Malthus: On the Population

Adam Hawiger

Thesis: Thomas Malthus held a belief that the growing English population would not be able to sustain its resources, claiming that these poor conditions were the result of the economic system.
1. Malthus claimed that the population posed great difficulties on the English population
a. Among these claims was the claim that the population needed food and sexual satisfaction.
b. He claimed that according to natural law set forth by God, population increases geometrically, and subsistence with it. Malthus claimed that a large portion of society suffered as a result of this growth.
2. Malthus claimed that population checks would be helpful in two ways, preventively and positively.
a. He believes that once man sees the plight of others he will try to have a sustainable amount of children.
b. As positive checks, Malthus labels poverty, child labor, all excesses, and other ill effects of a poor society.
3. Malthus attributes this poverty to blaming the employers.
a. Malthus claims that the working man will not judge himself.
b. Malthus also claims that government aid will do little to alleviate the plight of the poor.

arl Marx and Friedrich Engels Communist Manifesto

MEHAP-Andrew Fortugno

Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels Communist Manifesto

The social order is divided into the oppressive Bourgeoisie and the oppressed Proletariat, and the ultimate goal of the Proletariat is to abolish private property, which will create a classless society

1. Karl Marx

a. Doctorate at the University of Jena 1841

b. Edited a newspaper that was surprised by Prussian authorities

c. Met Friedrich Engels in his native Rhineland in Paris

d. Went to Brussels after being expelled from France at the request of Prussia

e. 1848 he wrote the Communist Manifesto

f. Returned to Prussia to participate Revolutions of 1848

g. Expelled from Prussia again in 1849

2. Communist Manifesto, a philosophy of history and theory of society

a. Lays out the building up throughout history of conflict between oppressor and oppressed which ends with Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

b. Bourgeoisie has a distinctive feature, it simplified class antagonisms into two distinct factions

c. The discover of America paved the way for Modern Industry

d. The modern representative state is but a committee for managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie

e. Due to the extensive use of machinery and to the division of labor the work of the proletarians has lost all individual character

f. The Proletariat begins to organize in trade unions against the Bourgeoisie

g. As the Proletariat is further alienated from the old society he seeks to destroy it.

h. Once the Proletariat conquers society becomes classes and individual property is destroyed.

Communist Manifesto

Thesis: The basis of Karl Marx's and Mark Engel's philosophy was that conflict in modern society was, at heart, a conflict between the different classes who were competing with one another over economic interests.

x- There's always been a system of the oppressor and the oppressed- modern bourgeois is no different from the conflicts of the feudal age

x- However, bourgeois has simplified the class antagonisms- divided between Bourgeoisie and Proletariat

x- Bourgeois has gained special, exclusive political sway in the current state due to developments such as American colonization and manufacturing changes

x- The individual has lost all reason to live other than the pursuit of capital. Man is only useful insofar as he is valuable in the marketplace, like a piece of machinery.

x- The prolitariat becomes more united into labor unions as they are forced to become the same low wage workers. The lower classes all lose the values of family, enjoyment, etc that the bourgeois now enjoys and attempts to cement for themselves.

x-The bourgeois will inevitably fall as the prolitariat, which is the first movement to represent the interests of the majority, seeks to topple them in each nation

x- The Communists represent the most advanced form of this resistance and aim for conquest of political power.

x-Private property is the most recent, important development of the bourgeois- the Communists aim to abolish private property for that reason

x-Must abolish all forms of oppression- political power, religion, etc is all used to oppress another group for ones benefit- the communists openly celebrate their aims and work openly to overthrow this system.

Justification for State Intervention

Thesis: Hobhouse asserts that state intervention in the economy by implementing legislation for better conditions of labor,education, and health to give the poor opportunity for self-advancement.
A. Flaws in Laissez-faire economics
1. Teaching the working classes to stand alone in their misery was not helpful
2. Enabled the powerful to exploit the weak.
3. Poor education, housing, and unhealthy work environments deprive them of
any advancement.
B. New Policies of State Intervention
1. Educating the children, providing medical inspection, feeding the needy at
the expense of taxpayers
2. Providing old age pensions for all whose incomes fall below thirteen
shillings a week
3. Goal is to secure conditions upon which its citizens are able to win by
their own effortsall that is necessary to a full civic efficiency.
C. Powerlessness of Worker in Controlling changes in industry
1. It is not his fault if there is an over-production in the industry
2. He is not responsible for its ups and downs
3. Therefore state intervention is not charity, it is justice

