Malthusianism
Encyclopedia
Malthusianism refers primarily to ideas derived from the political/economic thought of Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus
, as laid out initially in his 1798 writings, An Essay on the Principle of Population
, which describes how unchecked population growth is exponential
(1→2→4→8) while the growth of the food supply was expected to be arithmetical
(1→2→3→4). Malthus believed there were two types of "checks" that could then reduce the population, returning it to a more sustainable
level. He believed there were "preventive" checks like moral restraints, e.g. abstinence
, delayed marriage
until one is financially fit and restricting marriage against persons with defects and poverty
etc., and "positive checks", which lead to premature death, such as disease, starvation, war etc., leading to a Malthusian catastrophe
, which would return population to a lower, more "sustainable", level. The term has been applied in different ways over the last two hundred years and has been linked to a variety of other political and social movements, but almost always refers to advocates of population control in one form or another.
Neo-Malthusianism generally refers to people with the same basic concerns as Malthus who advocate for population control
programs to ensure enough resources for current and future populations. In Britain the term Malthusian can also refer more specifically to arguments made in favour of preventive birth control for any of a number of reasons, hence organisations such as the Malthusian League
. According to some descriptions, neo-Malthusians differ from Malthus' theories mainly in their enthusiasm for contraceptive techniques. Malthus, as a devout Christian, believed that "self-control" or abstinence were preferable to artificial means of birth control. However, in some editions of his essay, Malthus did allow that self restraint was unlikely to be effective on a wide scale, and therefore could countenance the use of artificial means of birth control as a solution to population pressure. Modern "neo-Malthusians" are generally more concerned with environmental degradation and catastrophic famine than with poverty as Malthus was, although it is hard to completely separate all of the different factors.
Many critics believe that the basis of Malthusian theory has been fundamentally discredited in the years since the publication of Principle of Population often citing major advances in agricultural techniques and reductions in human fertility in modern societies. However, many modern proponents believe that the basic concept of population growth eventually outstripping resources is still fundamentally valid, and that "positive checks" are still likely in humanity's future without action to curb population growth.
The terms can carry a pejorative
connotation indicating excessive pessimism
, inhumanity, or inaccurate understanding of the future. However, some proponents of Malthusian ideas believe that Malthus' theories have been widely misunderstood and misrepresented, and believe that his reputation for pessimism and inhumanity is ill deserved. Malthusian ideas have attracted political criticism from diverse schools of thought, from marxists and socialists to libertarians
, free market
enthusiasts, American conservatives, feminists and human rights
advocates, often for their potential to justify other political agendas or to obscure the perceived hidden agendas of proponents.
. Principle of Population was specifically written as a rebuttal to thinkers like William Godwin
and the Marquis de Condorcet
, and Malthus' own father who believed in the perfectibility of humanity. Malthus believe that humanity's ability to reproduce too rapidly doomed efforts at perfection and cause many problems. His criticism of the working class's tendency to reproduce rapidly, and his belief that this, rather than exploitation by capitalists, led to their poverty led to widespread criticism and discussion of his theory.
Malthusians drew from this the inference that ideas of charity to the poor typified by Tory
paternalism
were futile as it would only result in increased numbers of the poor, and was developed into Whig
economic ideas exemplified by The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, described by opponents as "a Malthusian bill designed to force the poor to emigrate, to work for lower wages, to live on a coarser sort of food", which brought the construction of workhouse
s despite riots and arson. Malthus revised his theories in later editions of An Essay on the Principles of Population, taking a more optimistic tone, although there is some scholarly debate on the extent of his revisions. According to Dr. Dan Ritschel of the Center for History Education at the University of Maryland,
One of the 19th century critics of Malthusian theory was Karl Marx
who referred (in Capital
, see Marx's footnote on Malthus from Capital - a reference below) to it as "nothing more than a schoolboyish, superficial plagiary of De Foe, Sir James Steuart, Townsend, Franklin, Wallace". Marx and Engels described Malthus as a "lackey of the bourgeoisie." Socialists and communists believed that Malthusian theories "blamed the poor" for their own exploitation by the capitalist classes, and could be used to suppress the proletariat to an even greater degree, whether through attempts to reduce fertility or by justifying the generally poor conditions of labour in the 19th century.
