Overpopulation a Problem?
Is Overpopulation a Serious Problem?
This question seems to be question that is asked quite frequently lately. In the last two centuries, population has skyrocketed. In 1800 the world population was only at 1 billion, and today it's estimated that the world population exceeds six billion people. With overpopulation, many problems have arisen. Some believe that overpopulation is the reason for world hunger, global population will reach crisis proportions by 2050, and some believe that overpopulation will bring the extinction of the human race. When one looks at the arguments that these people present, its quite overwhelming the amount of evidence that's supports their argument. On the other side, the evidence for the opposing arguments is quite staggering as well. In this paper I will give a brief description on two opposing arguments dealing with the issues of overpopulation and the effects that it may, or may not have on the present as well as the future. The two articles that I have chosen to analyze are "Overpopulation Is a Serious Problem" written by Thomas Robert Malthus, and "Overpopulation Is a Myth" by Frederick Engels. The titles of the articles are pretty self explanatory on the side that they take on this issue. To begin with, Thomas Malthus wrote one of the most famous works on population, An Essay on the Principle of Population. He is a man who sticks to his values, and does what he preaches. He wants nothing more than to see the betterment of man, but he feels that it's a long road with unconquerable difficulties to achieve this. Malthus states that this overpopulation is a huge problem that most people seem to "purposely shut their eyes to such problems". A good metaphor that he uses about this is that if he were to offer a man a glass of wine repeatedly, and that man were to take no notice to it what-so-ever, he would think that man to be blind, or uncivilized. In his article, Overpopulation Is a Serious Problem, he states the many
This question seems to be question that is asked quite frequently lately. In the last two centuries, population has skyrocketed. In 1800 the world population was only at 1 billion, and today it's estimated that the world population exceeds six billion people. With overpopulation, many problems have arisen. Some believe that overpopulation is the reason for world hunger, global population will reach crisis proportions by 2050, and some believe that overpopulation will bring the extinction of the human race. When one looks at the arguments that these people present, its quite overwhelming the amount of evidence that's supports their argument. On the other side, the evidence for the opposing arguments is quite staggering as well. In this paper I will give a brief description on two opposing arguments dealing with the issues of overpopulation and the effects that it may, or may not have on the present as well as the future. The two articles that I have chosen to analyze are "Overpopulation Is a Serious Problem" written by Thomas Robert Malthus, and "Overpopulation Is a Myth" by Frederick Engels. The titles of the articles are pretty self explanatory on the side that they take on this issue. To begin with, Thomas Malthus wrote one of the most famous works on population, An Essay on the Principle of Population. He is a man who sticks to his values, and does what he preaches. He wants nothing more than to see the betterment of man, but he feels that it's a long road with unconquerable difficulties to achieve this. Malthus states that this overpopulation is a huge problem that most people seem to "purposely shut their eyes to such problems". A good metaphor that he uses about this is that if he were to offer a man a glass of wine repeatedly, and that man were to take no notice to it what-so-ever, he would think that man to be blind, or uncivilized. In his article, Overpopulation Is a Serious Problem, he states the many