Malthus

Thomas Malthus was an English philosopher who lived from 1766 to 1834, An Essay on the Principle of Population, is one of the most influential pieces of writing in history. Not only did it help to establish the modern field of economics, it aided Charles Darwin on his regarding evolutionary science. Malthus’ core argument that runs a majority of the book is dedicated to the ‘Iron Law of Population’. This essay will seek to examine the premises of Thomas Malthus’ 1798 an Essay on the Principle of Population and conclude on its argument as well as provide a justification of the invalidity of the argument. In addition, it will identify its multiple influences on historical contexts throughout time.

Dr. Forsyth implements plenty of evidence as well as proven statistics to back up his outlook on these issues. The growth of human population is happening at an exponential rate, implying that in a short period of time population growth will double. “We find it difficult to comprehend exponential growth, but it may prove to be our fatal blind spot” [3]. When analysing the world’s population over a long period of time, it took roughly 19,000 years for the world’s population to go from 5million people to 500 million people in 1500 A.D. [4] With an estimated population of 7.5 billion people [5], for a period less than 1000 years, population increased more than 1500 times its size than it was in the 1500’s. In addition, on a more minute scale of time, in 1950 the world’s population was roughly 2.5 billion people [6] in merely 50 years the world’s population has tripled. With these statics, it is evident that the world’s population is increasing at an incomprehensive rate. With populations at their peak, overconsumption is another problem this world faces, as Dr. Forsyth affirms “humans consume far more than their fair share of the Earth’s natural productivity.”[7] Due to this over consumption of resources, there is a vast demand for cheap food which results in the clear cutting of large forest to generate room for new plantations of food. When doing so, humans destroy habitats that

No matter how many people do claim overpopulation is not a relevant issue, it very much is because of the simple fact that starvation and pollution are very real and existing issues that are ultimately offset by overpopulation. In an article titled “Overpopulation Is Not the Problem,” author Erle C. Ellis uses the analogy “Like bacteria in a petri dish, our exploding numbers are reaching the limits of a finite planet, with dire consequences,” to argue that overpopulation is not a problem by stating the opposing claim. “We are nothing like bacteria in a petri dish,” Mr. Ellis solemnly asserts, “...these claims demonstrate a profound misunderstanding of the ecology of human systems. The conditions that sustain humanity are not natural and never have been. Since prehistory, human populations have used technologies and engineered ecosystems to sustain

The increasing human population and its impact on the world we live in has always been a prominent topic of discourse throughout history. A common theme that originates from human population is food scarcity. However, is an increasing population necessarily interrelated with food scarcity? Naturally, polarising perspectives on this subject will arise. Some are rather pessimistic and look at extreme population control measures, such as the neo-Malthusian angle that J. Kenneth Smail expresses in his aptly named essay: Remembering Malthus: A preliminary Argument for a Significant Reduction in Global Human Numbers (2002). Other angles on the subject are a bit more hopeful such as the views expressed

Although Thomas Malthus is often criticized for his “radical” ideas about overpopulation, they may not be as radical as you think. Neo-Malthusian is the ambiguous label dubbed to those who are simply aware enough to realize the ever-so-present problem of a continuously growing population. As we look around at our daily life in the U.S., it is apparent that homelessness, poverty and hunger are issues being faced every day. We can’t walk down the street without seeing a beggar desperate for money and you or someone you know may have dealt with a layoff or cutback in work. How is that we claim to have so many available resources and yet there are people all over the country lacking proper health and a sustainable lifestyle? Shouldn’t we be more

Thomas Malthus believed that natural rates in reproduction, when not checked, would lead to an increase of population. He also went on to state that along with the natural rate of population growth that the rate of food production would only increase at about half of that rate. If an attempt wasn’t made to keep the population under control then overt actions would be required to manipulate food production or order to stave off starvation. Malthus had two ideas that he believed would

Malthus believed there were two “checks” that could reduce the population, returning it to a more sustainable level. He believed that abstinence, delaying marriage until finances become suitable for a family, and restricting