One proponent of Malthusianism was the novelist Harriet Martineau
whose circle of acquaintances included Charles Darwin
, and the ideas of Malthus were a significant influence on the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution
. Darwin was impressed by the idea that population growth would eventually lead to the birth of more organisms than could possibly survive in any given environment, leading him to theorize that organisms with a relative advantage in the struggle for survival and reproduction would be able to pass their characteristics on to further generations. Proponents of Malthusianism were in turn influenced by Darwin's ideas, both schools coming to heavily influence the field of eugenics
. Henry Fairfield Osborn
, for example advocated "humane birth selection through humane birth control" in order to avoid a Malthusian catastrophe by eliminating the "unfit."
Malthus wrote during the time of the Manchester School
of thought.
Malthusianism generally became a less common intellectual tradition as the 19th century advanced, certainly in the Atlantic world mostly as a result of technological increases, the opening of new territory to agriculture, and increasing international trade. In 1888, political economist William Petty wrote that larger populations should be a benefit to society, claiming “[I]t is more likely that one ingenious curious man may rather be found out amongst 4,000,000 than 400 persons.” Although a "conservationist
" movement in the United States concerned itself with resource depletion and natural protection in the first half of the twentieth century, Desrochers and Hoffbauer write, "It is probably fair to say, however, that it was not until the publication of Osborn’s and Vogt’s books [1948] that a Malthusian revival took hold of a significant segment of the American population."
, in Economic Consequences of the Peace, opens his polemic with a Malthusian portrayal of the political economy of Europe as unstable due to Malthusian population pressure on food supplies. Many models of resource depletion and resource scarcity are Malthusian in character: the rate of energy consumption will outstrip the ability to find and produce new energy sources, and so lead to a crisis.
In French, terms such as "politique Malthusienne" can refer to population control strategies linked to the nineteenth century theorist. However, the notion of "restriction of population" associated with Malthus morphed, in later political economic theory, into the notion of "restriction of production." In the French sense, a "Malthusian economy" is one in which protectionism and the formation of cartels is not only tolerated but encouraged. Distinguishing which meaning is understood in French usage is entirely dependent on context.
One critic of Neo-Malthusian theory (by which he meant birth control and abortion), was Vladimir Lenin
, the leader of the Bolshevik Party and main architect of the Soviet Union
India was the first country to start a population control policy (1952). It is believed that this is mainly because the elites of the ruling party were of neo-Malthusian opinion. This was a very coercive policy and faced many strong critics internationally.
Neo-Malthusianism was originally used to mean population limitation by birth control and/or abortion. Currently it may be used as a label for those who are concerned that overpopulation
may increase resource depletion
or environmental degradation
to a degree that is not sustainable
with the potential of ecological collapse
or other hazards.
The rapid increase in the global population of the past century (and its continued increase) complement Malthus' predicted population patterns; it also appears to describe socio-demographic dynamics of complex pre-industrial societies
. These findings are the basis for neo-malthusian modern mathematical models of long-term historical dynamics.
There was a general "neo-Malthusian" revival in the 1950s, 60s and 70s after the publication of two influential books in 1948 (Fairfield Osborn's Our Plundered Planet
and William Vogt
's Road to Survival). During that time the population of the world rose dramatically. Many in environmental movements began to sound the alarm regarding the potential dangers of population growth. The Club of Rome
published a famous book entitled The Limits to Growth in 1972. The report and the organisation soon became central to the neo-Malthusian revival. Paul R. Ehrlich
has been one of the most prominent neo-Malthusians since the publication of The Population Bomb
in 1968. Other prominent Malthusians include the Paddock brothers, authors of Famine 1975! America's Decision: Who Will Survive?
.
