Malthus was wrong, everybody knows! But all these do not exactly know what was wrong, or because they have forgotten or have never read. In our last issue of Overshoot we published an essay by Marisa Cohen that can help those who want to read. Reducing to the essential message of Malthus is reduced to three statements and a conclusion:
1) the members of our species will always need to eat and drink, and
2) there will always be sexual attraction between them.
3) The population growth tends to exceed the growth of means of subsistence.
It follows that policies that are necessary tend to restrict fertility in order to avoid human demographic crisis determined by the triad of apocalyptic famine, pestilence and war.
The rest of the thought of Malthus is located in the historical period in which he produced and is therefore irrelevant in actuality.
Who wants to know more read directly essay on the Principle of Population, or the essay by Marisa Cohen or both, or both are much more, for example written biography of Malthus by Patricia James.
Speaking of the merits of Malthus angers everyone: believers and unbelievers, liberals and Keynesians, fascists and communists, with all gradations in between. All have good reasons, but they are right. The reasons for this opposition are deep, often remembered as Luigi De Marchi, and are rooted in our psyche before in our culture.
So we, being contrarian for fun, we do not have much interest in the cat to smooth the nap, do not fear that curses, let's continue to not submit to demographic taboo.
What Malthus was wrong? Did the modern "liberated" humanity dall'appettito for food and from sexual? He the extraordinary growth of free mankind from want and hunger?
FAO tells us that today one billion people suffer from hunger. The different rhetorical reduction in the field on this subject have never dealt with the problem at its root, that is so radical. They always repeated superficial and illogical explanations and recipes that did not lead to anything good.
Every year the population increases of 75-80 million people and the efforts to feed a growing population and reduce (or eliminate) poverty appear to be wishful thinking in the service of an idea unfeasible.
Will humanity ever to take charge of their own destiny? Also we ask the question and not We are always optimistic. Western women are a model of human community that was strongly desired and required some changes in their society, in order to take full control of their lives, including, of course, the reproductive power. Today we know that many other women in the world would follow this company and can not wait to go over the entire path of the West to get there. Also because the way the West is not repeatable at will any number of times. Why is largely a wrong path. Ivan Illich said as more than thirty years ago. The passage of consumerism can not do, fortunately, is (and this is the aspect more positive) to be an obligation. Sustainability, which is not the oxymoron of sustainable development is possible provided that a growing number of people begin to plan and live globally.
Think globally and act globally, because everyone realizes that he can not make it independent of the plight of the world's poor.
See you in 2011.
Luca Pardi (Secretary of Rientrodolce)
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