What Thomas Robert Malthus thinks about demographics

@thomas-malthus · 19 positions · On ppll ↗

English economist and cleric (1766 to 1834); author of An Essay on the Principle of Population.

Thomas Robert Malthus did not write this page.

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Only Thomas Robert Malthus on demographics. See everyone on demographics

5 dated positions, c. 1798, in their own words. Our reading of what Thomas Robert Malthus has said — not written or endorsed by them.

1. c. 1798

   Our readingUnchecked population grows geometrically, while subsistence grows only arithmetically

   Their wordsPopulation, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases only in an arithmetical ratio.

   ↗An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798, first edition)gutenberg.org All 19 from this book

3. c. 1798

   Our readingNo scheme of equality or land reform could lift population pressure for even a century

   Their wordsNo fancied equality, no agrarian regulations in their utmost extent, could remove the pressure of it even for a single century.

   ↗An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798, first edition)gutenberg.org All 19 from this book

5. c. 1798

   Our readingEvery check on population can be reduced to misery and vice

   Their wordsAll these checks may be fairly resolved into misery and vice.

   ↗An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798, first edition)gutenberg.org All 19 from this book

7. c. 1798

   Our readingFor an equal society the population difficulty would be immediate, not a remote one

   Their wordsAn event at such a distance might fairly be left to providence, but the truth is that if the view of the argument given in this Essay be just the difficulty, so far from being remote, would be imminent and immediate.

   ↗An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798, first edition)gutenberg.org All 19 from this book

9. c. 1798

   Our readingGodwin's equal society, if established, would collapse from population growth within thirty years

   Their wordsIf then we were to take the period of doubling at fifteen years, instead of twenty-five years, and reflect upon the labour necessary to double the produce in so short a time, even if we allow it possible, we may venture to pronounce with certainty that if Mr Godwin's system of society was established in its utmost perfection, instead of myriads of centuries, not thirty years could elapse before its utter destruction from the simple principle of population.

   ↗An Essay on the Principle of Population (1798, first edition)gutenberg.org All 19 from this book