Excerpt from Chapter 1 - I'm writing a book!
The following is an excerpt from Chapter 1 of my upcoming book: "The Philosophical Farmer – Anti-Malthusian Thought in the Age of Extinction"
Enjoy - and please provide feedback where appropriate.
Malthusian thought is dead, or at least it should be. It represents one of those “bad ideas” that, while continuously disproved, never seems to die. While we will review in the next section the well-documented fact that this line of thinking is much older than the 18th century, which is when Mr. Malthus published his ideas, the life and times of this English thinker gives us a good jumping off point for our philosophical journey, as the ‘modern’ incarnation of this bad idea.
Thomas Robert Malthus, born in 1766, entered a world beginning to be thoroughly transformed by the English Industrial Revolution. His most known work, “An Essay on the Principle of Population”, was published in 1798, where he famously stated - "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for man."
This is both the main thrust and the conclusion of Malthusian thought, which we will spend only briefly in breaking down. It is the assumption of a zero-sum situation, of limited resources coupled together with the exponential expansion of the human population size that necessitates the conclusion of famine and tragedy. And its not just me saying this, it was his actual conclusion that not only do lots of humans need to die, but that it would be ‘humane’ to kill lots of humans to avoid a starvation situation.
War and Pandemics were just two of his suggestions.
From here on out, we will be referring to this as ‘anti-human’ philosophy. If you believe in this, you can come to all sorts of conclusions that seem horrendous, but are really just naturally logical conclusions to a problem that has been framed. Humans are a burden, they are a problem to be dealt with.
And it is definitely the case that people believe this – starting with the current oligarchical power structure that is in place. Not only do they believe it, by framing modern challenges in ‘anti-human’ frames, they have gotten a whole lot of common folk to believe it as well, even if they don’t understand the philosophy behind it.
How many times have you heard that “Human beings are a cancer, a parasite on the planet”? We might as well go directly to the modern version of this, a monologue from Agent Smith in the first Matrix movie:
“I'd like to share a revelation that I've had during my time here. It came to me when I tried to classify your species. I realized that you're not actually mammals.
Every mammal on this planet instinctively develops a natural equilibrium with the surrounding environment but you humans do not.
You move to an area and you multiply and multiply until every natural resource is consumed, and the only way you can survive is to spread to another area.
There is another organism on this planet that follows the same pattern. Do you know what it is? A virus.
Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet. You are a plague, and we are the cure.“
– Agent Smith, The Matrix (1999).
Take a moment to think about that sentiment, now wholly ingrained into our culture. Does this ring true to you?
It might, a lot of people believe it nowadays.
But, as it turns out, its not true at all. In fact, there are no examples of humans ‘using up every natural resource’, but it sounds true because we do have some problems with over-consumption of renewable resources. Over-fishing the oceans comes to mind – and nowadays over 50% of fish consumed in the US comes from fish farming operations. And like in this example, something you will find with virtually every challenge we face is that wherever there is a problem, there are humans working to solve it – with technology, with design, with creativity.
That is the reality – that is the super power of human beings: Creativity. This is what the bible is referring to when it says we are made in the image and likeness of The Creator. Its not about physical appearance, its about a divine spark of creativity – the ability to see a problem, visualize a solution, and bring that solution to life.
And this is why Malthusian thought, which predicted massive starvation almost 300 years ago, has not come to pass even though the population of the Earth has increased by an order of magnitude to 8 billion now, from just 800 million in 1798 when Malthus was writing. The only starvation incidents, such as those in the 20th century, were caused by anti-human beliefs – making it some sort of a self-fulfilling prophesy, a theme we shall touch on again.
Malthusian thought is not true, and its never been true. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t dangerous.
Any other examples I can add? Let me know in the comments, be helpful and receive an upvote from me!
Malthus is clearly an example of misanthropy (hate for humanity), which would be the contrary of philanthropy... Might add to duality principle...
I understand that this quote from the Matrix can lead us to reflect on the way we humans interact with the environment.
However, it is important to remember that we also have the ability to learn and adapt to be more conscious and respectful of our planet.
The key is to find a sustainable balance.
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i'm now heading for the birthplace of Thomas Paine, author of The Rights of Man.
