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https://theconversation.com/what-do-we-owe-future-generations-and-what-can-we-do-to-make-their-world-a-better-place-189591>
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Review: What We Owe the Future – William MacAskill (OneWorld)
Your great grandchildren are powerless in today’s society. As Oxford
philosopher William MacAskill says:
They cannot vote or lobby or run for public office, so politicians have
scant incentive to think about them. They can’t bargain or trade with us, so
they have little representation in the market, And they can’t make their
views heard directly: they can’t tweet, or write articles in newspapers, or
march in the streets. They are utterly disenfranchised.
But the things we do now influence them: for better or worse. We make laws that
govern them, build infrastructure for them and take out loans for them to pay
back. So what happens when we consider future generations while we make
decisions today?
This is the key question in
What We Owe the Future. It argues for what
MacAskill calls longtermism: “the idea that positively influencing the longterm
future is a key moral priority of our time.” He describes it as an extension of
civil rights and women’s suffrage; as humanity marches on, we strive to
consider a wider circle of people when making decisions about how to structure
our societies.
MacAskill makes a compelling case that we should consider how to ensure a good
future not only for our children’s children, but also the children of their
children. In short, MacAskill argues that “future people count, there could be
a lot of them, and we can make their lives go better.”"
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
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mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
