4 Horsemen of Quality of Life

From that "Welfare to Alms" book there is a very though provoking series of arguments from Malthus.

What is counter-intuitive is that the Four horsemen (Conquest, War, Famine, and Death) usually attributed to apocalypse are really the hargingers of a better life!

When populations fall we have more each. As Malthus argued half a century before Darwin pulished the other side of the argument, as population rises death rates rise also until they balance one another. In other words Quality of Life is squeezed until death rates have risen to counter the reproductive pressure.

Given that people will reproduce then conquest for more space and war, famine and death to reduce the population are all the bringers of prosperity and quality of life for the survivers! (and the impact of survival would have to wait for Darwin and Wallace).