Many journalists, academics and other commentators have criticized the neo-malthusian revival on various grounds. In light of the green revolution
, which has seen substantial increases in food production, sufficient to keep up with the rapid population growth of the latter 20th century, some of the more dramatic malthusian warnings now appear to many to be overstated., Julian Simon
, a noted cornucopian
has written that contrary to neo-malthusian theory, the earth's carrying capacity is essentially limitless. However, prominent neo-malthusians such as Paul Ehrlich maintain that ultimately population growth on Earth is still too high, and will eventually lead to a serious crisis. The increase in food prices from 2007 to present
has inspired further Malthusian style arguments regarding the prospects for the global food supply.
Thomas Malthus
The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus FRS was an English scholar, influential in political economy and demography. Malthus popularized the economic theory of rent....
, as laid out initially in his 1798 writings, An Essay on the Principle of Population
An Essay on the Principle of Population
The book An Essay on the Principle of Population was first published anonymously in 1798 through J. Johnson . The author was soon identified as The Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus. While it was not the first book on population, it has been acknowledged as the most influential work of its era...
, which describes how unchecked population growth is exponential
Malthusian growth model
The Malthusian growth model, sometimes called the simple exponential growth model, is essentially exponential growth based on a constant rate of compound interest...
(1→2→4→8) while the growth of the food supply was expected to be arithmetical
Arithmetic progression
In mathematics, an arithmetic progression or arithmetic sequence is a sequence of numbers such that the difference between the consecutive terms is constant...
(1→2→3→4). Malthus believed there were two types of "checks" that could then reduce the population, returning it to a more sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
level. He believed there were "preventive" checks like moral restraints, e.g. abstinence
Abstinence
Abstinence is a voluntary restraint from indulging in bodily activities that are widely experienced as giving pleasure. Most frequently, the term refers to sexual abstinence, or abstention from alcohol or food. The practice can arise from religious prohibitions or practical...
, delayed marriage
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...
until one is financially fit and restricting marriage against persons with defects and poverty
Poverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
etc., and "positive checks", which lead to premature death, such as disease, starvation, war etc., leading to a Malthusian catastrophe
Malthusian catastrophe
A Malthusian catastrophe was originally foreseen to be a forced return to subsistence-level conditions once population growth had outpaced agricultural production...
, which would return population to a lower, more "sustainable", level. The term has been applied in different ways over the last two hundred years and has been linked to a variety of other political and social movements, but almost always refers to advocates of population control in one form or another.
Neo-Malthusianism generally refers to people with the same basic concerns as Malthus who advocate for population control
Population control
Human population control is the practice of artificially altering the rate of growth of a human population.Historically, human population control has been implemented by limiting the population's birth rate, usually by government mandate, and has been undertaken as a response to factors including...
programs to ensure enough resources for current and future populations. In Britain the term Malthusian can also refer more specifically to arguments made in favour of preventive birth control for any of a number of reasons, hence organisations such as the Malthusian League
Malthusian League
The Malthusian League was a British organisation which advocated for the abolition of all penalties against public discussion of contraception and the education of the public about the importance of family planning. It was established in 1877 and was dissolved in 1927...
. According to some descriptions, neo-Malthusians differ from Malthus' theories mainly in their enthusiasm for contraceptive techniques. Malthus, as a devout Christian, believed that "self-control" or abstinence were preferable to artificial means of birth control. However, in some editions of his essay, Malthus did allow that self restraint was unlikely to be effective on a wide scale, and therefore could countenance the use of artificial means of birth control as a solution to population pressure. Modern "neo-Malthusians" are generally more concerned with environmental degradation and catastrophic famine than with poverty as Malthus was, although it is hard to completely separate all of the different factors.
Many critics believe that the basis of Malthusian theory has been fundamentally discredited in the years since the publication of Principle of Population often citing major advances in agricultural techniques and reductions in human fertility in modern societies. However, many modern proponents believe that the basic concept of population growth eventually outstripping resources is still fundamentally valid, and that "positive checks" are still likely in humanity's future without action to curb population growth.
The terms can carry a pejorative
Pejorative
Pejoratives , including name slurs, are words or grammatical forms that connote negativity and express contempt or distaste. A term can be regarded as pejorative in some social groups but not in others, e.g., hacker is a term used for computer criminals as well as quick and clever computer experts...
connotation indicating excessive pessimism
Pessimism
Pessimism, from the Latin word pessimus , is a state of mind in which one perceives life negatively. Value judgments may vary dramatically between individuals, even when judgments of fact are undisputed. The most common example of this phenomenon is the "Is the glass half empty or half full?"...
