Malthusianism is the idea that population
growth is potentially exponential while the
growth of the food supply is linear.
It derives from the political and economic
thought of the Reverend Thomas Robert Malthus,
as laid out in his 1798 writings, An Essay
on the Principle of Population.
Malthus believed there were two types of "checks"
that in all times and places kept population
growth in line with the growth of the food
supply: "preventive checks", such as moral
restraints (abstinence, delayed marriage until
finances become balanced), and restricting
marriage against persons suffering poverty
or perceived as defective, and "positive checks",
which lead to premature death such as disease,
starvation and war, resulting in what is called
a Malthusian catastrophe.
The catastrophe would return population to
a lower, more "sustainable", level.
Malthusianism has been linked to a variety
of political and social movements, but almost
always refers to advocates of population control.Neo-Malthusianism
is the advocacy of population control programs
to ensure 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, hence
organizations such as the Malthusian League.
Neo-Malthusians differ from Malthus's theories
mainly in their enthusiasm for contraception.
Malthus, a devout Christian, believed that
"self-control" (abstinence) was preferable
to artificial birth control.
In some editions of his essay, Malthus did
allow that abstinence was unlikely to be effective
on a wide scale, thus advocating the use of
artificial means of birth control as a solution
to population "pressure".
Modern "neo-Malthusians" are generally more
concerned than Malthus was with environmental
degradation and catastrophic famine than with
poverty.
Malthusianism has attracted criticism from
a diverse range of differing schools of thought,
including Marxists and socialists, libertarians
and free market enthusiasts, social conservatives,
feminists and human rights advocates, characterising
it as excessively pessimistic, misanthropic
or inhuman.
Many critics believe Malthusianism has been
discredited since the publication of Principle
of Population, often citing advances in agricultural
techniques and modern reductions in human
fertility.
Many modern proponents believe that the basic
concept of population growth eventually outstripping
resources is still fundamentally valid, and
"positive checks" are still likely in humanity's
future if there is no action to curb population
growth.
== 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 poverty.
Principle of Population was specifically written
as a rebuttal to thinkers like William Godwin
and the Marquis de Condorcet, and Malthus's
own father who believed in the perfectibility
of humanity.
Malthus believed humanity's ability to reproduce
too rapidly doomed efforts at perfection and
caused various other 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, brought widespread criticism
of his theory.Malthusians perceived ideas
of charity to the poor, typified by Tory paternalism,
were futile, as these would only result in
increased numbers of the poor; these theories
played into Whig economic ideas exemplified
by the Poor Law Amendment Act of 1834.
The Act was 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 initiated the construction
of workhouses 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 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 earliest critics was David Ricardo.
Malthus immediately and correctly recognised
it to be an attack on his theory of wages.
Ricardo and Malthus debated this in a lengthy
personal correspondence.Another one of the
19th century critics of Malthusian theory
was Karl Marx who referred to it as "nothing
more than a schoolboyish, superficial plagiary
of De Foe, Sir James Steuart, Townsend, Franklin,
Wallace" (in Capital, see Marx's footnote
on Malthus from Capital – reference below).
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 more organisms
than could possibly survive in any given environment,
leading him to theorise 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
influence the field of eugenics.
Henry Fairfield Osborn, Jr. advocated "humane
birth selection through humane birth control"
in order to avoid a Malthusian catastrophe
by eliminating the "unfit".Malthusianism became
a less common intellectual tradition as the
19th century advanced, mostly as a result
of technological increases, the opening of
new territory to agriculture, and increasing
international trade.
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 ... 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.
John Maynard Keynes, 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 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 France, terms such as "politique
malthusienne" ("Malthusian politics") refer
to population control strategies.
The concept 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.Vladimir
Lenin, the leader of the Bolshevik Party and
main architect of the Soviet Union was a critic
of Neo-Malthusian theory (but not of birth
control and abortion in general)."Neo-Malthusianism"
is a concern 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 term is also often connected with eugenics.The
rapid increase in the global population of
the past century exemplifies Malthus's 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, 1960s, and 1970s 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 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.
Leading ecological economist Herman Daly has
acknowledged the influence of Malthus on his
concept of a steady-state economy.
Other prominent Malthusians include the Paddock
brothers, authors of Famine 1975!
America's Decision: Who Will Survive?
The neo-Malthusian revival has drawn criticism
from writers who claim the Malthusian warnings
were overstated or premature because the green
revolution has brought substantial increases
in food production and will be able to keep
up with continued population growth.
Julian Simon, a cornucopian, has written that
contrary to neo-Malthusian theory, Earth's
"carrying capacity" is essentially limitless.
Responding to Simon, Al Bartlett reiterates
the potential of population growth as an exponential
(or as expressed by Malthus, "geometrical")
curve to outstrip both natural resources and
human ingenuity.
Bartlett writes and lectures particularly
on energy supplies, and describes the "inability
to understand the exponential function" as
the "greatest shortcoming of the human race".
The Club of Rome and its 1972 report "Limits
to Growth" are fundamentally Malthusian in
their outlook.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 2007–2008 world food price crisis inspired
further Malthusian arguments regarding the
prospects for global food supply.
== See also ==
== Notes ==
== References ==
Korotayev, A., et al. 2006.
Introduction to Social Macrodynamics.
Moscow: KomKniga.
ISBN 5-484-00559-0
Turchin, P., et al. (eds), 2007.
History & Mathematics: Historical Dynamics
and Development of Complex Societies.
Moscow: KomKniga.
ISBN 5-484-01002-0
Turchin, P.; Korotayev (2006).
"Population Dynamics and Internal Warfare:
A Reconsideration".
Social Evolution & History.
5 (2): 112–47.
A Trap At The Escape From The Trap?
Demographic-Structural Factors of Political
Instability in Modern Africa and West Asia.
Cliodynamics 2/2 (2011): 1–28.
