Social Darwinism: In business, this amounted to a belief in unfettered capitalism. It was a doctrine that took the law of the jungle (only the strong survive), and applied it to the economic sphere. Thus any technique that allowed a business to prosper -- price-fixing, price gouging, monopolistic practices, exploiting your work force by (literally) working them to death -- was deemed proper and even beneficent because it was what nature intended. Indeed, any motion to go against the course of nature and, gasp, treat your workers or competition with favor was strongly rejected because it would upset the natural balance.