Why Should We Sacrifice Anything for Them?

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The future is going to be wildly more materially better off than us at current trends. So shouldn't, why should we sacrifice anything for them? I think there could be a wide spread catastrophe from the result of ar new technology or nuclear war. The argument that future people will be richer than those to day only applies to a what economists call marginal farms.

Philosopher William MacAskill of the University of Oxford and a founder of the effective altruism movement talks about his book What We Owe the Future with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. MacAskill advocates "longtermism," giving great attention to the billions of people who will live on into the future long after we are gone. Topics discussed include the importance of moral entrepreneurs, why it's moral to have children, and the importance of trying to steer the future for better outcomes.