HOW DO THE FOUR HORSEMEN AND MALTHUSIAN POPULATION CHECKS AND BALANCES COMPARE WITH ONE ANOTHER?
Accordingly to Geoffrey Gilbert, "In his 1798 book An Essay on the Principle of Population, Malthus observed that an increase in a nation's food production improved the well-being of the population, but the improvement was temporary because it led to population growth, which in turn restored the original per capita production level. In other words, humans had a propensity to utilize abundance for population growth rather than for maintaining a high standard of living, a view that has become known as the "Malthusian trap" or the "Malthusian spectre". Populations had a tendency to grow until the lower class suffered hardship, want and greater susceptibility to war, famine, and disease, a pessimistic view that is sometimes referred to as a Malthusian catastrophe.[1]"
Per Flegg et al., "Revelation 6 tells of a book or scroll in God's right hand that is sealed with seven seals. The Lamb of God/Lion of Judah opens the first four of the seven seals, which summons four beings that ride out on white, red, black, and green horses.
In John's revelation the first horseman rides a white horse, carries a bow, and is given a crown as a figure of conquest, perhaps invoking pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist. The second carries a sword and rides a red horse as the creator of (civil) war, conflict, and strife. The third, a food merchant, rides a black horse symbolizing famine and carries the scales. The fourth and final horse is green, upon it rides Death, accompanied by Hades. "They were given authority over a quarter of the Earth, to kill with sword, famine and plague, and by means of the beasts of the Earth."[2]
To summarize the similarities, the first white horseman of the apocalypse, carried a weapon, and was given a crown, invoking pestilence, Christ, or the Antichrist, which parallels the Malthusian catastrophe by disease type.
Similarly, the second red horsemen is the creator of war, conflict, and strife, which parallels Malthusian catastrophe by war type.
Third, the black horsemen is representative of famine, which parallels Malthusian catastrophe by famine type.
Fourth, the green horsemen is given authority over a quarter of the Earth, killing others by war, famine, and plague. This is a serial murdering leader with authority over a quarter of the Earth, who kills by intentionally infecting others, waging war, and manufacturing famine and austerity.
Friedrich Nietzsche wrote, “There is nothing very odd about lambs disliking birds of prey, but this is no reason for holding it against large birds of prey that they carry off lambs. And when the lambs whisper among themselves, 'These birds of prey are evil, and does this not give us a right to say that whatever of the opposite of a bird of prey must be good?', there is nothing intrinsically wrong with such an argument - though the birds of prey will look somewhat quizzically and say, 'We have nothing against these good lambs; in fact, we love them; nothing tastes better than a tender lamb.”
ADDITIONAL REFERENCES AND ATTRIBUTES
[1] Geoffrey Gilbert, introduction to Malthus T.R. 1798. An Essay on the Principle of Population. Oxford World's Classics reprint. viii in Oxford World's Classics reprint.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse