Thomas Malthus and Karl Marx are certainly both men of substantial intellectual ability, and have demonstrated their devotedness to their ideologies through their writings. Both men were arguably among the best political and class thinkers of their time. When placed against each other, as in this debate, they stand as almost complete polar opposites of each other, with largely incompatible beliefs on the plight of the common worker. Thomas Malthus takes a classical-liberal approach to the Industrial Revolution and its attributes, arguing that misery and human nature will keep the abuses of the bourgeois in check. On the other hand, Karl Marx would take a Socialist approach, and believe Capitalism is a wretched system, which the liberal factory
