Malthusian Theory of Population: Criticisms and Applicability - Essay Example

Global Population My Fellow Citizens of Earth, While the Malthusian predictions of the food supply outrunning the population itself did not come true when it was supposed to, it must be noted that the standard of living for the majority population of the earth is much lower than what it would be had we not had six billion people living on the planet (UN, 2000). As a member of the United Nations Delegates for Population Management, I feel that it is my responsibility to inform my colleagues about the present situation and offer some starting points for the future control of population.

Towards this purpose, let us first examine the current population of the world and the problems faced by world nations due to overpopulation.It is a well known and reported fact that the current population of the world is more than six billion and a half billion and it is only increasing on a daily basis (CIA, 2007). This increase is certainly putting a strain on our food resources, availability of fresh water, distribution of energy resources, health services, education services and many other problems that are being faced by developing nations (BBC, 1999).

Sadly, the situation is also worst in developing nations while many developed nations may have to face the problem of falling population rates, a growing number of elderly and not enough people in the workforce (King & Elliott, 1996).Of course there must be something that can be done about it and the United Nations itself has made many different recommendations to developing countries to help them achieve some level of control over their growing populations. However, it does appear that we are fighting a losing battle since the population of the world is still increasing and it is showing little signs of stabilization.

In fact, at our present rate of expansion the population of the world has been estimated to rise to eleven billion humans by the end of this century (BBC, 1999).This is clearly unacceptable since we do not have the present technology nor the availability of resources to feed even the present population and a rise of almost hundred percent could only reduce our ability to handle the situation. If we do not control population increases and also do not drastically work towards providing an acceptable standard of life for the rest of the world we are simply heading towards disaster and conflict between the haves and the have-nots.

The highest recommendation which can be made is to create awareness and educate people about the population situation. The UN is already working towards establishing programs for population management and health services around the world but support from independent governments, regional organizations as well as non-governmental organizations is necessary for progress to be made. Recommendations such as one child per family have already been strictly enforced in countries like China which have a limited supply of food and calls are being made to have the same policies enforced elsewhere in the world as well (King & Elliott, 1996).

Ideas such as restricting the number of children per family may seem drastic but it must be understood that the time for half measures has passed. Global climate change has been purely attributed to human activity by the scientific community and a large part of that activity comes from the very number of humans which are present in the world today. If we are to give a world with resources and potential for growth to future generations, we must restrict the number of individuals who will make up the future generations.

It is not a passionate appeal I make to you; it is simply a matter of fact.I thank you for your time and patience. Works CitedBBC. 1999, ‘Planet feels strains of people pressure’, BBC.co.uk, [Online] Available at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/06/99/world_population/377091.stm CIA. 2007, ‘The World Factbook’, [Online] Available at: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/print/xx.html King, M. & Elliott, C. 1996, ‘Averting a world food shortage: tighten your belts’, British Medical Journal, 313(1): 995-997.

UN (Department of Economic and Social Affairs Population Division). 2000, ‘Charting the Progress of Populations’, [Online] Available at: http://www.un.org/esa/population/publications/charting/contents.htm