Malthusians has been sounding the alarm for longer than Protestant revivalists have been claiming the end of world is next month at lunchtime. If there is a predication market for such things, betting on any Malthusian is patently foolish.

(Of course, I don't disagree with the notion that consumerism produces an extraordinary amount of worthless trash, but that's a different matter. The main problem with consumerism is consumerism itself as a spiritual disease; the material devastation is a consequence of that.)

I had a similar experience with the characters in Sienkiewicz's Trilogy. A number of the fictional characters were amalgamations of actual historical figures, with added or modified histories. For example, the character of Sir Wołodyjowski is actually drawn from two figures with the same surname.

(For those interested, Jerzy Hoffman has produced excellent film adaptations of these books, two while navigating communist censorship, which is why they were filmed in reverse order. In reading order:

- "With Fire and Sword" (1999) [1]

- "The Deluge" (1974) [0] (trailer for the significantly shortened 2014 director's cut [3])

- "The Colonel Wołodyjowski" [2]

In my opinion, and this is widely regarded to be the case, the original 5+ hour "The Deluge" is the best of the three and frankly one of the best movies I've ever watched.)

[0] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqdrKEEt_nc

[1] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCESk2joFo8

[2] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lFO4O4JNjXw

[3] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBfhvt1zrfU