Is population a boon

Answer 1

Population growth - boon or bane?

MALTHUS AND HIS GHOST: Dr. Girish Mishra; Manak Publications Pvt. Ltd., G-19, Vijay Chowk, Laxmi Nagar, New Delhi-110092. Rs. 750.

THE BOOK under review puts human population and its size and growth in proper perspective and looks into Malthus' theory, its historical background, the birth and implications of neo-Malthusianism after the Second World War and the recent Neo-Malthusian remedy of Zero Population Growth. It questions the general perception that population is responsible for declining quality of life, inflation, ethnic frictions, communal riots and terrorism and examines whether shortages of space, food and non-renewable resources are really due to growing population. The book concludes that both Malthus and his ideas have terrorised the world too long and the time has come to bury them deep. It has tried to prove that population is a boon rather than a curse.

With the help of extensive research and literature survey, it has been shown that Malthus' theory of population was in no way original or based on observations of demographic changes. As observed by Karl Marx, it was a superficial plagiarism of the pre-Malthusian writings on population of De Foe, James Stuart, Townsend, Franklin, Wallace, etc. Malthus attempted to shift the blame for misery and suffering of the people at large onto the laws of nature and exonerated social institutions and property relations.

In simple words, according to Malthus, population, when unchecked, increases in a geometrical ratio. Subsistence increases in an arithmetical ratio. This imbalance could not go so forever and had to be corrected by nature and correction was very painful. According to him, poor themselves were responsible for their misery and destitution because they bred thoughtlessly and there was no justification compelling others to pay for their welfare. Malthus helped the propertied classes in two ways. First, their conscience was cleared of any sense of guilt and they were told not to be unduly perturbed at the suffering of the poor because they were just paying for their sins. Second, they were provided with arguments to fight successfully the attempts by the then British Prime Minister, Pit, to raise the levies on them to finance the relief for the poor.

The author has analysed the reasons for the phenomenal success of the book, Malthus' Essay, which was the book of the hour. There were several factors, which facilitated a warm reception to the book in 1798. The two great political events in the 18th century, the American War of Independence in 1776 and the French Revolution in 1789, aroused a new consciousness. This frightened propertied class in Britain and Europe. Across the Channel property was threatened. Malthus was the apostle of private property. The Malthusian Theory of Population was put forward as an ideological weapon in the hands of the propertied to rationalise and justify existing exploitation, misery and sufferings of the labouring masses and oppose progressive ideas of equality and exploitation-free society and to frustrate all attempts at institutional reforms and changes.

While it was hailed by the propertied classes and their protagonists, its validity was thoroughly scrutinised by radical intellectuals. Marx and Engles and their followers subjected it to a thorough autopsy, investigating all its postulates, factual basis and conclusions and policy implications. He was found guilty of the logical fallacy of illicit generalisation. The introduction of moral restraints and emphasis on preventative checks in the later editions of the Essay brought in a number of contradictions in his theoretical design. His theory was reactionary and inhumane and it was an excuse to oppose all progressive reforms. Malthus absolved the existing institutional arrangement of all responsibility for prevailing misery and sufferings of the people at large. He ignored the role of science, technical knowledge and institutional reforms in bringing about a tremendous increase by the supply of the means of subsistence.

Influenced by Malthusian ideas, population growth is seen as the major cause of under-development of today. Poverty in Africa, Asia and Latin America is often blamed on what is called over-population. The popular media in particular tends to associate scarcity and famine with a surfeit of mouth to feed. Dr. Mishra has argued very cogently that frightful prophecy of Malthus and his followers, all the so-called facts and scientific data marshalled by them, have proved to be utterly false. Except for a few pockets, per capita average availability of food has increased and the incidence of malnutrition has gone down. There is no ground to think that foodgrains production will not go up in future. All the available indicators point out that the world will support a much larger population than the present one, both quantitatively and qualitatively, at a higher level of consumption because science and technology have unlimited potential.

Dr. Mishra has shown with the help of recent studies, the size and the growth of population had both beneficial as well as harmful consequences. Had there been slower growth of population, their economic growth could have been definitely facilitated, yet there was no need to take an alarming view. There is no causal connection between the size and the growth of population and high rates of inflation, unemployment crimes and traffic accidents and culture of violence. At best population may be an aggravating factor. The increasing number of children may be a problem to the State exchequer and country as to bear the burden of providing certain services, etc., to them but in the long run they turn out to be a boon provided they are properly brought up and equipped with skills.

The study has cited several studies to underline the role population growth plays in technological development. Both of them have been inter-related. Population change indicates technological change and vice versa. A number of inventions and discoveries have influenced the size and distribution of human population. Likewise, many other inventions and discoveries have brought down mortality rate and helped population growth. Without technological changes, the rapid rise in human population would not have been possible. Almost all the inventions of today have been due to demand-induced or cost-induced motivation.

Radical changes in the relation between human and Natural Resources occur in areas in which population multiplies. Shrinking supplies of land and other natural resources would provide motivation to invest in better means of utilising scarce resources or to discover substitutes for them. Moreover, population increase would make it possible to use methods that are inapplicable when population increase would make it possible to use methods that are inapplicable when population is smaller. Once these motivations led to inventions or importation of technologies, the technological changes would then result in further population change, which in turn would induce still further technological change. In this way, an interlinked process of demographic and technological change would occur. Increased demand for commodities due to rising income and population may create scarcity in the short run but a higher price of that particular commodity induces people to solve the problem. This phenomenon has been observed throughout human history. If this scarcity does not arise, there will be no occasion for investors and entrepreneurs to demonstrate their spirit of venture and all scientific and technological research will come to a standstill. However, the author agrees with the pessimistic attitude of Malthusians regarding scarcity of resources. There is no finiteness either in agricultural land or in sources of energy. If we consider a long run view, the sources of energy as well as other natural resources are not finite.

Fertility is influenced by a variety of factors like levels of income, education of parents, mortality rate, the state and nature of social scarcity, the status of women in the society etc., that are inversely related to fertility. Economic growth itself is the best contraceptive because with increasing per capita income, faster urbanisation, spread of knowledge and better housing and medical facilities the fertility rate will certainly come down.

Dr. Mishra observes that the danger of Malthusian idea is that it diverts attention and resources from other problems and solutions to these problems may not be discovered if our thinking is cast in Malthusian terms. There are drastic costs to human freedom and dignity if many of the proposals for widespread population control are taken seriously and adopted. He sums up that the problem is not that mankind has propagated too many children but that it has failed to organise a world in which they can grow in peace and prosperity. The main conclusion of the book is not how many people can share the earth, but whether they can devise the means of sharing it all. The subject matter of the book is very topical and it will be useful to general reader, students and researchers interested in economic history, population studies and development issues.