Create a new account

It's simple, and free.

The Ultimate Resource 2

This research will examine Julian Simon's The Ultimate Resource 2, a book dealing with the ecological conditions of humanity and nature prevailing on the planet. The plan of the research will be to set forth the general pattern of ideas contained in the work and then focus on Simon's views of three issues in particular: population, pollution, and natural-resources capacity.

Simon's argument in general is that the full range of environmental/ecology issues and the advocates they rode in on are pretty much a sham. His position is that the world is not overpopulated, that it is not in danger from pollution, and that there is not a finite supply of consumable natural resources, including energy resources. Simon gives expression to the view that economics should be separated from the political arena wherever possible. More exactly, he appears to believe that the less governmental interference in what ought to be purely economic affairs, the better. He develops the thesis that by relying primarily on voluntary cooperation and private enterprise, the private sector will check the tendency of government to impede economic and technological progress of modern society (Simon 525 et passim). Government intervention and social-policy advocacy harm political and economic freedom. More than this, Simon argues, advocates who claim or predict that the world is or will be soon in crisis on account of overpopulation, pollution, and resource scarcity have been persistently proven wrong. An unfettered market will check its own excesses and be the best antidote to any supposed crises in these areas.

Simon's argument on population is built around a refutation of Malthusian theory, which concludes that the power of population is far greater than the power in the earth to produce subsistence for humanity. Malthus expressly insists on a direct connection between population and food supply; Bongaarts makes the point that Malthus predicted a increasing dep...

Page 1 of 13 Next >

More on The Ultimate Resource 2...

Loading...
APA     MLA     Chicago
The Ultimate Resource 2. (1969, December 31). In LotsofEssays.com. Retrieved 07:52, March 29, 2024, from https://www.lotsofessays.com/viewpaper/1709569.html