What is Population

What is Population?

Population is the total number of able-bodied and disabled men, women and children living in a country. In other word, population is the total number of people living in a country. 

Thomas Robert Malthus principal of population

A British economist Robert Malthus wrote in his "Essay on Population" in 1978. He wrote that overpopulation was the root of many problems industrial European society suffered from— poverty, malnutrition, and disease could all be attributed to overpopulation. 

He argued that population was growing faster than the rate at which production was growing. According to him, the population of Britain was growing in geometrical progression, that is in multiples 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, etc. While food supply was growing in arithmetical progression, that is 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, etc. He argued that stage will be reach where food supply will not catch-up with population growth. 

"As a solution, Malthus urged “moral restraint.” That is, he declared that people must practice abstinence before marriage, forced sterilization where necessary, and institute criminal punishments for so-called unprepared parents who had more children than they could support.

Malthus proposed two types of "checks" that limit population growth: Preventive check and Positive check.

preventive check is a conscious decision to delay marriage or abstain from procreation based on a lack of resources. Example: citizen  engage in  delay marriage until their finances become balanced.

positive check is any event or circumstance that shortens the human life span. Example, war , plague and famine. 

Malthusianism has attracted criticism from diverse schools of thought, including Marxists and socialists.