投资 · 西方古典
托马斯·马尔萨斯:人口论·摘录 36
托马斯·马尔萨斯《人口论》· An Essay on the Principle of Population · 投资
Of the manners and habits that prevail among nations of shepherds, the next state of mankind, we are even more ignorant than of the savage state. But that these nations could not escape the general lot of misery arising from the want of subsistence, Europe, and all the fairest countries in the world, bear ample testimony. Want was the goad that drove the Scythian shepherds from their native haunts, like so many famished wolves in search of prey. Set in motion by this all powerful cause, clouds of Barbarians seemed to collect from all points of the northern hemisphere. Gathering fresh darkness and terror as they rolled on, the congregated bodies at length obscured the sun of Italy and sunk the whole world in universal night. These tremendous effects, so long and so deeply felt throughout the fairest portions of the earth, may be traced to the simple cause of the superior power of population to the means of subsistence.
出处:
https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4239
定位:Excerpt 36 · 核对日期:2026-10-19 · 核验:短摘录
白话
马尔萨斯认为,游牧民族的生活比野蛮人更不为人知,但他们同样逃不开食物不足带来的苦难。欧洲和世界上最肥沃的土地都证明了这一点。饥饿像鞭子一样驱赶着斯基泰牧人离开家乡,像饿狼一样寻找猎物。这股力量让北方各地的蛮族像乌云一样聚集,越滚越黑,最终遮住了意大利的太阳,让整个世界陷入黑暗。这些深远的影响,根源很简单:人口增长的力量超过了生存资料的增长。
上下文
马尔萨斯在《人口论》中论述游牧民族阶段,用历史例子说明人口压力如何引发迁徙和战争。
今日一问
今天哪些大规模人口流动或冲突,背后也有资源压力的影子?
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