Such a history would tend greatly to elucidate the manner in which the constant 25 check upon population acts and would probably prove the existence of the retrograde and progressive movements that have been mentioned, though the times of their vibrations must necessarily be rendered irregular from the operation of many interrupting causes, such as the introduction or failure of certain manufacturers, a greater or less prevalent spirit of agricultural enterprise, years of plenty, or years of scarcity, wars and pestilence, poor laws, the invention of processes for shortening labour without the proportional extension of the market for the commodity, and, particularly, the difference between the nominal and real price of labour,[274] a circumstance which has perhaps more than any other contributed to conceal this oscillation from common view.
It very rarely happens that the nominal price of labour universally falls, but we well know that it frequently remains the same, while the nominal price of provisions has been gradually increasing. This is, in effect, a real fall in the price of labour, and during this period the condition of the lower orders of the community must gradually grow worse and worse. But the farmers and capitalists are growing rich from the real cheapness of labour. Their increased capitalists enable them to employ a greater number of men. Work therefore may be plentiful, and the price of labour would consequently rise. But the want of freedom in the market of labour, which occurs more or less in all communities, either from parish laws, or the more general cause of the facility of combination among the rich, and its difficulty among the poor, operates to prevent the price of labour from rising at the natural period, and keeps it down some time longer; perhaps till a year of scarcity, when the clamour is too loud and the necessity too apparent to be resisted.
The true cause of the advance in the price of labour is thus concealed, and the rich affect to grant it as an act of compassion and favour to the poor, in consideration of a year of scarcity, and, when plenty returns, indulge themselves in the most unreasonable of all complaints, that the price does not again fall, when a little rejection would shew them that it must have risen long before but from an unjust conspiracy of their own.
the nominal prices of goods or labor are almost meaningless over long periods of time, since the prices of almost everything else increase at the same time. Thus, economists usually use "real wages" as an index of prosperity.
But though the rich by unfair combinations contribute frequently to prolong a season of distress among the poor, yet no possible form of society could prevent the almost constant action of misery upon a great part of mankind, if in a state of inequality, and upon all, if all were equal.
The theory on which the truth of this position depends appears to me so extremely clear that I feel at a loss to conjecture what part of it can be denied.
That population cannot increase without the means of subsistence is a proposition 30 so evident that it needs no illustration.
That population does invariably increase where there are the means of subsistence, the history of every people that have ever existed will abundantly prove.
And that the superior power of population cannot be checked without producing misery or vice, the ample portion of these too bitter ingredients in the cup of human life and the continuance of the physical causes that seem to have produced them bear too convincing a testimony.
UNDERSTANDING THE TEXT
What does Thomas Malthus mean when he notes that the human population grows in a "geometrical ratio" but resources grow in an "arithmetical ratio"? What problem does this imbalance eventually create?
What assertion does Malthus attempt to support by citing the rate of population increase in the United States? Do you find his use of evidence compelling? Why or why not?
Would it be possible, according to Malthusian theory, for the human population to continue to grow unchecked? What natural consequences check the animal and plant populations? What capability checks human populations?
Why have most population fluctuations throughout history not been recorded? What does Malthus believe that we would see if we could examine a more complete historical record of population trends?
What role do phenomena such as war, plague, and famine play in establishing an equilibrium between food and population?
According to Malthus's theory, what is the root cause of poverty? Can the problem of poverty ever be "solved," or is it an inherent feature of any imaginable configuration of society?
MAKING CONNECTIONS
1. Malthus lived at almost the same time as William Hogarth (p. 548) and saw many of the same scenes of urban poverty. However, for Malthus, the root of the problem was not gin, not even inequality, but excess population. What different ways of dealing with the problem of poverty come from these two perceptions of its cause?
Compare Malthus's essay with the twentieth-century Malthusian philosopher Garrett Hardin's essay "Lifeboat Ethics: The Case against Helping the Poor" (p. 582). How does Hardin's argument against providing food and other aid to underdeveloped countries follow from Malthus's theory?
Charles Darwin cited "An Essay on the Principle of Population" as a major influence on The Origin of Species (p. 314). What similarities between the two works can you detect? How might "natural selection" affect human overpopulation?
WRITING ABOUT THE TEXT
Research world population growth since 1800, then evaluate Malthus's claim that human population grows geometrically. Conduct similar research to evaluate his claim that food supplies grow arithmetically.
Hogarth (p. 548) and Malthus both looked at England during the Industrial Revolution and tried to find the underlying cause of the poverty there. Write an essay outlining what you see as the root cause or causes of poverty within your own society.
Dispute Malthus's claim that poverty is an unsolvable problem. Use either historical examples or logical analysis to provide solutions to the problem even in a society with a high population.
Examine the connection between vice and poverty. Does poverty cause immoral behavior, or does immoral behavior cause poverty? How do economic factors influence definitions of "morality" and "vice"? Should the unequal distribution of wealth be considered "immoral"? Explain.
mohandas gandhi
Economic and Moral Progress [1916]
THOUGH MOHANDAS KARAMCHAND GANDHI (1869-1948) never held a political or religious office, he was the most potent political force in modern India and a spiritual leader—known as "Mahatma," meaning "great soul"—to hundreds of millions of people around the world. His charismatic leadership, shrewd political instincts, and commitment to nonviolent civil disobedience created one of the most successful liberation movements in history and influenced subsequent civil rights movements in the United States, South Africa, Tibet, and Burma.
Gandhi was born in the Indian state of Gujarat, where his father was an important Indian official in the British-controlled government. After studying law in England, he joined an Indian company in South Africa, whose population then included many Indian immigrants. In South Africa, Gandhi confronted the legally sanctioned discrimination that would later develop into the doctrine of apartheid (Afrikaans for "separateness"). Between 1894 and 1914, he developed a philosophy of nonviolent resistance—for which he coined the term satyagraha, from the Sanskrit for "truth" and "persistence"—and trained his followers to allow themselves to be punished by the unjust government without using violence to retaliate. His methods were extremely successful, largely because they generated support for his cause around the world and forced the South African government to negotiate with him or face international condemnation.