Why Didn’t Thanos Just Make More Resources? (Food, Land, Etc.)
The Problem of Scarcity
If Daddy Thanos really wanted to save the universe from experiencing hunger, scarcity and collapse, then why the hell did he not just make more resources?
I don’t know- Maybe start a Universal EcoFarm and FoodBank. Maybe do a collab with the Avengers or Mr. Beast to make sure everyone gets the goods and is taken care of.
He could’ve just snapped his fingers to double up the size of galaxies, planets, farmlands, trees, and food supplies while maintaining the current population.
But why didn’t he? Why did Thanos choose the mass murderer route when there could have been other options?
Today we are finally gonna get some answers so overthinkers such as yours truly can finally get a good night’s sleep.
All throughout the MCU films, Thanos was portrayed as a calm, confident, ominous and dominant mastermind and we can safely assume that doubling up the universe’s resources is an option Thanos has probably already taken into account. But he instead chose to see through the end of his villain arc because of the following major reasons:
1. Thomas Malthus was his Spirit Animal
Thomas Malthus
Let’s talk about the Avengers-Level Threat of Economics: The Inevitable Problem of Scarcity. People like you and me have unlimited wants while working with only a limited amount of resources.
“Too many mouths to feed, not much to go around.”
Thanos’ views about overpopulation relate to the Malthusian Trap, a theory presented by the controversial British Economist, Thomas Malthus.
1.1 The Malthusian Trap
TnT (Thomas & Thanos) believe that population growth would equate to an inevitable fall in living standards.
In short, after a certain point, the more people we have, the more miserable we get.
Malthus be like:
More people (Overpopulation) —> People will use up a lot of resources —> Resources not enough —> Wars, famines, epidemics break out due to low available resources —> Death rate increases —> Population will return to similar levels at the beginning —> Rinse and Repeat
If Thanos did follow our advice and recommendation (which is snapping his fingers to double up all the universe’s resources), what will happen is that universal population will only expand even further, making it worse that how it started.
Okay let’s say that Thanos & The Avengers finally cut a deal.
Thanos: Okay you guys win. I’ll just make food, here you go. *snap
This is what will happen if people have a windfall of food and resources under the Mathusian Model:
We’ll get more food —> People will become healthier —> Some of the time used for making food will be used for other productive purposes such as inventing new tech and solving other world issues —> the standards of living will be higher —> and because of these positive conditions —> the death rate will go lower —> people would start making more babies because, according to many experts, we are just hardwired for reproduction.
The population will only increase after that because the favourable conditions brought by the increased amount of resources will allow it. OVERPOPULATION AGAIN. RESOURCES WOULD STILL NOT BE ENOUGH AFTER BECAUSE OF THE HIGHER LEVEL OF OVERPOPULATION.
Thanos making more land and resources using the Stones will only delay the inevitable, and his Malthusian beliefs makes him assume that people are going to suffer all over again at the very end because the added resources will never be enough for the ever growing population, given that he can only snap his fingers for a wish of that magnitude for only a few times.
But history has proven to us that despite being correct for most of human history, Thomas Malthus was wrong in his assumptions. Like Thanos, Malthus only focused on the present and the past, not looking further ahead to give future generations the benefit of the doubt to revolutionize and break free from the cycle of misery.
Escaping the Malthusian Trap via The Industrial Revolution
The Industrial Revolution proved that the advancement in technology can overcome the constraints of land and demographics, stuff that TnT (Thomas & Thanos) are worried about.
People invented and discovered lot of useful stuff that made our lives a lot easier. We started making better and more efficient tech and equipment and work that would normally take hours becomes something that can be done in a matter of minutes. And because of this explosion of knowledge, food production increased along with the population and living-standards.
The Industrial Revolution is just one example. Who knows how the next Technological Revolution can improve the lives of people?
Malthus was wrong in assuming that the growth in population will always choke off the standards of living, keeping people poor. If they were right, then how come “By [the year] 2000, Britain had more than three times the population of Malthus’ time, with incomes 10 times higher.” (Little Book of Economics).
By the way, I’m not saying that we should leave the population unchecked. We definitely need to keep an eye out on the issue of overpopulation. All I’m trying to say is that something as radical as snapping 50% of all living beings out of existence is not the right way to fix our problems.
Like Malthus, Thanos’ views about overpopulation are very pessimistic and we can understand why, because they saw its constricting and debilitating effects happening in their homelands with their own eyes.
They both failed to see that people have to potential to evolve our methods and do something extraordinary that could increase the rate of production almost exponentially and break the system almost entirely, allowing us to escape the Malthusian Trap.
Moving on…
Another Reason Why MCU’s Big Bad didn’t just make more resources is because
2. “Father Knows Best.” -Daddy Thanos (Blinded by Ideologies)
When he presented his plan to save his planet, Titan, he was ostracized and singled out by society. They then started calling him the Mad Titan, and for very good reason.
