Malthus

Malthus-

 __Background__  Thomas Robert Malthus was born in Dorking, England in 1766. Privately educated, he graduated from Cambridge with an honours degree in mathematics. He married Harriet Eckersall and had three children. In 1789, he became a parson but spent much time teaching as a professor of political economy in Hertfordshire, England.  He wrote __An Essay on the Principle of Population as It Affects the Future Improvement of Society__. According to the essay, when a population grows faster than its food supplies it will lead to destruction of the society.

 (picture to the right taken from [|http://www.economist.com])

 __Theories & Beliefs__  Malthus' main theory concerned the relationship between population change and natural resources. According to Malthus' Essay on Population, uncontrolled rates of human reproduction would lead to geometric rates of increase in population. The growth would occur at a ratio of 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64 and so forth. Food supplies, on the other hand, would only increase by arithmetic progression, at a ratio of 2, 4, 6, 8, 10. He believed there was a finite optimum population size in relation to food supply and that exceeding this amount even by only a small part would become to much a burden on the natural resources and would lead to "war, famine and disease."


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 For the upper class, the impediment to this unchecked geometric progression was by what he termed "moral restraint" meaning refraining from having more family than necessary, thereby making the distribution of wealth among the family easier. For the lower class, vice and birth control were the two key methods to limiting population growth, although they were not enough to limit the number of people living in poverty.

 Malthus believed that moral restraint was the only real way to tackle the issue of overpopulation. He also believed, however, that humans didn't have the capacity for moral restraint, and therefore would be doomed to continue receding into a subsistence farming way of life. In Less Economically Developed Nations (LEDCs), such as the northern states in India and in ravaged nations with civil strife and powerless governments such as Haiti or Sudan, the Malthusian dilemma seems to be increasingly likely to occur.

 Nevertheless, there is always the argument that several times before, the advancement of technology and energy resources has saved the Earth from a Malthusian crisis. For example, the introduction of foreign crops from the lands explored by the European explorers and the Agricultural Revolution were instrumental in keeping Eurasia from reaching such a crisis. When crops began to fail, and livestock became less reliable, the harnessing of charcoal and the invention of the steam engine and combustion engine both sped up transportation of crops and facilitated industry, resulting in the Industrial Revolution, which provided new jobs and opportunities to avert the disaster predicted by Malthus.

 __Quotes to Illustrate theory__ "Population, when unchecked, goes on doubling itself every 25 years or increases in a geometrical ratio." [|Thomas Malthus]

"Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio." [|Thomas Malthus]

"The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man." <span class="bodybold" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Thomas Malthus]

<span class="body" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">"The superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or vice." <span class="bodybold" style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';">[|Thomas Malthus]

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> __Case Study to Support the Theory__ <span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> In the 1950's, the island of Mauritius was the closest nation to approach a “Malthusian crisis”. With high birth rates, falling death rates, tendencies to marry young and a low status of women, there was very high population growth. The economy, almost solely dependent upon sugar-cane cultivation, was under severe pressure and on the verge of collapse. The country was poised to fall into a cycle of war, famine and disease due to the growing population which exceeded the country’s ability to obtain sufficient food supplies.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> However, a disaster was avoided when the government took control and implemented reforms in the social position of the people by providing better health care and encouraging emigration from the country. The government also improved the status of women by restricting early marriages and setting up an integrated family planning service. These reforms improved the standard of living in the country and although the population is still slowly increasing, there is no evidence of an impending Malthusian crisis.

<span style="font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif';"> It is difficult to cite examples which follow Malthus' theory for a number of reasons. Firstly, although there have been numerous wars, diseases, and famines in many countries where the population growth rate has exceeded the rate at which food is produced, we are unable to cite this as the only reason for the destruction. We must always consider the political, economic, and social circumstances which contribute, often negatively, to the situation. Secondly, as of yet, mankind has been able to both increase food production and decrease population growth to avoid a Malthusian crisis. By creating better technology, we have increased food production (e.g. in the green revolution where crops were modified to produce higher yields and become resistant to plant diseases). Many countries have also managed to slow their rate of population growth by decreasing birthrates through empowerment of women, the implementation of family planning, and extensive anti-natal programmes (e.g. The One Child Policy of China, cheap or free abortions in Vietnam and China). This combination of efforts has stopped Malthus’ predictions from coming true.

__References:__

1. Waugh, David. Settlement. Geography : An Integrated Approach. By David Waugh, Elizabeth Clutton and Sheila Morris. 3rd ed. Nashville: Nelson Thornes Limited, 2004. 377-378.

2. Thomas Robert Malthus, __An Essay on the Principle Of Population__, Edited by Philip Appleman

3. Waugh, David, Elizabeth Clutton, and Sheila Morris. "Population." __Geography : An Integrated Approach__. 3rd ed. Nashville: Nelson Thornes Limited, 2004. 378.

4. Chrispin, Jane, and Francis Jegede. "Population & Resource Crisis in Mauritius." __Population, Resources and Development__. 2nd ed. New York: Collins, 2008. 82

5. Halsall, Paul, ed. Malthus' Basic Theory. Digital image. 2006. Internet History Sourcebooks Project. 13 Oct. 2008 <http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/lect/malthus.gif>.

6. "Thomas Malthus Quotes." __BrainyQuote__. 2008. 8 Oct. 2008 <http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/t/thomas_malthus.html>.

7. Bloy, Marjie. "Thomas Malthus' "Essay on Population"" __The Victorian Web__. 9 Aug. 2003. National University of Singapore. 8 Oct. 2008 <http://www.usp.nus.edu.sg/victorian/economics/essay.html>.

8. Thomas Robert Malthus [A portrait of Malthus, the theorist in question]. Digital image. __Free Exchange__. The Economist. 14 Oct. 2008 http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2008/06/not_malthus_but_not_pretty.cfm