Thomas Malthus once said: "The power of population is indefinitely greater than the power of the earth to produce the subsistence of man." » Albert Einstein could on the other hand assert that “necessity is the mother of all invention”, although in a different context. So, what is it? Are we doomed to uncontrolled population growth followed by Malthusian catastrophe, or can we avoid it by increasing food production, decreasing population growth rates, or other means? To say that the Malthusian catastrophe is inevitable is completely unjustified. Is it possible? Certainly, it makes perfect sense that if the human population reached levels that far exceeded the food supply, the resulting global famine would create easily triggered tensions between nations and facilitate disease through malnutrition and overpopulation – both contributing to a potentially massive number of famine deaths. This is certainly a frightening prospect, but the words “plausible” and “probable” should not be confused. In fact, there is ample evidence that we may already have moved away from the path to such a collapse. Even if this is false, it is incredibly unlikely that it is already too late to avoid aid and intervention from developed countries in favor of countries most at risk. First, according to Boserup's research on agricultural development, Malthus' hypothesis that population growth results in the consequences of agricultural intensification are unjustified, and it is more likely that increasing agricultural productivity is the cause of population growth rather than its effect. The problem with establishing this conclusively, of course, is that increases in growth rate and food production occur over long periods of time, and so it is difficult to determine definitively...... middle of paper ......high to adapt to the bearable limits of the environment. Additionally, the desperate situation that members of these nations will find themselves in could lead them to take equally desperate measures to support them and their families, with potentially devastating ripple effects spreading globally. In other words, a Malthusian catastrophe. This is the case of Somali pirates, tragically impoverished. In this sense, it is not only humanitarian, but also wise on the part of highly developed nations with sufficient resources to both contribute to social development and curb the population growth rates of those countries which threaten to return to the first stage by a social catastrophe if they are not helped. Naturally, this also raises many questions. Many sensitive cultural considerations must be taken into account when interacting with local populations..