, inhumanity, or inaccurate understanding of the future. However, some proponents of Malthusian ideas believe that Malthus' theories have been widely misunderstood and misrepresented, and believe that his reputation for pessimism and inhumanity is ill deserved. Malthusian ideas have attracted political criticism from diverse schools of thought, from marxists and socialists to libertarians
Libertarianism
Libertarianism, in the strictest sense, is the political philosophy that holds individual liberty as the basic moral principle of society. In the broadest sense, it is any political philosophy which approximates this view...
, free market
Free market
A free market is a competitive market where prices are determined by supply and demand. However, the term is also commonly used for markets in which economic intervention and regulation by the state is limited to tax collection, and enforcement of private ownership and contracts...
enthusiasts, American conservatives, feminists and human rights
Human rights
Human rights are "commonly understood as inalienable fundamental rights to which a person is inherently entitled simply because she or he is a human being." Human rights are thus conceived as universal and egalitarian . These rights may exist as natural rights or as legal rights, in both national...
advocates, often for their potential to justify other political agendas or to obscure the perceived hidden agendas of proponents.
Origins
Malthus was not the first to outline the problems he perceived. The original essay was part of an ongoing intellectual discussion at the end of the 18th century regarding the origins of povertyPoverty
Poverty is the lack of a certain amount of material possessions or money. Absolute poverty or destitution is inability to afford basic human needs, which commonly includes clean and fresh water, nutrition, health care, education, clothing and shelter. About 1.7 billion people are estimated to live...
. Principle of Population was specifically written as a rebuttal to thinkers like William Godwin
William Godwin
William Godwin was an English journalist, political philosopher and novelist. He is considered one of the first exponents of utilitarianism, and the first modern proponent of anarchism...
and the Marquis de Condorcet
Marquis de Condorcet
Marie Jean Antoine Nicolas de Caritat, marquis de Condorcet , known as Nicolas de Condorcet, was a French philosopher, mathematician, and early political scientist whose Condorcet method in voting tally selects the candidate who would beat each of the other candidates in a run-off election...
, and Malthus' own father who believed in the perfectibility of humanity. Malthus believe that humanity's ability to reproduce too rapidly doomed efforts at perfection and cause many problems. His criticism of the working class's tendency to reproduce rapidly, and his belief that this, rather than exploitation by capitalists, led to their poverty led to widespread criticism and discussion of his theory.
Malthusians drew from this the inference that ideas of charity to the poor typified by Tory
Tory
Toryism is a traditionalist and conservative political philosophy which grew out of the Cavalier faction in the Wars of the Three Kingdoms. It is a prominent ideology in the politics of the United Kingdom, but also features in parts of The Commonwealth, particularly in Canada...
paternalism
Paternalism
Paternalism refers to attitudes or states of affairs that exemplify a traditional relationship between father and child. Two conditions of paternalism are usually identified: interference with liberty and a beneficent intention towards those whose liberty is interfered with...
were futile as it would only result in increased numbers of the poor, and was developed into Whig
British Whig Party
The Whigs were a party in the Parliament of England, Parliament of Great Britain, and Parliament of the United Kingdom, who contested power with the rival Tories from the 1680s to the 1850s. The Whigs' origin lay in constitutional monarchism and opposition to absolute rule...
economic ideas exemplified by The Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834, described by opponents as "a Malthusian bill designed to force the poor to emigrate, to work for lower wages, to live on a coarser sort of food", which brought the construction of workhouse
Workhouse
In England and Wales a workhouse, colloquially known as a spike, was a place where those unable to support themselves were offered accommodation and employment...
s despite riots and arson. Malthus revised his theories in later editions of An Essay on the Principles of Population, taking a more optimistic tone, although there is some scholarly debate on the extent of his revisions. According to Dr. Dan Ritschel of the Center for History Education at the University of Maryland,
The great Malthusian dread was that "indiscriminate charity" would lead to exponential growth in the population in poverty, increased charges to the public purse to support this growing army of the dependent, and, eventually, the catastrophe of national bankruptcy. Though Malthusianism has since come to be identified with the issue of general over-population, the original Malthusian concern was more specifically with the fear of over-population by the dependent poor!
