Intergenerational inequality

post by KatjaGrace · 2010-01-08T12:55:16.000Z · LW · GW · 0 comments

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These are common views, held together often:

Modern people are more wasteful of natural resources than their ancestors

Technology won’t save us from this gluttony, all we can do is control ourselves

Humanity should minimize population as well as personal consumption now to preserve natural resources for future generations

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However if people are following a trend of using natural resources less efficiently, and this won’t be changed by future technology, current people seem likely use natural resources more efficiently than the next few generations. If this is true and the purpose is human wellbeing (as concern for future generations suggests), shouldn’t we try to have a larger population early on, at the expense of having a smaller one later?

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