Survival Of The Meanest

Candide keeps hurling obstacles at little Candide, fortunately the boy has not had to face many obstacles by himself, he has had the presence of the Sailor, Pangloss,  the Old woman, and now Cacambo. For the exception of the beloved Dr. Pangloss, the rest of Candide´s guardians have been through tough times, or have lived through many experiences which grants them with know-how such as to Cacambo. As a result of either rough experience or simply having experienced many tasks in life, these guardians have managed to pull through and have managed to keep the socially handicapped, Candide. These guardians of Candide and their past leads me to to believe that the only way to survive in a world like ours is to be the quickest to the gun.
Voltaire shows how the people who have seen the utmost atrocious things like the old woman, are the ones who manage to pull out of the rubble. But this is not necessarily a good thing, espeacailly due to the fact that after watching such atrocities the person isn't the same, and can even be called "extra-terrestial." An interesting message, or maybe i might be the only one interpreting such a message. But it is clear that the people who don't doubt a second whether to pull the trigger are the ones who survive. So what does this situation make of society, a living hell? This logic of living makes life a constant duel, a non-stop game of cat and mouse, and the first one to stop and breathe, is the looser. A deadly case of evolution, if this is how the "successful" human was categorized in Voltaire´s time, what did Voltaire think the human race would be at to this day, better? Or still revolutionizing to have a society full of hulks?