Malthusian perspectives: has Earth reached her capacity?

Thomas Malthus was a politcal economist at the turn of the 18th century. He had declared in 1798 that the "power of population exceeded the power in the earth to produce substance for man." (Sabin p6). In more basic terms Malthus was stating that the human population will grow so fast that eventually humans will run out of available resources to sustain our civilization, which would lead to terrible suffering. His declaration obviously has not yet come true, but how far off is he? A more modern phase of Malthus' way of thinking has stirred up and is now called neo-Malthusian. One champion of this way of thinking is Paul Erlich, who eleven that "Humans needed to accept their proper role in a larger balance of nature on earth." (Sabin p8). While some such as Julian Simon may disagree completely with this belief, I do think there is some rational behind it. I partially agree with Simon in that technology will keep advancing to a level where resources will forever stay infinite. However, I also know that the Earth is a finite place and it only makes sense that eventually we, meaning humans, will reach the extent of the what Earth can provide us. Just like any other creature on Earth, I believe humans have a carrying capacity and will one day crash. Yet, with ever advancing technology we can keep pushing this capacity higher. So the question for me is not if but when.