Written in the early stage of industrialization in Great Britain, Malthus witnessed great poverty in the growing cities of Britain as the rural to urban migration was in full swing. He was also aware of the rapidly growing population in the British possessions in North America where farm land was readily available. Based on these observations, he argued that the world's population tends to increase faster than the food supply and that unless fertility is controlled, natural causes will slow or reduce the world population. Technocrats reject Malthus's theory because they believe that advances in technology can increase food production. Marxists, on the other hand, believe the problem is a distribution one, i.e., the price of food places it out of the reach of the very poor.
Cultural problem arises when there is a preference for one gender.
Failure to adapt birth control measures sufficient to reduce fertility would result, N-M believe, in a natural calamity. This theory is based on the experience of Western European countries during their industrialization and modernization. The end result is zero-growth rate. This theory has three, four or five stages. In your text, a three-stage model is presented.