Population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Secondly, That the passion between the sexes is necessary and will remain nearly in its present state.Īssuming then, my postulata as granted, I say, that the power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man. He argued that the poor should be left to starve to prevent environmental catastrophe.Įxcerpts from An Essay on the Principles of Population, Chapter 1:įirst, That food is necessary to the existence of man. He argued that the laws (social security) simply exacerbate the predicament of the poor by enabling the population to increase even more and requiring even more food to feed even more poor people. He argued that supporting the poor with social welfare only postponed the inevitable famine and conflict and placed undue pressure on the rest of society. Malthus took issue with England’s Poor Laws (a kind of welfare system for those unable to work). He argued that famine and misery in turn lead to vice (such as theft).ĭriven by some of the pressing issues of his day, Malthus was particularly interested in connecting the predicament of England’s poor to these issues of resources use and proposed imposing restrictions on the poor, suggesting that the poor practice sexual abstinence. His “An Essay on the Principle of Population” proposed that population growth eventually will place catastrophic pressure on resource use - leading to famines, conflict, and other stress. Malthus suggested that population pressures lead to resource overuse, famine and misery, in particular, because exponential population growth outstrips food production.
Thomas Malthus was an English doctor and philosopher, born in England in 1766.
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