One of the 19th century critics of Malthusian theory was Karl Marx
Karl Marx
Karl Heinrich Marx was a German philosopher, economist, sociologist, historian, journalist, and revolutionary socialist. His ideas played a significant role in the development of social science and the socialist political movement...
who referred (in Capital
Das Kapital
Das Kapital, Kritik der politischen Ökonomie , by Karl Marx, is a critical analysis of capitalism as political economy, meant to reveal the economic laws of the capitalist mode of production, and how it was the precursor of the socialist mode of production.- Themes :In Capital: Critique of...
, see Marx's footnote on Malthus from Capital - a reference below) to it as "nothing more than a schoolboyish, superficial plagiary of De Foe, Sir James Steuart, Townsend, Franklin, Wallace". Marx and Engels described Malthus as a "lackey of the bourgeoisie." Socialists and communists believed that Malthusian theories "blamed the poor" for their own exploitation by the capitalist classes, and could be used to suppress the proletariat to an even greater degree, whether through attempts to reduce fertility or by justifying the generally poor conditions of labour in the 19th century.
One proponent of Malthusianism was the novelist Harriet Martineau
Harriet Martineau
Harriet Martineau was an English social theorist and Whig writer, often cited as the first female sociologist....
whose circle of acquaintances included Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Charles Robert Darwin FRS was an English naturalist. He established that all species of life have descended over time from common ancestry, and proposed the scientific theory that this branching pattern of evolution resulted from a process that he called natural selection.He published his theory...
, and the ideas of Malthus were a significant influence on the inception of Darwin's theory of evolution
Inception of Darwin's theory
The inception of Darwin's theory occurred during an intensively busy period which began when Charles Darwin returned from the survey voyage of the Beagle, with his reputation as a fossil collector and geologist already established...
. Darwin was impressed by the idea that population growth would eventually lead to the birth of more organisms than could possibly survive in any given environment, leading him to theorize that organisms with a relative advantage in the struggle for survival and reproduction would be able to pass their characteristics on to further generations. Proponents of Malthusianism were in turn influenced by Darwin's ideas, both schools coming to heavily influence the field of eugenics
Eugenics
Eugenics is the "applied science or the bio-social movement which advocates the use of practices aimed at improving the genetic composition of a population", usually referring to human populations. The origins of the concept of eugenics began with certain interpretations of Mendelian inheritance,...
. Henry Fairfield Osborn
Henry Fairfield Osborn
Henry Fairfield Osborn, Sr. ForMemRS was an American geologist, paleontologist, and eugenicist.-Early life and career:...
, for example advocated "humane birth selection through humane birth control" in order to avoid a Malthusian catastrophe by eliminating the "unfit."
Malthus wrote during the time of the Manchester School
Manchester capitalism
Manchester Capitalism, Manchester School, Manchester Liberalism, and Manchesterism are terms for the political, economic, and social movements of the 19th century that originated in Manchester, England....
of thought.
Malthusianism generally became a less common intellectual tradition as the 19th century advanced, certainly in the Atlantic world mostly as a result of technological increases, the opening of new territory to agriculture, and increasing international trade. In 1888, political economist William Petty wrote that larger populations should be a benefit to society, claiming “[I]t is more likely that one ingenious curious man may rather be found out amongst 4,000,000 than 400 persons.” Although a "conservationist
Conservationist
Conservationists are proponents or advocates of conservation. They advocate for the protection of all the species in an ecosystem with a strong focus on the natural environment...
" movement in the United States concerned itself with resource depletion and natural protection in the first half of the twentieth century, Desrochers and Hoffbauer write, "It is probably fair to say, however, that it was not until the publication of Osborn’s and Vogt’s books [1948] that a Malthusian revival took hold of a significant segment of the American population."
