In 2011, we have now seven billion people living in this planet. Unfortunately, Earth’s estimated carrying capacity is only about eleven to twelve billion people. With such a big problem we are facing today, it is important to analyze and examine what the scholars of the past have to say of our increasing population. One of the famous population theorists of that time is Thomas Malthus. In 1798, Malthus proposes his own theory about population. According to him, human populations grow exponentially while food production grows at an arithmetic rate. Thus, if the increase in our population is not controlled properly, then the number of the people would increase faster than the food supply. He stated that if this growth rate is allowed to continue, it would lead to a food shortage. To solve this problem, he proposed three solutions. The first one is positive check. This method increases death rates due to wars, famines, disease, and natural disasters. Preventive or negative check is the other one. It lowers the birth rate which is accomplished through abortion, birth control, and celibacy. The last one is moral restraint which is refraining from marriage until the time when a person is capable of supporting a family.
This two hundred-year-old theory is now happening these days. It predicted the problems of food shortage that the world is experiencing today because of the uncontrolled increase in population. Still, I cannot fully agree with Malthus because there are things that he forgot to take into consideration when he formulated this theory. One is the ability of man to increase the food production as stated by Marx. He failed to recognize man’s ability to use science and technology to solve these population problems like the possible developments in agricultural technology which can increases the supply of food. Maybe during that time, science is making a