I was a bit surprised to hear that Ethiopia’s population has doubled since the famine there in the 1980s. Where does it end?
Expected to double again by 2050.
I think it is a very fair point that by alleviating suffering today we may be compounding it in the future. A rebuttal might be that it is ‘merely’ a matter of doing the right thing today as well as in the future.
I see a couple problems with this: First, is it fair for us (meaning westerners) to leave a problem like this for our descendants to solve?
Second, it seems that these poor folks are growing in numbers much faster than our numbers are growing. So the burden of feeding them may end up getting worse and worse until it’s no longer possible.
I suppose it might be argued in response that if and when the Singularity comes, we will be able to address these other problems. Still, I’m not sure it’s fair to actually bet our descendants’ futures on this.
Does our “solving it” in the present lead to its exacerbation in the future? How will Ethiopians manage to control their population? Will our aid today directly cause 20 million people to starve in 2050?
On your points:
Is it us westerners’ or the Ethiopians’ problem to solve? I mean they’ve so far made it ~2.5 times worse than We are the world.
At some point their birth rate will either have to equal their death rate (+ immigration) or their starvation will not be solvable by anyone or anything short of a Singularity.
The way I see it, the primary responsibility is on Ethiopians. We may alleviate, but we cannot cure.
Expected to double again by 2050.
I think it is a very fair point that by alleviating suffering today we may be compounding it in the future. A rebuttal might be that it is ‘merely’ a matter of doing the right thing today as well as in the future.
I see a couple problems with this: First, is it fair for us (meaning westerners) to leave a problem like this for our descendants to solve?
Second, it seems that these poor folks are growing in numbers much faster than our numbers are growing. So the burden of feeding them may end up getting worse and worse until it’s no longer possible.
I suppose it might be argued in response that if and when the Singularity comes, we will be able to address these other problems. Still, I’m not sure it’s fair to actually bet our descendants’ futures on this.
Does our “solving it” in the present lead to its exacerbation in the future? How will Ethiopians manage to control their population? Will our aid today directly cause 20 million people to starve in 2050?
On your points:
Is it us westerners’ or the Ethiopians’ problem to solve? I mean they’ve so far made it ~2.5 times worse than We are the world.
At some point their birth rate will either have to equal their death rate (+ immigration) or their starvation will not be solvable by anyone or anything short of a Singularity.
The way I see it, the primary responsibility is on Ethiopians. We may alleviate, but we cannot cure.