever-growing trend toward things like trigger warnings, political correctness and participation trophies all stem from this r-selective pacifism.

          Collectivists consider themselves “citizens of the world,” as opposed to the patriotic Liberty-lovers who display fierce loyalty to America; because r-types have no loyalty. The very notion of the in-group is entirely foreign and appalling to them. It seems cruel and exclusionary. They simply cannot comprehend why we wouldn’t want our borders overrun by millions of illegal immigrants. Also, Leftists like to cozy-up to foreign enemies because they feel far more threatened by domestic strength and competition.

          What’s most interesting to me is one by-product, in particular, of the competitive K-type environment. Because K-types invest effort into producing and rearing better offspring to compete for resources, over time this produces evolutionary advantages over their r-type counterparts from increased intelligence and sentience, to loyalty and social skills. All of which is due to group competition and adversity.

          The common thread in this evolutionary political theory is resource availability. Those K-types on the Right understand that there is no such thing as a free lunch, and resources, while not scarce, are not unlimited and must be created. The r-types on the Left, however, believe that if they can just redistribute the resources from those who create wealth then everyone can live equally well forever. Their philosophy is essentially one of killing the golden goose. With that in mind, it’s also interesting to note that the most charitable people in the world are K-types; not these overly-compassionate Collectivists. That’s because what the Left really strives for is not compassion but control, without fighting for it.

          Think about it…

            Eric contributes at WordPress, Blogger and Rebooting Liberty; and you can find The Carr Show on YouTube and Twitter!