p As already mentioned, society is an aggregation of people maintaining definite relationships, which are determined by the production and distribution of material wealth. A certain minimum number of people and a certain population density are evidently required for society to function and develop normally. This minimum cannot be constant, since it must change as society passes from one stage of development to another. Changes in the minimum number of people required for society to function normally are necessitated by the fact that, as society progresses, peoples’ requirements grow, as do the means of production of material and cultural values needed to satisfy these requirements. The level of development of the means of production at each stage in society’s evolution and the relationships of people in the course of the production and distribution of material wealth, determine the number of people needed for production and the other functions of a social organism. The number of people in society is, however, determined by the laws of population growth which, though dependent on the mode of production prevailing in society, do possess a certain independence. The result is that the growth of the population does not always correspond to society’s requirements. Thus, in slaveowning society, for example, the population growth lagged significantly behind its requirements, since it was impossible for slaves to have 317 a family. In capitalist society, on the contrary population growth outstrips the demand in additional human labour, which results in a “surplus” population. This is an inevitable consequence of the spontaneous operation of bourgeois society’s economic laws. Striving to increase his profits rather than to satisfy the population’s requirements to the maximum, the capitalist extends production until there is an effective demand for manufactured output. The subordination of production development to the interests of capital and its constant growth are the factor that prevents all the workers from being drawn into production, thus causing a relative surplus working population, i.e. excess in comparison with the average requirements of capital.  [317•1 

p In socialist society, this obstacle has been eliminated and the aim of production is the maximum satisfaction of the requirements of all people. Since production has unlimited possibilities for development, it provides jobs for all able-bodied members of society, and though improvements in the means of production under socialism also bring about a growth of labour productivity and consequently a smaller input of labour power per unit of output, there is no surplus population. The higher labour productivity brought about by technical progress serves as the material basis for shorter working hours and more spare time, which every member of society requires for his comprehensive development.

p So, the emergence of a relative surplus population is the result of capitalist production, and it becomes a law only under this socio-economic formation. As for other social systems, each “has its own special laws of population, historically valid within its limits alone".  [318•1 

p Many bourgeois sociologists, however, associate surplus population not with the historical laws of capitalism, but with definite laws of nature, which supposedly operate irrespective of the social system or mode of production. The first socalled absolute “law” of population was formulated by Thomas Malthus in 1798. According to his theory, the population on our planet is growing much faster than the production of the means of subsistence, so there would always be a definite number of people in society whom it could not maintain and who were consequently redundant.

p In recent years Malthusians have begun referring to the situation in those countries that have recently gained their liberation from colonial oppression, and where the development of production is lagging behind population growth owing to the underdeveloped material and technical basis. But this in no way proves that the Malthusians were right. In these countries production lags behind population growth not because of any Malthusian “law”, but due to the fact that, for many centuries, these countries were plundered by foreign capitalists. This resulted in the almost 319 complete stagnation of the material basis of their economies, while their populations continued to grow. All this has brought about a sharp discrepancy between the size of the population and the level of development of national economies. Nowadays, these countries are making considerable efforts to get rid of this discrepancy and there is no doubt whatsoever that, given assistance by the socialist countries, they will sooner or later succeed.

At the same time, the question arises as to whether the earth’s, population can grow infinitely. Will not this growth’cause overpopulation of the planet? Of course, such a possibility does exist for the distant future, but it is an abstract one, and no doubt people in the future communist society will take timely notice of this trend and take due measures to check it. It will not be difficult for them to introduce a balanced regulation of population growth.