Saving the planet by shrinking the population: the new Malthusian creed

Saving the planet by shrinking the population: the new Malthusian creed

The horizon is 2200. In less than two centuries, humanity should have shrunk to a minimal fraction to avoid planetary collapse. The slogan is not new: Thomas Malthus issued the same warning more than two centuries ago, and since then technology has broken his equation. Even so, a wing of radical environmentalism has revived it with a concrete date: 2200.

The demographic contradiction of the 21st century

Resources are finite, and nobody disputes that. But advanced countries are reducing their birth rates while demographic pressure concentrates in Africa and India. The point that stands out in this line of analysis is the paradox: for decades the call has been to reduce the population, and now the same agenda warns of a demographic crisis that can only be offset by immigration. In Spain's case, the arrival of 19 million foreigners in two decades is cited.

From science to faith: two clashing dogmas

Those who warn that the planet cannot support more mouths treat skeptics as deniers of physics. Those who respond accuse the prophets of collapse of a basic, almost religious mode of thinking that has been wrong since Malthus. The double discourse (reducing birth rates while demanding immigrants) reinforces the suspicion that the goal is not sustainability but demographic control.

At 180 years out, the deadline sounds distant. But 180 years ago the steam engine had barely been invented. History does not guarantee we will keep dodging the announced catastrophes; the problem is that the only solution some offer requires sacrificing a generation that was never consulted.