The Malthusian Delusion of the Ruling Elite
The Geopolitics that Underpin Degrowth and the Depopulation Agenda
The film 2012 (2009) centers around a global apocalypse where only the Ruling Elites survive by constructing giant ships in the Himalayas to the flooding of the world. One scene stands out that is worth us discussing as Radical Republicans, particularly around the Coronation of King Charles III. In this fictional scenario, Queen Elizabeth II makes the argument the other Elites should allow the few people who managed to reach the ships to board so they too could survive, by the grace of the Elites. The underlying implication is the actions of the Global Finance-backed British Monarchy are benevolent to the people of their “Commonwealth.” While a work of fiction, the scene shows embedded assumptions in Western Society, really the logic of the Ruling Class, that the people to survive the apocalypse will be the themselves and that the world is past carrying capacity.
Another example from popular culture, is in the popular show Euphoria — which has been noted as Zeitgeist for the attitudes of young Americans during the late 2010’s — where in an iconic scene from the first Season where the character Rue nonchalantly says “the world is on fire and I’m still in high school” an expression used to justify her self-destructive hedonistic lifestyle, a desperate escape from the pain of modern life. The phenomena of being a “Doomer” — a young person with an intense pessimistic prospect of the future that develops into a numb Nihilism — has become commonplace for the youth.
The 2022 Netflix film Don’t Look Up about a fictional asteroid collision set with Earth, exemplified with this metaphor the existential dread for the slightly older youth that nothing can be done to correct course. For young adults, there is a commonplace Anti-Natalist sentiment, not truly by choice, but out of a submission, advocating the abstinence to having children to spare them from a burning world, all downstream from an idea of an impending climate apocalypse. The more insidious interpretation of Anti-Natalism harbors a disturbing Misanthropy in a notion of humanity as a cancerous entity unto the world, that we as a species are to blame, as opposed to our mode of production under Capitalism. All of this being at a time when the problem in the Western World is not “overpopulation,” but a looming population collapse from negative birth rates.
So where do these ideas come from? This idea “the world would be great and green if those pesky peasants would just go away” is the the worldview of Malthusianism. Referencing these pieces of popular culture above demonstrate how deeply this Ruling Class logic has embedded into our collective psyche, particularly in the West.
Usually mentioned in an introductory Social Sciences course, Thomas Malthus purported a pessimistic idea of Degrowth in his infamous work An Essay on the Principle of Population to counterbalance the anarchy of production under Capitalism. This outlook is shared by the Ruling Class of the Trans-Atlantic Axis of Wall Street and the City of London that run Global Finance.
The power of population is so superior to the power of the earth to produce subsistence for man, that premature death must in some shape or other visit the human race. The vices of mankind are active and able ministers of depopulation. They are the precursors in the great army of destruction, and often finish the dreadful work themselves. But should they fail in this war of extermination, sickly seasons, epidemics, pestilence, and plague advance in terrific array, and sweep off their thousands and tens of thousands. Should success be still incomplete, gigantic inevitable famine stalks in the rear, and with one mighty blow levels the population with the food of the world.
— Malthus T.R. 1798. An Essay on the Principle of Population. Chapter VII, p. 44 in Oxford World's Classics reprint.
During the late 18th and early 19th century in England, the first Industrial Revolution was in full swing with immense advancement in technology leading to a spike in population. This alarmed Malthus, a high-born intellectual who saw the mass of poverty and squalor that was emerging in the world’s first industrial metropolis of London. The theories he formulated eventually became referred to as the ideology of Malthusianism which consists of the idea that population, especially the poor population, should be limited through direct or indirect action of the Ruling Class. Some would point to environmental damage from advances in industrial production — first with coal and then fossil fuels — on the surface this is a fair point that will be addressed, but this is not the original focus of Malthus’s analysis which predicted mass starvation due to “overpopulation.” Malthusianism in its original form was essentially disapproved by the first Industrial Revolution where the population of the world rapidly increased throughout the 19th century, but did not lead to any of his accompanying predictions of societal collapse.
Still Malthusianism never went away as a Ruling Class worldview of the Western Elites. In the late 19th Century with the rise of Socialism Darwinism and Scientific Racism it was weaponized against Colonized peoples who’s lands were sought after for their resources. Malthusianism went from theory to practice in the governance of the British Empire with population control and depopulation strategies such as man-made famines amongst many others inflicted against their Colonial subjects from their first colony in Ireland to the “Darker Nations” in India, Africa, Australia and of course, what was to become Canada with the First Nations.
In the early 20th century, the Progressive Movement in the United States of America built around Eugenics advocated for “Conservation” of lands with the creation of National Parks, however this went hand-in-hand with the US government’s continued land seizures against the First Nations. “Conservation” as such has always has a root in Colonialism and population control. This plays a role in the suppression of Global South Nations today with the World Economic Forum and various other institutions of Global Finance dictating how people can and cannot use their subjugated lands. In the present day, Western Imperialists will cite the supposed concern for Environmental standards around developmental progress in the Global South in order to keep nations in a state of underdevelopment. When it comes to these Degrowth discourses, always keep in mind the origins of “Conversation.”
