,
6 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
"Over population" is an argument for eugenics masked with environmentalism. It is eco-fascism and seemingly every liberal believes in it.
The originator of this hypothesis (Malthus) explicitly wrote it to counter the arguments of early (utopian) socialists, it's quite literally a counter revolutionary arguemnt, and one that both Marx and Kropotkin tore to shreds at least a century ago.
It then as of now obscures the reality of class society, blames the poor for their poverty, and ignores how the social reproduction of capitalism actually operates. It justifies massacres in the name of helping those who are supposedly too irresponsible to help themselves.
Marx addresses this in book one of Kapital part 7 chapters 23-25 marxists.org/archive/marx/w…
Kropotkin takes on Malthus in Fields, Factories, and Workshops chapter 2: theanarchistlibrary.org/library/petr-k…
There are of course plenty of more contemporary writers who have taken on contemporary versions of his argument including Elinor Ostrum but I think it is useful to recognize that from the time it was written this was an actively reactionary argument and recognized as such.
