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Chapter 53 Classics on Modern Population

Chapter 52 Masterpiece of Modern Population Theory: "Principles of Population"

Assuming that there are 10 billion people on the earth now, if there is no obstacle, the population will grow geometrically (1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32
, 64...), while the means of subsistence, even under the most favorable conditions of production, can only grow arithmetically (1, 2, 3, 4,

5, 6, 7...), so the growth rate of population greatly exceeds the growth rate of means of subsistence.celibate life, heavy labor, extreme
Extreme poverty, famine, plague and war are important means to restrain the blind growth of population and adapt the population to the means of subsistence.

This is the most influential population view of the famous economist Malthus.

"Principles of Population" is written in response to the times

Thomas Robert Malthus (1766～1834) was a famous British economist in the late 18th and early 19th centuries.
Both economic theory and population theory have had a huge impact on the development of Western economics, especially in the later development of population theory.

most affected.Malthus was born in a land aristocratic family in Lucree, near Surrey, England.

In 1798, Malthus published the pamphlet "Principles of Population" anonymously. In 1803, he published the second edition of "Principles of Population" under his real name.

. He died of illness in 1834.

In addition to "Principle of Population", his works include "Scale of Value" (1823), "Research on the Nature and Development of Land Rent" (1
815), "Principles of Political Economy" (1820), etc.

"Principles of Population" is the product of the development of economic and political thought in Western Europe in the eighteenth century.

At that time, the ongoing French Revolution had a great impact on Britain and promoted the revolt of the British working people.
The zeal of the struggle.As a result, thinkers such as W. Godwin who advocated social reform appeared in the UK, and their ideas are very attractive.

heart.

For this reason, the British rulers urgently need to eliminate the influence of the French Revolution and social reform ideas, and "Principles of Population" is an appropriate

It was born in response to this need.

The immediate cause of this book was an accident.On one occasion, Malthus read
Godwin's "Education, Morality, and Literature for a Researcher", against both Godwin's work and the French Revolution
Attitude.then

He decided to study the population problem systematically, using overpopulation as an argument to oppose the social reform ideas of the French Revolution.

The book "Principles of Population" was published in six editions during Malthus's lifetime.From the anonymous publication of the first edition in 6 to the sixth edition in 1798,
Each edition has new changes, but the basic idea of ​​the book remains the same.

Food Lust Theory Population Principle

In the work "Principles of Population", Marielsas has well-founded arguments and elaborates his own population theory in detail.

The population theory discussed in this book is developed from what he called two laws.The first law is that food is

necessary for the survival of the species; the second law is that passion between the sexes is necessary.People have to eat, without means of subsistence they cannot live
To survive; people have to continue offspring and have children.This is common sense that everyone knows.According to these two fixed laws, Malthus

The relationship between population growth and economic growth was analyzed and studied, and it was proposed that population growth showed geometric growth, while economic growth

is the theory of arithmetic growth.He held that, after his axioms had been established, it could be established beyond any doubt that the reproductive power of population
, compared with the power of the land to produce the means of human subsistence, it is infinite and relatively huge.When the population is unobstructed, the geometry
The rate of progression increases, while the means of subsistence can only increase at the rate of arithmetic progression.People with a little knowledge of mathematics will know that with the following

Compared with one force, the former force is huge.Assuming that there are 10 billion people in the world, human beings will be 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32
, 64, 128, 256, 512 at such rates of increase; but the means of subsistence can only be increased at rates of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8
, 9, 10 as the rate of increase increases.According to this development, within 226 years, the ratio of population to means of subsistence will become 512 to 10
Ratio.That is to say, at that time, the world will be overcrowded, and the means of subsistence of human beings will be pitifully scarce.Malthus

The assertion that the increase in population must greatly exceed the increase in the means of subsistence,
It is not based on the basis of economics, but from a biological point of view, that is, from the fact that human beings have fixed and unchanging desires.
issued.Malthus emphasized the invariance of passion, so he believed that the increase of population must exceed the increase of means of subsistence.

Because population growth is so staggering, population growth must be limited.Malthus believed that increasing the death rate, is
An important measure to curb population growth and keep it in balance with means of subsistence.At the same time, Malthus believed that, through moral
Suppressing, that is, reducing the birth rate to maintain a balanced ratio between population and means of subsistence, is also an important measure.Place
The so-called moral restraint is to ask those who cannot afford to support their children not to marry and to maintain chastity before marriage.

Malthus
held that, if what he called moral repression were not exercised, the poverty and crimes which would result from the multiplication of population exceeding the increase in the means of subsistence
Evil cannot be avoided.

Based on his above viewpoint, Malthus put forward a famous principle about the relationship between population growth and economic development,
That is, the population is necessarily limited by the means of subsistence;

So long as the means of subsistence increase, population must increase unswervingly, unless some very powerful and pronounced check
Influences; these checks and those which check the superior forces of the population and keep their results at the same level as the means of subsistence, all

The ministry can be summed up as moral abstinence, sin, and poverty.This generalization is what Malthus called the principle of population or the
The basic content of the eternal, natural law of population.

