Written Assignment 6

The Ethics of Poverty as a Population Issue

Written Assignment 6
Isadora Cristina Schler Zoni
University of the People

Written Assignment 6

The recent increase of the worlds population has many consequences,

but recently the ones that have been demanding more public attention are the
environmental and economical issues. According to Pimental (1998), During
recent decades there has been a dramatic worldwide population increase.
Based on current rates of increase of 1,5% per year, the world population is
projected to double to more than 12 billion (). The estimate was calculated in
1996, and we have recently hit 7.4 billion people.
Poverty is a matter of basic economics. Life is made of choices and
resources; an individual has to make efficient choices in order to acquire scarce
resources. The difficulty increases with the growth of the worlds population,
mostly because the resources that were initially scarce become even more so.
There are more people then resources available.
To the businesses that is in fact a blessing, become it signifies an
increase of demand. When the demand increases the businesses have a bigger
margin of price, depending of the products elasticity. If a product is so scarce
and unique that it becomes irreplaceable, it can be said that its demand is
completely inelastic and the industry can actually start determining prices,
instead of taking them from the market and economic tendencies.
The consequences of population growth and scarcity of resources has
been questioned by innumerous philosophers along the years. The Reverend
Thomas Robert Malthus is recognized as the voice of this issue, because of his
concern made evidence through the publishing of a book on the topic. The book
was addressed to the population of England as a warning of the severe

Written Assignment 6
consequences that the world would face it the tendency of population growth
extended along the years as he had projected.
The Malthusian theory of population is a clear example of an analysis of
the impact of population growth. According to Tushar, "Population increases
faster than food production. Whereas population increases in geometric
progression, food production increases in arithmetic progression". In other
words, Malthus believed that the resources, even through, increasing, were not
able to follow the population growth, leading to a scarcity of resources so grave
that could in fact represent the end of the world in tragedy.
To Malthus the growth of the world population would actually lead to a
natural selection of the stronger individuals, which would actually be the ones
with a more sizeable revenue. Observing the tendency of the prices to increase
due to demand, only the rich would be able to maintain a decent living standard,
leaving the other to suffer with scarcity; to the point that the ones with no
resources would die.
Even though the problems of poverty initiate with an economic nature,
the solution is not giving people money, some government present this illusion
to the population in an attempt to gain votes and remain in power, though. The
solution is actually much deeper than that.
People need to fight poverty by enforcing other negative consequences
of societys changes. It is necessary to implement family planning, for example.
By establishing a timeline for the family growth, since having unplanned kids
can be totally avoided in todays world, the people are actually buying them time
while they seek economic stability, besides the concern with the family budget.

Written Assignment 6
It is complicated, though, to force this change upon society. A strong
point that cannot be forgotten is that there are cultures, as well as religions, that
are completely against the use of contraceptives. By taking these groups into
consideration we are choosing to think of ethics with respect for cultural
diversity and relativism.
There is, however, an argument that is valid in all social groups:
Education. There is no greater weapon against social inequality. By educating
themselves individuals are doing something for them and their families, and
also to society. Because the more educated the population, the less ignorance
persists in society. Educated people are able to seek better jobs, consequently
leading to an increase in revenue, moreover being able to make more efficient
choices.
Besides the attention that is directed to the issue, by politicians and the
media, this problem is far from being over. There has been no indication of the
possibility of poverty eradication.
The problem is big and complex, and it seems that the solution clashes
with the reality of the market economics, or even mixed economics, that we live.
By saying that the problem wont be completely eliminated, we are not
saying that the issue will not be addressed, that would actually be unrealistic;
what is being said is that due to the complexity of the issue, in spite of the
attempts, it is unlikely that poverty will be eradicated of society.
It is fundamental to understand that poverty is not the same all over the
globe. According to the World Poverty Organization (2016), Having of course

Written Assignment 6
no world government, and no real global consensus on dealing with poverty,
cutting poverty is chiefly for each country to deal with. There has been a little
international aid available for this, though often with unwanted conditions
attached, but it still relies on individual governments not all of which consider
poverty bad.The fact that some government still see poverty as a positive
influence to businesses and economy, relying on the notion that having poverty
is a basic requirement for social establishment. The organization also
emphasizes that, With global poverty, the main immediate problem is too many
believing wrongly that poverty is necessary or is even good.
In conclusion, observing the issue with attention to relativism, it saddens
to admit that there is still a long way to go, that many governments still have to
see beyond the economic benefits of a high demand and competition. These
nations need to start observing the issue through a more deontological
overview, starting with the maxim that people need to have the basics to lead
their lives with a minimum of decency. Disregarding possible pros of having
poor people in society, and truly facing the problem with the seriousness that it
deserves.

References

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Pimental, D. (1998). Population Growth and The Environment: Planetary
Stewardship. Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://escholarship.org/uc/item/8g67g6ng#pageTushar, S. (2014). Malthusian Theory of Population: Explained with its Criticism.
Retrieved March 09, 2016, from
http://www.economicsdiscussion.net/articles/malthusian-theory-of-populationexplained-with-its-criticism/1521
World Poverty. (2016). Solutions to World Poverty, a look at the basic answers.
Retrieved March 09, 2016, from http://world-poverty.org/solutionstopoverty.htm