A Neo-Malthusianism worldview has emerged starting in the 1970’s hiding behind the globally-conscious climate activism groups sponsored by Elites of the Trans-Atlantic Axis, most notably the Global financed-backed British Monarchy. Development projects in the East and Global South are opposed by these Western powers on the grounds that the “Dirty phase” of development with Coal and Fossil Fuels is “unacceptable” for those who may need to use this method of a time being before they can advance to more efficient and advanced methods. This rationale is applied in order to prevent countries in the East and Global South from accessing their own resources which the Western Powers historically plundered for their own development! Degrowth is heavily pushed by these Neo-Malthusian Environmental groups such as Extinction Rebellion where their Anarcho-Primitivism is a thinly veneered “globally conscious” version of the Western Elite’s Depopulation agenda.
Interestingly, the worldview of Neo-Malthusianism can be found across the Western Chauvinist spectrum today, with both the climate activist groups on the “Left” and Eco-Fascist groups on the Right having much in common in advocating a decrease in the Global Population. The overlap is no coincidence, the “Blood and Soil” National Socialism of Adolf Hitler was greatly inspired by the early Progressive movement of the Anglosphere countries that make up the Trans-Atlantic Axis today. “Eco-Fascism” is really nothing new and was a core part of the of the worldview of previous movements. Eco-Fascist groups today have inherited this legacy, but National Socialism yesterday was inspired by Eugenics of the early Anglo-Saxon “Progressivism” and further, the Neo-Malthusian “Extinction Rebellion” activism is at the forefront of modern Progressivism in the Western World. Whether it is protesting “Authorization Regimes” or calling for an Ethnic Cleansing, the energies of both movements are weaponized by the Western Elites to manufacture consent for war and regime change against independent governments in the East and Global South.
Population growth threatens Imperialist hegemony, Western Elites had and have an obsession with the “Darker Nations” consolidating strong and healthy populations that could throw off the chains of Colonialism and Imperialism. They understand there is no way they would be able to keep the Global Masses down under this population influx paradigm. Think of the example of the Slave System that was in the Caribbean during, the Imperial rulers of these Islands were always on edge about Slave Revolts that could turn into Revolutions — in the case of the world historic Haitian Revolution — due to the fact enslaved Africans were the vast majority on all the plantation islands. Now, if we expand this model to the entire world, when the continents of the “Darker Nations” are more populous there is strength in numbers to fight back against Imperialism, this has always been an anxiety of the Western Elites who have sought intentional Depopulation strategies.
The same can even be true now of the “White” Anglo-Saxon or more broadly Euro-American population here who no longer serve a purpose for Global Finance. While the Elites in Continental Europe wanted to ensure a weakened Working Class population, in an earlier period of North American history, there were actually active Pro-White and Pro-Natal governmental policies to encourage exponential growth specifically for the Anglo-Saxon population in consolidating a Settler State for the establishment of Capitalism in North America. Now that this goal has been completed, maintenance is done by a standing Police State which is less reliant on a large population of any specific Ethnicity of people. Being left behind by the system, the Euro-American population are now being subject to many Depopulation strategies including Opioids in order to diminish their strength, like all other Global populations, so they are unable fight for greater independence, with all other Global populations, from Global Finance. While White Nationalism is no longer a primary organizing a tool for Global Finance in North America, dissident Euro-Americans should be wary of falling into hateful ideologies with strong Neo-Malthusian and Racialist overtones like National Socialism which as mentioned above can be reintegrated back into Imperialism.
Why is the Depopulation agenda being pushed? It’s all up to speculation, but one can point out how we are on the cusp of a new era of the Rising Multipolar World, built on a paradigm of mutual respect rooted in Win-Win Cooperation between Nations big and small, as gaps in development continue and will continue to decrease. This new paradigm not in the interests of the Ruling Elites of the Trans-Atlantic Axis who have their eyes set on being the leaders of a Unipolar World Order. The emerging developing world supported by China and Russia complicated the plans of the Western Imperialists, just like with the Rise of China, once regarded as the personal factory for the West, a strong Africa and Latin America means countries once pushed around by the West will have to be listened to on the World Stage!
In the 21st Century, there seems to be an outrageous fear-mongering towards the population growth of Africa, especially. While Africa has experienced modest growth, as wars, famines and genocides became less frequent and access to proper nutrition and healthcare did increase, the Neo-Malthusians fail to see the already emerging trends that birth rates are declining in the regions that are developing. As well, pollution and poaching is far less in countries with stronger Central governments. That subsistence or even small scale commercial farmers have an interest in retaining the quality of the soil. Still Africa is a prime target of Degrowth narratives, especially with Western Elites heads spinning about their collaboration on the Chinese Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) which is set to bring great development of African infrastructure under Win-Win trade relations that differ greatly from the Western Imperialist’s Neo-Colonial grip.
While there are genuine issues in relation to the current mode of production that is polluting our world under Capitalism, the truth is the vast majority of this pollution comes from Western countries, that disproportionately comes from top US Transnational Corporations. There is constant fear-mongering about emissions and “overpopulation,” yet it is developed countries in the West who pollute far more than developing countries the Global South who are always the targets of a proposed curbing of the Global Population. Western Countries have the technological means to advance their mode of production, but need an economy with its core functions mobilized for public good and not profit. This is why we at Riel Republicans understand the necessity of a New Republic to position the peoples and lands of the North to join the the Multipolar World of Win-Win Relations!
Onwards to a Northern Continentalism!