Robert Malthus has a central argument that populations tend to increase faster than the supply of food available for their needs. Population, when unchecked, will be a problem for the world’s population to survive in the future. The magazine articles, Malthus and His Ghost: When He Formulated His Theory Ignored the Ingenuity of Man and The Numbers Don’t Lie: Why Malthus was Right offer divergent views on Robert Malthus’ famous doomsday theory. It is important to analyze the background of the two articles by drawing a

Malthusianism was a movement that was begun by Robert Malthus in 1789 that had a big impact on the thinking, and teachings of many great geologists, and scientists. All of the men in this paper believe in this idea that population growth is going to grow faster than the growth of food, but they all have different solutions, and thoughts on the matter. Some believe that population is so out of control that we must contain it, and even find ways to drastically slow it down, while others believe that we need things like aggregate demand in order to keep the growing populations employed and not homeless.

Thomas Malthus, an economist during the 18th century, proposed a theory regarding the correlation between population growth and the status of society. He wrote an essay expressing his beliefs that led to a controversial discussion. Mathus thought that as population doubles, food resources grew singularly. Because of this, he believed that as a population grew, a lack of resources would cause a continuous cycle of penury and distress. Malthus was incorrect in stating that population growths leads to pennilessness and agony because food production has increased with the help of technology.

Malthusian view stated that Human Population grows exponentially while the resources consumed by the population (mainly food)- grows linearly.

The global rate of human population growth peaked around 1963. However, the number of people living on Earth and sharing scarce resources like water and food has grown by more than two-thirds since then. Population growth causes multiple environmental problems, such as the clearing of rainforests, the loss of thousands of plant and wildlife species, an increase in greenhouse gas emissions. In our class, we addressed few philosophical positions and arguments about population and environment issues from each author. They tried to find out root causes of population growth and solve the problems behind. In this paper, I would like to discuss two main arguments of environmental issues that caused by population growth.

Overpopulation has been a growing problem over the past 60 years with an additional gain of 4.5 billion people since the 1950s. In 1750 AD the human population was at 800 million and had reach only 2 billion by 1927 (Schriever), however, in just merely 90 years, the population dramatically skyrocketed to 7.6 billion. In 1980, China tried to manage the overpopulation problem by releasing the one child policy, however, when it ended in 2016, their population increased a whole 0.46% (Verrill), that’s nearly 350 million people. There is no denying that humans are now the most dominant species to inhabit planet Earth. In fact, humankind is using natural resources at a rate 44% faster than what the world can regenerate, putting a strain on the world’s life-sustaining resources. The growing worldwide population is the cause of most environmental problems.

The Malthusian Model compares growth rates between population and means of subsistence and describes what conditions characterize a Malthusian Economy. If a population is given the opportunity to double in size every twenty-five years, it would exhibit exponential growth. However, the means of subsistence do not grow exponentially but arithmetically (Elwell 2001, 5). The differing patterns of growth allow for a large gap between population and production to grow over time. In a Malthusian Economy, one would expect to see population and means of subsistence each grow marginally and alternately with neither exhibiting significant sustained growth. In pre-industrial Europe, we saw exactly this. Humans’ ability to produce food and children are not equal and it is through Malthusian population checks, without significant increases in technology, that populations can be sustained in the long-run (Elwell 2001, 5). Population checks would make it so the population would not grow far beyond the populations’ given means of subsistence. However, with the Industrial Revolution, agricultural productivity could increase in efficiency enough to sustain an exponentially growing population. Without technology and without positive checks, population would grow at the same exponential rate and means of subsistence would grow at the arithmetic rate, leading to an unsustainable population (Elwell 2001, 5). In summation, population grows at an exponential rate, which is controlled by positive

The general idea of the essay – that when food is enough, population grows at a geometric rate and food production just arithmetically. (Malthusian and Neo-Malthusian Theories/ Ran Abramitzky and Fabio Braggion, 2003)