Social darwinism

Social darwinism is a philosophy that people should behave selfishly and not help the poor because that would discourage the weeding-out of the incompetent from society. Those who disfavor welfare programs are sometimes called social Darwinists, although in many cases those people actually simply favor the provision of charity through private sector activity rather than through government.

As a practical matter, giving money to charity does not necessarily hinder the truly incompetent, incapable of making wise decisions, from remaining poor. Those people are quite capable of quickly squandering whatever resources are given to them, e.g. by spending it on consumption for pleasure, or on foolish investments, rather than making investments that will pay off. Those who simply had a run of bad luck, on the other hand, but are able to make good decisions, may use the money they are given to pull themselves out of poverty.