I remember reading something about the Great Leap Forward in China (it may have been the Cultural Revolution, but I think it was the Great Leap Forward) where some communist party official recognised that the policy had killed a lot of people and ruined the lives of nearly an entire generation, but they argued it was still a net good because it would enrich future generations of people in China.
For individuals you weigh up the risk/​rewards of differing your resource for the future. But, as a society asking individuals to give up a lot of potential utility for unborn future generations is a harder sell. It requires coercion.
I remember reading something about the Great Leap Forward in China (it may have been the Cultural Revolution, but I think it was the Great Leap Forward) where some communist party official recognised that the policy had killed a lot of people and ruined the lives of nearly an entire generation, but they argued it was still a net good because it would enrich future generations of people in China.
For individuals you weigh up the risk/​rewards of differing your resource for the future. But, as a society asking individuals to give up a lot of potential utility for unborn future generations is a harder sell. It requires coercion.