LT Hobhouse- Justification for State Intervention

Green says "laissez faire enabled the powerful to exploit the weak"

-this view is no longer valid

-the state is now doing alot to help the poor

-(no longer laissez faire)

-function of the state is to secure the conditions upon which mind and character may develop themselves

-to secure conditions upon which its citizens are able to win by their own efforts all that is necessary to a full civic efficiency

-healthy man should be able to support his family by himself

-the "right to work"

-if not, there is a defect in the "economic machine"

-the common has no say in changes in his industry, so the gov't should stick up for him

-common responsibility

Samuel Smiles: Self Help and Thrift

Thesis: Motivation stemming from an internal rather than external source leads to economic and cultural growth.

I. Self-Help

A. "The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual"

B. Help coming from an outside source is often counterproductive

c. The best thing institutions can do is leave men alone to improve their own condition

d. No law can change people's opinions, make them work harder or get better

e. The best charity one can give is an impetus to improve oneself

II. Thrift

A. A man "must spare from his means in order to be independent in his condition"

B. Industry allows men to earn a living

C. Men must deny themselves

D. Enemies to be countered- idleness, thoughtlessness, vanity, vice, and intemperance

E. The wealth of a nation is composed of the savings of individuals

F. A working man works both with his brain and his body

G. A true rich man looks both to the past and future as well as the present; those who do not are poor

Belinsky - The Poetry of Reality

Belinsky outlines the precepts of Realistic Poetry, asserting that art must have a close connection to life and nature.

• Poetry should reflect reality, providing a realistic view of life without idealism or romanticism
• The subject of poetry should always be the human being, and the deepest reflection on humanity is deciphering his intellect
• Reality must be presented in stark truth, without adornment with emotion or reflection, because unaltered truth is beauty

"We demand not the ideal of life, but life as it is...it is equally beautiful, good or bad, precisely because it is true"

Self-Help and Thrift

Thesis: Lack of government regulation and personal discipline is the best means to ensure societal growth and cure the social ills of society.

A. Self help is the best way to cure social ills

1. Self help is the root of all individual growth

2. When something is done for men, they have no stimulant to do it themselves- over government makes men helpless

3. Value in legislation causing advancement is overestimated

4. Evils of life only cease if the conditions are fixed

5. Greatest slave is the person who is the thrall of his own moral ignorance

B. Thrift destroys a man's productivity and therefore his grpwth

1. Men are free to find own position and be independent in their condition

2. many features such as idleness, thoughtlessness, vanity, etc must be overcome to employ means for worthy purposes

3. Savings of individuals composes the wealth of nations

4. Those who live only to self satisfy are the most unhappy of all

5. Man must work with his brain to be laboring- work with the arts

6. Large majority of men don't think of anything but the present

"On the Principle of Population" by Thomas R. Malthus

Population's Effects on Society:

• Two difficulties facing the perfectibility of man are that food is necessary to the existence of man and the passion between the sexes is and will remain necessary.
• These two natural laws will never cease
• Since these two laws exist, the population will be greater than the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man
• Population will always grow in a geometrical ratio while subsistence only increase in an arithmetical ratio
• The world must try to keep these two unequal powers equal

Population's Effects on Human Happiness:

• The different ratios of population and subsistence keep the population in check
• The scarcity of subsistence prematurely tend to weaken and destroy the human frame
• People should prevent having too many kids whom they cannot provide for
• Positive checks to population are diseases, wars, famine, extreme labor, extreme poverty, and bad nursing of children

Population and Poverty:

• When a man can barely afford to provide for two children and he has five children, he blames everybody else except himself for being in poverty
• People must take responsibility for the amount of children that they have

S Smiles, Self Help and Thrift

Thesis: Samuel Smiles believed that government should remain out of the economy and that a man must learn to fend for himself if he ever wants to accomplish anything.

I. Self-Help

a. Belief reflects his childhood – father died when Samuel was young, leaving him to make his own way

i. Successfully became a physician

b. The best thing an institution can do is leave a man free to develop and improve himself

c. Laws will not fix the problems of society

II. Thrift

a. Every man must do anything and everything in his power to be successful

b. Independence should be established through frugality

c. Savings of men comprise the well-being of a nation

d. Remembering the past and planning for the future are of paramount importance

e. “All that is great in man comes of labor”

i. “Labor” includes art, literature, and science as well as physical labor