Modern Malthusianism
Malthusian theory is a recurrent theme in many social science venues. For example, John Maynard KeynesJohn Maynard Keynes
John Maynard Keynes, Baron Keynes of Tilton, CB FBA , was a British economist whose ideas have profoundly affected the theory and practice of modern macroeconomics, as well as the economic policies of governments...
, in Economic Consequences of the Peace, opens his polemic with a Malthusian portrayal of the political economy of Europe as unstable due to Malthusian population pressure on food supplies. Many models of resource depletion and resource scarcity are Malthusian in character: the rate of energy consumption will outstrip the ability to find and produce new energy sources, and so lead to a crisis.
In French, terms such as "politique Malthusienne" can refer to population control strategies linked to the nineteenth century theorist. However, the notion of "restriction of population" associated with Malthus morphed, in later political economic theory, into the notion of "restriction of production." In the French sense, a "Malthusian economy" is one in which protectionism and the formation of cartels is not only tolerated but encouraged. Distinguishing which meaning is understood in French usage is entirely dependent on context.
One critic of Neo-Malthusian theory (by which he meant birth control and abortion), was Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Lenin was a Russian Marxist revolutionary and communist politician who led the October Revolution of 1917. As leader of the Bolsheviks, he headed the Soviet state during its initial years , as it fought to establish control of Russia in the Russian Civil War and worked to create a...
, the leader of the Bolshevik Party and main architect of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union , officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics , was a constitutionally socialist state that existed in Eurasia between 1922 and 1991....
India was the first country to start a population control policy (1952). It is believed that this is mainly because the elites of the ruling party were of neo-Malthusian opinion. This was a very coercive policy and faced many strong critics internationally.
Neo-Malthusianism was originally used to mean population limitation by birth control and/or abortion. Currently it may be used as a label for those who are concerned that overpopulation
Overpopulation
Overpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
may increase resource depletion
Resource depletion
Resource depletion is an economic term referring to the exhaustion of raw materials within a region. Resources are commonly divided between renewable resources and non-renewable resources...
or environmental degradation
Environmental degradation
Environmental degradation is the deterioration of the environment through depletion of resources such as air, water and soil; the destruction of ecosystems and the extinction of wildlife...
to a degree that is not sustainable
Sustainability
Sustainability is the capacity to endure. For humans, sustainability is the long-term maintenance of well being, which has environmental, economic, and social dimensions, and encompasses the concept of union, an interdependent relationship and mutual responsible position with all living and non...
with the potential of ecological collapse
Ecological collapse
Ecological Collapse refers to a situation where an ecosystem suffers a drastic, if not permanent, reduction in carrying capacity for all organisms, often resulting in mass extinction...
or other hazards.
The rapid increase in the global population of the past century (and its continued increase) complement Malthus' predicted population patterns; it also appears to describe socio-demographic dynamics of complex pre-industrial societies
Pre-industrial society
Pre-industrial society refers to specific social attributes and forms of political and cultural organization that were prevalent before the advent of the Industrial Revolution. It is followed by the industrial society....
. These findings are the basis for neo-malthusian modern mathematical models of long-term historical dynamics.
There was a general "neo-Malthusian" revival in the 1950s, 60s and 70s after the publication of two influential books in 1948 (Fairfield Osborn's Our Plundered Planet
Our Plundered Planet
WIKIPEDIA Our Plundered Planet is a book published in 1948 that was written by Fairfield Osborn about environmental destruction by humankind. The book is a critique of humankind's poor stewardship of Earth. It typifies the earliest apocalyptic environmental literature, in which human beings are...
and William Vogt
William Vogt
William Vogt was an ecologist and ornithologist, with a strong interest in population control. He was the author of best-seller Road to Survival , National Director of the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and secretary of the Conservation Foundation.William Vogt was born in Mineola, New York...
