Ever since the emergence of Malthusian theory in 1798, the notion of “overpopulation” has weighed heavy in the public mind. Thomas Malthus presented the idea that whilst the human population grows exponentially, food stores can only increase linearly, therefore resulting in a food deficit which he predicted would surmount to wars, famine and other causes of mass death. However, the notion of “overpopulation” is a harmful myth.
Firstly, the world is not in the least threatened by a bulging number of humans, and the growth numbers really aren’t so scary. A loosely quotable figure is that the population grows by 1 billion every 10-15 years and although this may sound extreme, proportionally this is becoming a lower and lower percentage growth every decade. Where it once would have doubled the population, it would later increase it by just one fifth. Furthermore, several factors are in fact decreasing population growth. Improved access to birth control, increasing educational access and longer life expectancies are all factors contributing to the UN prediction that the global population will stop growing by the end of the century.
Fans of the overpopulation myth often use it as a convenient scapegoat. They blame poor communities with high fertility rates for the allegedly impending global food shortages, neglecting to consider that food distribution, not shortage, is the real problem. It has also been used as an excuse for eugenics and human rights abuses, where women, largely in poor, non-western countries, have been forcibly sterilised or forced to undergo abortions in the name of “population control”.
Written by Josie
Artwork by Sophia Patterson
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