Thomas Malthus Biography

Thomas Malthus was a political economist where he became well known around the world because of his economical views on population growth. Thomas Malthus was born on February 13, 1776 in Surrey, England. He was known as Thomas Malthus but throughout his lifetime he went by his middle name, which was Robert. Growing in his young years he was a very bright child where he excelled in mathematics. He married his first cousin Harriet Eckersall, on April 12, 1804. In 1805 Malthus became a English professor teaching children, political economics. His main influences for his work on economical views were Adam Smith and David Ricardo. Thomas Malthus died on December 23, 1834 in Bath England.

Malthus’s Theory

  • Malthus’s theory was about increasing population worldwide
  • It was based on the fact that the number of people on earth would increase faster than the amount of the food being produced
  • Also that it would be overpopulated
  • He suggested that overpopulation would result in a crash

Proof

  • In the eighteenth century his theory was becoming evident
  • Population crash would be caused by famine, disease, or either war
  • His theory can be proven true because there has been so many droughts and famines in Ethiopia and many other countries where the land is overpopulated and there is no food for anyone to survive
  • That’s why we have food drives in developed countries and we donate to charities that give food to countries where the people have no food

Pros And Cons

When the theory was first written, the writing took many by surprise. Many faulted him but they looked in depth of his theory and thought about what he wrote, whether this can be true or not. The pro side of this theory is that they became much more efficient in their lifestyle in the way they progressed through life, making everything much harder to get rather than being convenient. An example of this is thought is, many families would conceive a large number of children because their work which would make work around them much easier, but by working harder they didn’t need a high number of children. The con part of the theory is that many people knew that there will be enough food supply due to reproduction of human beings. Also human growth will be enhanced with intelligence to create new technology which will develop food supply. An example of this thought in the modern world is the biogenetic food, which is much cheaper and infinite of supply of food. Many other great thinkers also brought up the fact that food supply wasn’t the evil nemesis towards the end of human beings; it was such things as water and non-renewable resources.

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