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Thomas Malthus also saw other side effects of war in terms of population control: The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produ
by junto 12y ago
Thomas Malthus also saw other side effects of war in terms of population control:
The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to
produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape
or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and
able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great
army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves.
But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons,
epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and
sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be
still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and
with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the
world.
— Malthus T.R. 1798. An essay on the principle of population. Chapter VII, p61
This was 1798 mind you when he wrote that, and much has been written that shows that food production increases in line with population growth [1]
It is certainly true that the Great War WWI and WWII have had a devastating effect on the European psyche and therefore tolerance to outright conflict, especially over the last 70 years.
[1] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_catastrophe http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malthusian_catastrophe
- Semiapies 12y agoI don't think you can really make that claim about the Europeans being less tolerant of conflict. After the first world war, it only took a couple of decades to start an even bigger war. Then, the whole continent got effectively carved up into alliances with two outsid!e superpowers. All the periods of European peace, historically, correspond to some power/empire dominating at least much of the place, and the post-WW2 situation is not really different. Nowadays, the effort is to make that one dominant power enforcing peace Europe itself.
- cbd1984 12y agoMalthus seemed to imagine every method of population control other than the one that actually happened: Mass education leading to a revision of the social structure such that overpopulation was no longer inherent in the expectations underlying the family unit. That neatly side-steps the Malthusian catastrophe, something which I'm sure drives the current crop of Malthusians to tears.
- junto 12y agoThere are still Malthusians? Seriously?
- cbd1984 12y agohttp://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Hard_green http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Hard_green http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeboat_ethics http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lifeboat_ethics They don't call themselves Malthusians as such, but their ethics can only be understood by assuming a Malthusian premise. Some people actually are disheartened by the idea that humans might be able to find a sustainable way without a massive die-off: http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pentti_Linkola http://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Pentti_Linkola