Posted by malthus on August 23, 2004, at 12:18:24
In reply to Re: poem ... Chocolate Milk » malthus, posted by Atticus on August 22, 2004, at 20:30:45
Hello Atticus:
In answer your question about my "moniker". (warning, it's long.)
When I was a child we had an airedale terrier that my father named Malthus. He was so named because Dad had taken a philosophy course in college where he learned about Malthus. Also, apparently as a puppy Malthus had a somewhat serious looking face. Later in college I also had an economics course in college in which Malthus again appeared. I'll give you a brief synopsis of one of his theories (he had many and was a significant influence on Charles Darwin.)
Thomas Malthus predicted population would outrun food supply, leading to a decrease in food per person. This prediction was based on the idea that population if unchecked increases at a geometric rate whereas the food supply grows at an arithmetic rate. Only misery, moral restraint and vice (which for Malthus included contraception) could check excessive population growth. Malthus favored "moral restraint" (including late marriage and sexual abstinence) as a check on population growth.Of course at the time he posited his theory he had no idea how technology would mechanize farming, and how fertilizers would change agriculture or how transportation would evolve. So this theory, with the exception of moral restraint, late marriage, and sexual abstinence decreasing population growth, doesn't really hold up in modern societies. (third world countries would be an exception due to their cultural organization and economic distribution). We also had two other airedales, one male, one female, that he named Jason and Medea and another named Mosby, Confederate leader of the famous "Rangers" in the Civil War. (my father has since become more mellow; he now has two dogs, one named Little Dog and anothe named Bo).
You probably didn't expect such a long-winded answer to your question!
As always I look forward to your poetry, reading the posts between you and Jai, and your posts to me. Be well,
malthus
P.S. I love blues music--Mississippi John Hurt is one of my favorites-- (RIP.)
poster:malthus
thread:380764
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/write/20040729/msgs/381270.html