Why Musk knows better than Malthus
● In 1798, economist Thomas Malthus wrote in his hugely influential An Essay On The Principle Of Population that population growth would hinder human progress and lead to famine and want, says Tom Utley in the Daily Mail. “Since then, legions of others have piled on to the Malthusian bandwagon – including, I’m sorry to say, several members of the Royal Family.” For they are “plain wrong”, and SpaceX founder Elon Musk (pictured) is right. Civilisation is threatened not by people having too many children but too few. Who will look after us in old age? Who will drive the lorries? There are far more people alive today than in Malthus’s day. But “thanks to the miracle of modern capitalism, most of them are better fed and lead more comfortable lives than their ancestors at any other moment in the world’s history”.
● The household manual inflicted by Ghislaine Maxwell on staff in Jeffrey Epstein’s properties has come to light at her trial, says Vanessa Feltz in the Daily Express. It includes gems such as: “Remember that you see nothing, hear nothing, except to answer a question directed at you.” Some may regard this as “a paradigm of perfect service”, fit to give to new recruits in your own business. “To me… it is a frighteningly vivid example of the real way in which bosses and corporations view workers. Workers must not have faces, voices, fragrances or personalities.” They are like robots, programmed to do a perfect job. “The message is clear. ‘We don’t care who you are or where you are from. Do the job. Shut up. Get out.’”
● Prince Harry, you have “enraged me”, says Ulrika Jonsson in The Sun. “Advising people stuck in jobs that don’t bring them joy to quit is… yet another sign of how utterly disconnected you are from reality.” Of all the royals, you have shown “glimmers of humility and vulnerability”, not least on matters of mental health. But an Etoneducated man saying “leaving work should be celebrated”, from his £11m mansion in California, is “unforgivably irresponsible”. Giving up your job because it “frustrates the hell out of you and makes you want to suffocate your co-workers” would be ideal. The pursuit of happiness is essential. “But so is food on the table and the ability to pay the bills in this rat race in which we find ourselves.”