Malthusian Principle Of Population

In Thomas Malthus’ Essay on the Principle of Population, the scholar describes what he believes to be the constant pressures on the growth of human populations. Though he postulates that populations are checked by the “means of subsistence,” or amount of food that must be produced for everyone in a population to survive, he is unable to correctly predict the technological advances that allow for more production to occur in smaller areas of land. His linear versus exponential growth models for food production and population, respectively, were also largely approximated and did not take into account the continued progress of civilization and the ability of humanity to innovate and solve problems. However, though some of his numerical principles
Malthus correctly reasons that food is a limiting factor of any population, though his predictions are largely arbitrary and based upon what was known at the time. For example, Malthus believes that “it is impossible to suppose that the produce could be quadrupled” within twenty-five years. He goes on to state his belief that the increase in production is a linear growth, arguing that “the very utmost we can conceive of, is, that the increase in the second twenty-five years might equal the present produce” (Malthus 74). In this prediction, Malthus demonstrates his lack of foresight into the technological advancements that would result from the Industrial Revolution, although this incorrect estimate is not entirely unreasonable given the unprecedented nature of the societal shift. Conversely, Malthus does present a logical analysis of the inner workings of a society undergoing large population growth. He reasons that, as societies grow quickly, production which “before supported seven millions must now be divided among seven millions and a half or eight millions,” and thus the quality of life of the poor decreases for a period as production cannot keep up with population. He goes on to argue that rapid population growth lowers the wages of laborers as well, since the number of laborers increases exponentially
Malthus argues that the poor laws increase the plight of the poor and prevent people in lower classes from escaping their situations. Malthus states that “the poor laws of England tend to depress the general condition of the poor” by enabling population growth in the lower classes without also ensuring that production increases alongside it. The author believes that these laws allow those in poorer classes to marry with “little or no prospect of being able to support a family in independence,” and thus allow children to be born into a lower-class family which is not able to advance itself any further in society (Malthus 97). Furthermore, Malthus believes that the assistance given to people in workhouses by the poor laws prevents people outside the workhouse, who Malthus deems more important members of society, from getting provisions. Malthus believes that the poor laws would thus increase the cost of such provisions and “depress the condition” of individuals outside workhouses. Additionally, Malthus disparages the laws for forcing the independent lower-class members of society to become dependent on the state, an outcome which he believes will lead only to further unhappiness in poorer classes and decrease the quality of life. Through this analysis of the poor laws, Malthus removes himself from the situation and takes an