Therefore, Malthus believed that poverty and evil in capitalist society are not caused by socio-economic and political systems

It is the result of population laws.

Malthus suggested,

The human social system is only the superficial cause of unemployment and poverty, the root cause of which is that the increase in population exceeds the increase in the means of subsistence
.The abolition of private property is bound to stimulate population growth.Under this social system, poverty and crime, which prevent population growth,

is assumed to have been eliminated, and therefore population must increase at an unprecedented rate, but there is always an increase in the means of subsistence

Therefore, even if an ideal social system of equality is established, it will inevitably tend to disintegrate soon.

The book "Principles of Population" states that private ownership of property is the result of the natural law of population, and unemployment and poverty are not social institutions.

They are also the result of the natural law of population, and no social reform can eliminate the pressure of the natural law of population.
force.In Malthus's view, it is impossible to implement an equal system to succeed. In the case of an equal system and common property, the realization of

Freedom of marriage improves and improves people's living standards, which will inevitably stimulate population growth, but the growth of means of subsistence will always increase.

There is a limit, even if an equal social system is established, it will inevitably die young.Therefore, Malthus believed that only private ownership
Only then will people be motivated to work hard, and people will naturally restrict early marriage and automatically suppress population reproduction out of self-interest considerations.

, so as not to have too many children due to indulgence; but under the public ownership system, the natural way to restrict early marriage has to be artificially restricted by law.

and this artificial system must be more than the moral responsibility that the private property system imposes on each individual to bring up his children.

Cheng's method is much crueler and less human.Malthus praised private ownership as the wisdom to develop human abilities, he

It is believed that the best system is to cultivate and improve human virtue.

In this book, Malthus vehemently opposed the English Poor Laws, which he believed to be harmful but not beneficial.

Malthus believed that the fundamental reason why the means of subsistence can only increase according to the arithmetic progression lies in the law of diminishing fertility of the land
The role of this law is the basis of population theory, economics and natural history.According to him, the doubling of the population is

It's as if the earth doubled and doubled, until at last it shrunk down to the point where food and the necessities of life were reduced to what was needed to sustain life.
below the required level.Due to the effect of the law of decreasing fertility of the land, food cannot keep up with the exponentially increasing population.result

It is the poor who make the poor.Poor laws would also diminish the quality of life that would have been enjoyed by the more valuable and industrious members of society.

information, potentially forcing them to demand relief as well.Malthus asserted that the poverty of the lower classes was a deep-rooted evil, not
It is something that human intelligence can heal. Poor laws will only encourage poor people to be unfrugal. They only care about the immediate future and ignore the long-term.

The poor have no right to relief.

Population theory has far-reaching influence

Malthus's "Principles of Population" is a very important work in the history of human thought.

hotly debated, especially its view on measures to curb population growth, has been sharply criticized, however, cannot
It is denied that this work has played an important role in the development of population theory and the formulation of population policies in various countries.
To this day, the influence of this work is still great.

Malthus's "Principles of Population" is an important work in the history of population theory, and has had a decisive impact on the study of population theory.

Impact.For the first time, he systematically discussed the relevant issues of population theory, making population theory basically an independent

field of study.Since the publication of his "Principles of Population", population issues have attracted increasing attention and gradually developed into a social issue.
A separate science within the social sciences.

The view put forward in the book "Principles of Population" that population and economic development must be compatible is a very valuable point of view.

Although we pointed out that Malthus' view of population is wrong, population and socio-economic development are closely related.
According to the population laws of various societies, it is absolutely necessary to formulate population policies suitable for the development requirements of each country according to the specific conditions of each country.
need.

After the publication of "Principles of Population", there was a sensation, and Malthus became famous because of it.Some bourgeois economists call it
First-class scholars". Of course, it also attracted violent protests from various "philanthropists". Later, Marx and Engels also

Denounced the vulgarity and reactionary nature of Malthus's "population theory".The main error of this theory is that it starts from human nature.
The abstract law of population replaces the historical law of population, and the special phenomena such as unemployment, poverty, and crime produced by the capitalist system

The phenomenon is said to be the result of the growth of population exceeding the means of subsistence.

The publication of "Principles of Population" has attracted widespread attention in the academic circles, and population theory has gradually developed into an independent discipline.
Although the basic point of view of "Principles of Population" is wrong, people have disputes about some of the claims and methods put forward by the author, but after all

The book occupies an important place in the history of population theory.Marx also pointed out that there is no lack of merit in this theory, "Capital

There are as many as 21 citations of Malthus' views in the first volume of "On" and Malthus's "population theory" still cannot be ignored.
influences.

(End of this chapter)