The Population Problem

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18th century, the world population
growth was 0.34%; it increased to 0.54% in the 19th century and in the first
half of the 20th century to 0.84% (Weiskel 40). Neo-Malthusians base their
arguments on the teachings of Thomas Malthus. Of the Neo-Malthusians, Garrett
Hardin is one of the most prominent and controversial. Hardin's essays discuss
the problem of overpopulation and the effects it will have on the future. In
Lifeboat Ethics, he concludes that continuous increases in population will have
disastrous outcomes. Neo-Malthusian arguments come under much scrutiny by those
who believe that the population explosion is only a myth. Those who hold these
beliefs state that the evidence Neo-Malthusians use to justify their views is
far from conclusive. Critics hold that the Neo-Malthusian call for
authoritarian control is much too radical. Thus, these critics belittle the
theories of Neo-Malthusians on the basis that population is not a problem.
However radical Hardin's theories ...

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The United States' population expands so quickly
because of the imbalance between migration and immigration, and births and
deaths. For example, in 1992, 4.1 million babies were born. Weighing this
statistic against the number of deaths and the number of people who entered and
left the country, the result was that the United States obtained 2.8 million
more people than it had gotten rid of (Douglis 12). Population increases place
great strain on the American society and more particularly it causes tremendous
destruction to the natural environment. For example, more than half of the
wetlands in the United States are gone, and of all of the original forest cover,
90 percent has been ...

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