's Road to Survival). During that time the population of the world rose dramatically. Many in environmental movements began to sound the alarm regarding the potential dangers of population growth. The Club of Rome
Club of Rome
The Club of Rome is a global think tank that deals with a variety of international political issues. Founded in 1968 at Accademia dei Lincei in Rome, Italy, the CoR describes itself as "a group of world citizens, sharing a common concern for the future of humanity." It consists of current and...
published a famous book entitled The Limits to Growth in 1972. The report and the organisation soon became central to the neo-Malthusian revival. Paul R. Ehrlich
Paul R. Ehrlich
Paul Ralph Ehrlich is an American biologist and educator who is the Bing Professor of Population Studies in the department of Biological Sciences at Stanford University and president of Stanford's Center for Conservation Biology. By training he is an entomologist specializing in Lepidoptera , but...
has been one of the most prominent neo-Malthusians since the publication of The Population Bomb
The Population Bomb
The Population Bomb was a best-selling book written by Paul R. Ehrlich and his wife, Anne Ehrlich , in 1968. It warned of the mass starvation of humans in the 1970s and 1980s due to overpopulation, as well as other major societal upheavals, and advocated immediate action to limit population growth...
in 1968. Other prominent Malthusians include the Paddock brothers, authors of Famine 1975! America's Decision: Who Will Survive?
Famine 1975! America's Decision: Who Will Survive?
Famine 1975! America's Decision: Who Will Survive? is a best-selling 1967 book by William and Paul Paddock. The brothers describe the rapidly growing population of the world, and a situation in which they believe it would be impossible to feed the entire global population within the short term...
.
Many journalists, academics and other commentators have criticized the neo-malthusian revival on various grounds. In light of the green revolution
Green Revolution
Green Revolution refers to a series of research, development, and technology transfer initiatives, occurring between the 1940s and the late 1970s, that increased agriculture production around the world, beginning most markedly in the late 1960s....
, which has seen substantial increases in food production, sufficient to keep up with the rapid population growth of the latter 20th century, some of the more dramatic malthusian warnings now appear to many to be overstated., Julian Simon
Julian Simon
Julian Simon is the American economist.Julian Simon also may refer to:* Julián Simón , Spanish motorcycle racer...
, a noted cornucopian
Cornucopian
A cornucopian is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology...
has written that contrary to neo-malthusian theory, the earth's carrying capacity is essentially limitless. However, prominent neo-malthusians such as Paul Ehrlich maintain that ultimately population growth on Earth is still too high, and will eventually lead to a serious crisis. The increase in food prices from 2007 to present
2007–2008 world food price crisis
World food prices increased dramatically in 2007 and the 1st and 2nd quarter of 2008 creating a global crisis and causing political and economical instability and social unrest in both poor and developed nations. Systemic causes for the worldwide increases in food prices continue to be the subject...
has inspired further Malthusian style arguments regarding the prospects for the global food supply.
See also
- CornucopianCornucopianA cornucopian is a futurist who believes that continued progress and provision of material items for mankind can be met by similarly continued advances in technology...
ism: a counter-Malthusian school of thought - The dismal science
- NSSM 200 National Security Council Study advocating population reduction in selected countries for U.S. security and interests.
- OverpopulationOverpopulationOverpopulation is a condition where an organism's numbers exceed the carrying capacity of its habitat. The term often refers to the relationship between the human population and its environment, the Earth...
- Subsistence theory of wagesSubsistence theory of wagesThe iron law of wages is a proposed law of economics that asserts that real wages always tend, in the long run, toward the minimum wage necessary to sustain the life of the worker. The theory was first named by Ferdinand Lassalle in the mid-nineteenth century...
- Risks to civilization, humans and planet EarthRisks to civilization, humans and planet EarthVarious existential risks could threaten humankind as a whole, have adverse consequences for the course of human civilization, or even cause the end of planet Earth.-Types of risks:...
- Food RaceFood RaceThe Food Race refers to the relationship between food supply and human population postulated by Daniel Quinn. Quinn advocates the view that human population, like all other animals, is controlled by food supply. Thus, larger populations are the result of more abundant food supplies...
- Population ecologyPopulation ecologyPopulation ecology is a sub-field of ecology that deals with the dynamics of species populations and how these populations interact with the environment. It is the study of how the population sizes of species living together in groups change over time and space....
- Peak OilPeak oilPeak oil is the point in time when the maximum rate of global petroleum extraction is reached, after which the rate of production enters terminal decline. This concept is based on the observed production rates of individual oil wells, projected reserves and the combined production rate of a field...