Darwin and Wallace Read Malthus Differently, and That Made a Big Difference

I cannot add anything to Wesley J. Smith's cogent analysis of Michael Shermer's recent article on Thomas Malthus. But since Shermer has brought up Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's association with Malthus in the development of their theories of natural selection (I say theories because they were different), a few words are in order.

A straightforward Malthusianism did indeed, as Shermer suggests, promote a harsh laissez-faire, nature "red in tooth and claw," kind of socioeconomic s...