Click here to listen.

This episode of ID the Future features an excerpt from a lecture by CSC Senior Fellow John West on Darwinism and capitalism. Most people associate "social Darwinism" with the ruthless capitalists of the Gilded Age, but West debunks that cultural icon, drawing the connection between Thomas Malthus and Darwin and examining the implications of zero-sum economics in Malthusian theory.

Can conservatives appeal to Darwin's theory to defend capitalism? What about the so-called undesigned "spontaneous order" some conservatives argue is present in free market economics? Listen in to find out.

For more on Darwin and capitalism, check out West's book, Darwin's Conservatives: The Misguided Quest.