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;void(0)) Since the terrible Tsunami of 2005 I've been pondering over the enormous loss of innocent life in our world today. I never thought that we would see anything near its magnitude – as far as loss of life - at this time in history. However, I thought the same thing after seeing the devastation of the “9/11” catastrophe. Then we all watched in horror as the death toll from Hurricane Katrina and the body count of young Americans fighting overseas mounted ever so steadily. When we add to this the numbers of disabled survivors, as well as the enormous death toll of Iraqi civilians, our sorrow is all the more compounded. At some point along the way I stopped and thought about the dire warnings of a man by the name of Thomas Malthus. Malthus was a parson who lived during the late 18th century. He rose from obscurity in 1798 when the world was introduced to his thesis: “An Essay on the Principle of Population as it affects the Future Improvement of Society”. In it he stated: “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' theory was that at certain epochs in time populations grow to the point where man's reproduction overcomes his ability to sustain his upkeep. Malthus proved that mankind reproduces at a geometric level (1,2,4,8,etc.) pattern while food is reproduced at an arithmetic (1,2,3,4,5,etc.) pattern. At some point man reaches a point where his numbers overcome his ability to feed himself. At that point there is either starvation or nature somehow introduces untoward circumstances to balance things out. Those circumstances may take the form of catastrophic illness, vice (prostitution, criminal activity, etc.), war, etc. His theory had a great impact on the Poor Laws (a precursor to our so-called Welfare system) which existed in England since the Middle Ages. His ideas led to major amendments to the Poor Laws. His ideas hinted at the suggestion that pauperism in and of itself (there was no such thing as “unemployment” at the time) should not be the only criteria for being eligible for the dole. The amended law, which went into effect in the mid-1800s, made it mandatory that the recipient live and work in what became known as Work Houses. These facilities were virtual factories where the worker's family would live and work under very stringent rules. If they failed to follow the rules of the House they were asked to leave and were basically evicted out to the streets where they would beg or make due as best they could. The idea was to make life somewhat stressful for the poor so they would not become comfortable enough to continue to reproduce and add to the burden on the public dole. Malthus and his followers felt that if we as a society make life too “pleasant” for the poor there would be little incentive to pull their own weight, in fact, if things get too easy for them, they would become so comfortable that they would engage in reproduction. When the poor add to their numbers it adds to society's demands to help them to support this “surplus population”. In the Dickens story of the “Christmas Carol” the character Ebenezer Scrooge represented the composite of the Malthusian Doctrine of the time, while Tiny Tim represented the personification of the ill-equipped poor. Malthus' critics responded that nature does not necessarily create disasters and plagues to put a check on population growth. Man does a good enough job on his own. In fact many demographers do not believe in the term: “overpopulation”. If you have ever seen pictures of farmers burning crops or killing and burning their cattle in order to control prices, you will probably understand part of their argument. Their argument is also seen when you travel a few miles out of any crowded city and venture into rural areas of this country. There are parts of this country where you can literally drive all day without seeing a house or human being. Plagues, hurricanes, floods, meteors falling from the sky, and other forces of nature have been around since the beginning of man's existence. However, over time man has developed an ability to study the forces of nature and its patterns to the extent that, in today's world, scientists can foresee major disasters, or potential diseases before they take form so that most of us can forewarned to avoid its ravages. It is interesting to see how we can send men into outer space and study the depths of the earth yet we cannot anticipate nature's ravages enough to take certain precautions that can prevent numerous deaths. Sigmund Freud once said that the ravages of nature can be quite terrible but nothing matches man's inhumanity to man when it comes to utter devastation and suffering. Historians say that the 20th century, with the two World Wars has been the most violent century in recorded history. What's most ironic about that is that it is also the century when man has made some of the most remarkable scientific discoveries on earth and of the universe. Malthus' critics present the argument that, at least in these times of great scientific and technological advance, it is not nature that is “cleaning house” so to speak, but it's man's poor economic and social planning that has played more than a minor role in many of today's catastrophes. What do you think? Please e-mail me and let me know your thoughts on this matter. Oh yeah, don't forget your autographed copy of “The Ackee Chronicles”. Tony VanSluytman - the Author  Newsletter Directory The Aton Project - Home Page Tony VanSluytman info Tony VanSluytman - the Author | Return Home | The BOOK DOCTOR | The BANYON NETWORK | The Banyon Buzz Newsletters | The Aton Project Newsletters | Contact Us | |
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