Malthusian Theory of Population
Introduction
Ever since it was first presented to public in 1798, the anonymous little tract “Essay on the Principle of Population” has profoundly influenced the peoples’ vision of population and other demographic, economic, and, more recently, environmental issues. Produced by Thomas Robert Malthus in the midst of Victorian England’s Industrial Revolution, the concept outlined an important and fascinating correlation between population growth and what was termed to be ‘subsistence.’ Author’s main argument was that population was expanded at ‘geometrical’ rates, when subsistence was increasing at an ‘arithmetic’ ratio exclusively. Malthus strongly believed the man’s ability to increase his food supply to be constrained in three particular ways:
- using land scarcity
- limited production possibilities of cultivated lands
- law of diminishing returns
Such ideas proposed a possible scenario where population growth would outrun the subsistence increase rate— whether it is food, land, jobs, or any of the different components defining the meaning of ‘subsistence.’
As Thomas Robert Malthus was a proponent of private property (he defined private property, private ownership of land especially, to be the means of subsistence for people) at the times of socialist ideas of Marx and other ideologists, his work ran into a fierce criticism from those opponent to him.
The theory of Population
The most profound and famous work by Thomas Robert Malthus - "Essay on the Principle of Population" was published back in 1798, in which the author attempts to explain the question of social development not with the help of social conditions, but by using the "eternal" laws of nature instead. Considering biological factors to be the most crucial for the whole process of population reproduction, Malthus developed and formulated the law, according to which the entire population on our planet is growing rapidly, according to the rules of Geometric sequence, whilst the subsistence production develop much slower, following the rules of Arithmetic sequence. To his mind this was due to the law of diminishing returns on investments, which might result in the diminishing returns. Thus it appears that the state of society is absolutely dependable on population growth, and this growth is predetermined by the law of biological reproduction. As a result, according to Malthus and his followers, vitality and development of the society is completely subordinate to the biological laws.
The main concept of the Malthusian theory of society is population concept, due to the importance of its growth, density, and settling, which are being regarded as necessary components for healthy state of society; moreover, theory of population is recognized to be a source of manpower and the subject of consumption for economics.
The classic Malthusianism and Neo-Malthusianism
Over time the Malthusian concept has undergone a certain evolution. Therefore, to distinguish between the classic Malthusianism and its later modifications, which are, in fact, continuing the classic concept, and Neo-Malthusianism, the only thing needed is the central thesis of the classic political Malthusianism, which states that any efforts for multiplying the livelihoods of people only lead to constantly increasing number of consumers in the end.
During the twentieth century a mistake was found in the Arithmetic sequence that Malthus was actively using (strangely the volume of produced food worldwide has increased faster than the growth rate of the population); as a result numerous proponents of Malthusian concept were seeking methods that would allow them to uphold the basic ideas of classical theory, later trying to show that Malthusian theory is not totally based on sequences, but reflects only natural character of the demographic development.
Classic Malthusian concept representatives consider reducing birth rates to be the most proficient way of escaping the upcoming demographic crisis; they also appeal against the industrialization and social transformation of agriculture in developing countries. Though nowadays, the emphasis has shifted to the rapid destruction of the environment, due to the tremendously increasing pressure being put on it.
An updated version of the theory of Malthus is called Neo-Malthusianism. This ideological offspring was founded in the late nineteenth century in the form of so-called Neo-Malthusian societies, leagues, and unions. If classic Malthusianism completely ignores and denies the effect of social factors on population, in Neo-Malthusianism, on the other hand, this influence is recognized, however, to be equal with the impacts of biological factors.
Neo-Malthusianism, though, is not only pure theory; on practice it distinguishes biological sphere of reproduction of the human race as the primary goal, thus defining transformation, economical efficiency improvement and rising living standards to be non-significant, in such way ignoring the social side of human reproduction.
Criticism of Malthusian theory. Social factors of population growth
The Marxist theory of population comes from the recognition of a decisive influence of socio-economic factors on demographic processes. Marxist ideologists did harshly criticize the Malthusian law, stating that his supporters leave the most important thing aside, ignoring the growth of societies’ productive forces, the growth of production techniques, thus actually revealing its primary reactionary role as a concept.
However, it should be borne in mind that production methods chosen are not the only causes for population growth. Professional and age compositions are not only influencing the growth rates and structure of population, but also effecting productive forces, culture and national traditions, variety of historical events, wars, and revolutions, despite the fact that, the growth rate and structure of population have the opposite effect on the entire system of subsistence production. In some cases, they can contribute to the overall development, in others – they can slow those down.
According to Marx, a human being is the primary productive force, and during all historical periods, the vast majority of the population was employed in productive labor. Therefore, all kinds of social activities were based according to the production activities, in the course of which, the subsistence conditions of human existence were created and developed. Because of this, relations in industrial activity ultimately proved to be defining in relation to all other forms of human activities. This allowed Marx to explain the phenomenon of unemployment not from the biological human reproduction point of view, but using the features of the capitalist economic system.
In contrast to Malthus, Marx proposed that there is actually no general law of population that is common in every social formation. There possibly cannot be an absolute overpopulation; there is always a relative surplus population, generated by the work of the general law of capitalist accumulation. It is the work done by this law, and not by nature, that explain the unemployment and poverty rates of the working class, on example of which Marx and Lenin showed the failure of transferring the laws of nature onto the manufacture. The main argument of Malthus in favor of a quicker subsistence growth over the population growth lays in unscientific principle of diminishing returns.
Conclusion
Malthus' theory had great influence on both Charles Darwin and Alfred Wallace, who are the co-founders of the modern evolutionary theory. In his own words Darwin acknowledged, that he was already aware of the 'struggle for existence' among different species of plants and animals. However, it was only after he read Malthus' work, he realized that animals in their struggle to survive retained the favorable features that would help them adjust to the environment, and lost those that were of no use to them. Thus, the Theory of Natural Selection was born. By the end of the 19th Century, when living standards improved and birth rates dropped in the Western countries, concerns of overpopulation became irrelevant. However, in underdeveloped countries which have agrarian economies, Malthus' theory often finds credibility.
The fact that Malthus emphasized the constraints of human nature and the “black train of distresses” avoided by the exercise of restraint have distracted attention away from his interest in institutional reform. Yet he was right about many things, even though he is not appreciated for them today. He recognized that institutions such as marriage, property rights, and markets lead people to practice prudential restraint, lowering fertility rates and yielding the prospect of steadily rising real incomes. These institutions—property rights, free markets, and marriage—ensure that individuals make wise decisions regarding their resources. Production will be sufficient to meet the effective demands of the population.
References
Coontz, H. Population Theories and the Economic Interpretation. Sydney: 2003
Ashrafy, Q., Galorz, O. Malthusian Population Dynamics: Theory and Evidence. 26 March. 2008. Web. 03 July. 2013 PDF file. Retrieved from:
http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Economics/Papers/2008/2008-6_paper.pdf
Wolfgram, A., F. POPULATION, RESOURCES & ENVIRONMENT: A Survey of the Debate. 10 Ferbruary. 2005. Web. 03 July. 2013 PDF file. Retrieved from:
http://www-rohan.sdsu.edu/faculty/dunnweb/rprnts.2005.10.10Malthus.pdf
