# I: The Malthusian Theory, Its Genesis and Support explained — Progress and Poverty > Chapter companion for Progress and Poverty by Henry George. ## What happens This chapter examines the Malthusian theory of population, its historical genesis, and the reasons for its widespread acceptance. It argues that the theory, which claims population naturally tends to outstrip subsistence, has been used to justify existing inequalities and deflect calls for reform by attributing poverty to natural law rather than social maladjustments. The chapter also critiques the theory's logical foundations and notes its compatibility with the interests of the wealthy. ## Themes in this chapter ### Critique of Malthusian Theory The chapter critiques the Malthusian doctrine, exposing its logical fallacies and its role in justifying inequality. ### Social Justice and Equality The theory is shown to parry demands for reform and shelter selfishness by attributing poverty to inevitable natural laws. ### Distribution of Wealth The Malthusian theory is used to justify existing inequalities in wealth distribution and discourage reforms. ## Character check-ins ### Thomas Malthus Formulated the doctrine that population tends to increase faster than subsistence, using geometric and arithmetic ratios. ### Adam Smith Held a rudimentary form of the Malthusian theory, which influenced his views on wages. ### Henry Buckle Attributed to Malthus the decisive proof of the wage fund theory and linked Smith's foundation to Malthus's superstructure. ### John Stuart Mill Accepted the Malthusian doctrine but repudiated the precise geometric and arithmetic ratios as superfluous. ### Unknown His work 'Inquiry Concerning Political Justice' asserting human equality was the target of Malthus's Essay on Population. ## Key lines > The current doctrine as to the derivation and law of wages finds its strongest support in a doctrine as generally accepted—the doctrine to which Malthus has given his name—that population naturally tends to increase faster than subsistence. The prevailing theory of wages relies heavily on the widely accepted Malthusian idea that population growth outpaces food production. _Establishes the interdependence of wage theory and Malthusian theory._ > The famous doctrine which ever since its enunciation has so powerfully influenced thought, not alone in the province of political economy, but in regions of even higher speculation, was formulated by Malthus in the proposition that, as shown by the growth of the North American colonies, the natural tendency of population is to double itself at least every twenty-five years, thus increasing in a geometrical ratio, while the subsistence that can be obtained from land 'under circumstances the most favorable to human industry could not possibly be made to increase faster than in an arithmetical ratio'. Malthus's key claim, based on North American colonial growth, was that population doubles every 25 years (geometric growth) while food can only increase arithmetically. _Summarizes the core Malthusian proposition._ > The Essay on Population was avowedly a reply to William Godwin's Inquiry Concerning Political Justice, a work asserting the principle of human equality; and its purpose was to justify existing inequality by shifting the responsibility for it from human institutions to the laws of the Creator. Malthus's Essay was a direct response to Godwin's egalitarian ideas, aiming to defend inequality by blaming it on divine natural laws rather than human social arrangements. _Reveals the ideological motive behind the Malthusian theory._ ## Links - HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters/i-the-malthusian-theory-its-genesis-and-support - Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/progress_and_poverty_se - All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/progress_and_poverty_se/chapters