Thomas Robert Malthus's Theory Of Population Growth

Thomas Robert Malthus can be acknowledged to have laid the foundation and paved the way to future theorists interest in the subject of population growth being a major problem with dire consequences such as poverty and misery. Extensive research on the topic has been done thereafter and a great deal of the theorists concluded that population growth is certainly a problem and moreover it can potentially hinder development as more people equate to a higher demand on resources, services, food and employment (Furedi, 1997). These findings were especially directed to the developing countries as they are characterised as being grossly overpopulated and developing notably slowly.

As a counter argument, the predecessor of Karl Marx, Godwin, and other

This put the reliability of Malthus’ theory into question and brought about more counter arguments.

Karl Marx believed that rather than population growth being a serious problem, it was the capitalist system that was the main culprit and the consequences were overpopulation and poverty. He and his academic partner Engels argued with Malthus’ idea that resources could not grow as rapidly as population since they had no reason to believe that science and technology could not increase the availability of food and other goods as least as quickly as the population grew(Weeks,2008:84).The argument that science and technology could solve the food shortage problem can be noted to be a Northern approach to the problem because it assumed that certain conditions such as economic prosperity, efficient market, technological advancement, enabling state and inclusive informed society are in place (Oelofse C, 2006).This puts in question the applicability and validity of this view as most

In his report, Nxumalo (2012) supports their argument by stating that when focusing on the inequality of opportunities, the potential for economic growth in South Africa has been held back by industrial concentration, the shortages of skills, labour market rigidities and chronically low savings and investment rates. Economic growth has also been highly uneven in distribution, perpetuating inequality and economic exclusion (Nxumalo, 2012). It is universally known that South Africa has recently become the most unequal country in the world in terms of redistribution of wealth and income and the outcomes are incontestable as a large proportion of the country is unemployed, living under the poverty line and rapidly reproducing just to have some form of income through the grant system thus leading to the high population growth and youthful population in South