When he explained his backstory to Doctor Strange, Thanos seemed very sad and hurt. Obviously, the destruction of his home planet wounded him, and it probably warped his views even further, because he believes it proved his point. He started thinking of himself as a survivor who has a strong enough will to make the toughest decisions.
He said that everything wasn’t personal when he was conquering planet and reducing half of their population. Therefore, he’s not operating out of grudge and he’s more likely being driven by an Ideology that he thinks is far bigger than himself. Correction. Balance.
We can argue that he was exhibiting traits associated with having a savior complex, blindly thinking that everything he is doing is for everyone’s best interest. Thinking that everyone is wrong and only he knows what’s best for everyone.
He also seemed to want to do good, saying that he feels other people’s pain and loss, and there’s probably some semblance of truth behind these sentiments, but ultimately, his actions tell a different story.
Thanos was also blinded by his ideological version of consequentialism. Deciding whether an action is good or bad depending on the outcome, thinking that the end justifies the means. Which could be a very deadly concept when pushed to the extreme. He managed to stomach torturing, killing, and exploiting countless people in the belief that achieving his goal would justify his actions. He thinks he’s doing the universe a solid so his tab should be cleared and everything oughta be all good. In fact, this guy wanted everyone to be grateful to him.
And his fixation towards his singular objective of killing 50% of all living being off, fueled by his personal beliefs and warped by his past, probably forced him to go through with his deed, disregarding every other alternative.
Another reason why Thanos pursued the 50/50 route is because…
3. Thanos probably wants to teach everyone a lesson (A lesson in Suffering)
The Triumph of Death by Pieter Bruegel the Elder c. 1562
At the first half of Endgame, those who were left after the snap were wounded and devastated. Thanos probably wanted to scar and traumatise these people by arguably making the darkest action in all of recent universal history. Does he think that punishing these people for overpopulation and resource abuse would prompt them to not make too many kids ever again in the future?
Anyway, Thanos always said that the universe needed correction. He used the aftermath of the invasion of Gamorra’s planet as. He said that he improved their lives, with them now looking at clear skies and having full their bellies, compared to how they were before, struggling for scraps just to get by. All at the cost of murdering half the planet’s population.
Did Thanos really want to teach the universe a lesson?
A Friedrich Nietszche-an “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” kinda deal.
Did Thanos wanted to punish people, deliberately having them experience hard times- because
“Hard times create strong men [people], strong men [people] create good times, good times create weak men [people], and weak men [people] create hard times.” – G. Michael Hopf; []emphasis mine.
If Thanos followed our recommendation, making more food, land and resources for everyone, would people become too comfortable, lax, lazy, and complacent? Would that kind of easy life turn them soft and weak?
And did Thanos want people to undergo his own version of the Black Plague so they would toughen up, learn, revolutionize and bring forth a new version of the Rennaissance?
Conclusion
To sum it up, Thanos probably didn’t pursue the make-more-food option when he had the stones because number 1, he thought that making more resources will only fix problems in the short-term and would result with us having an even higher population because people are hardwired to make kids and having these abudant resources would just allow for that to happen. And number 2, Thanos was blindly driven by his consequentialist ideology, stemming from his hurtful backstory of being a social outcast, thinking that he’s the only one who knows what’s right, which led to the murder of half of all living beings. And number 3, he probably wanted to teach people a lesson by having his subjectively “corrective” action as a reminder of what will happen if people don’t keep the population in check.
Watching Infinity War & Endgame without massive spoilers, I was one of those whose jaw dropped when Thanos actually did the Snap and was among the many who cheered like a 12-year old who had one-too-many-redbulls when the Avengers Assembled for the Final Battle. I still get goosebumps remembering this scene, man. I think I’m not overselling it when I say that watching something this phenomenal finally unfold on screen is a once-in-a-generation experience, a culmination of almost a decade’s worth of cinematic build up that is just worth every amount of investment.
And it couldn’t have been possible without Daddy Thanos. He’s a phenomenal antagonist unlike any other, the twisted Avatar of MCU’s Villains, stopping at nothing in order to restore balance to the world, and to the universe. Unlike other Villains who are just straight-up maniacal, Thanos seemed to be more on the Charismatic side of things and his calm-but-deadly personality just showcased how much of a threat he is.
A very complex character with believable motivations. We are probably never going to get another MCU Villain like him, welp, not unless this guy steps it up. Overall, though, the challenge Thanos presented was the biggest threat our heroes ever faced and it prompted them to bring out their A game, undergoing their greatest character development arcs and finest moments, obtaining the highest value out of their emotional journey.
That is why I believe that Thanos fits the description of MCU’s Big Bad.
What about you? What can you say about Thanos’ decision? Do you think he’s right? Do you think he’s insane? Or do you I’m overthinking about everything, as often do in this website. Let me know in the comments where we can talk more about it.
Thanks for reading. See you next time.
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