Sat Nam
Interesting to learn this morning you are writing a book, in your "spare time" @ecoinstant! 😉
Amen! This is the "heart" of the argument / "antidote" against the Malthusian thought / "cancer" which brings into sharp contrast what may be perceived by some as the ultimate "binary" - life and death! "The divine spark of creativity" is an essential manifestation of what uniquely sets man apart - we are image bearers. No other creature can make that claim.
That said, I admire your example of living out what must quickly follow this thought. We are stewards over creation! And, therefore, have a responsibility to it ... In the eternal struggle between good and evil (what I believe to be the ultimate "binary"), we can certainly find plenty of examples of poor stewardship. And the resulting distress (or worse) of our fellow man caught up in it ...
Well, I could easily write a whole post here, but will close with encouraging you to keep "fighting the good fight." All the best to you and yours, for a better tomorrow!
In my part of the world (western United States) ...
... I do not know of a greater example than the infamous statement from Richard Lamm, governor of a well known state out here, of the elderly being "useless eaters" who had a "duty to die."
As might reasonably be expected, it stirred up a "firestorm" of controversy ...
One aspect of the hypocrisy of people like Mathus can be simply stated. Given their focus on humans being a "plague" on good ole "Mother Earth" and, therefore, needing to die, you would think they would jump at the chance (off a cliff maybe?) to "lead by example!" Right? 🤷♂️
NO, no, no, noooo ... "YOU" need to die! "ME?" I'm good!! 🙄
The natural role of the elderly was to teach the youngest. To pass the knowledge, the lifetime experience, traditions, memories, a sense of connection to ancestry, etc. To help the next generation establish their roots. To become strong.
Severing that connection seems kind of useful to certain ends.
🌄 Good morning (here in UTC -7) ☕ Nice to "hear" from you, @manoldonchev.
Indeed. Espoused today by a generation raised with the barbaric (hmmm, I wonder what my opinion of it is?) notion that abortion is ... "normal?" Or at least ... "necessary?" As the legacy of Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, of whom it was once written (my paraphrase, from memory, but pretty close):
Today, in America, we have "right to die" states, where one would go, if they wish to end their lives "voluntarily." As @ecoinstant has written and to your point, how much longer do you think it will remain anywhere close to "voluntary," in their zero sum philosophy of what is "right?" And what is "good?"
Agreed. Vitally important, right behind this, is what were they teaching them?
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I read your post this morning, and since then I couldn't stop thinking about it.
I recognized Malthus's name as some 19th century thinker, but if asked regarding to what, I wouldn't have been able to say more than something demography related.
This brief taste of your book, however (which I'm super excited about now), put so many things in perspective. Of course, the ground premise, that humans are essentially good is a basic concept of permaculture. But the idea, that war and epidemics (along with other disasters that cost human lives) can be profited from - and therefor are to be actively instigated - is clearly based on the assumption that humans are bad. In the end, that's also how lots of issues about control and regulation result from such a thinking. Which means, it becomes even more important to place even more emphasis on this idea, that human beings, human cultures, and human behavior are not just neutrally "the way they are", but are indeed positive, enriching, and beneficial, if we let it unleash its full potential. So far I've always considered this so obvious that I never bothered going deeper into it. But now it seems like an important premise to keep in mind to protect us from the craziness unfolding around us.
Thank you for giving me a greater understanding of the meaning of humanism.
https://twitter.com/lee19389/status/1721986150145884397
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Well, the cultists don't seem to be inspiring virtues that would lead to solving the problems but rather the behavior that would secure a future for them and theirs in which they can continue on the same path of consume-consume...
Let's go further and mention some essays of a modern local author called Tellalov who said a civilization with high levels of Greed and Paranoia cannot go about expanding to Space because it requires unity and that cannot be achieved my the methods of the greedy and paranoid. Those will always give birth to more of the same and even a whole world conquered by the same entity would soon be torn apart from the inside by the same drives. We're not focusing outwards, neither inwards, but sideways. At our neighbors who 'need to go'.
Modern life (I mean the current modern life, not modern stuff in general and not necessarily) is driving us away from cooperation and friendship. Losing this spiritual wealth to gain... some imaginary super status or some such.