Tesla founder and billionaire Elon Musk recently retweeted a book recommendation to his followers that he said “closely matches” his “philosophy.”
The book, What We Owe the Future, is written by William MacAskill and argues for “long-termism” – the idea that having a positive impact on our future should be a moral priority.
This idea has been heavily influenced in recent years by the climate change crisis and the COVID-19 global pandemic, which is still ongoing.
The next generation of children will grow up thinking about the future.
One of Musk’s Twitter followers tweeted (@dewritten) referring to the idea of longevity, saying, “Society is great when old people plant trees they can never sit in the shade of.” “
However, others criticized the billionaire for encouraging long-term “exploitation” of others for personal reasons.
“Yeah, the richest man in the world thinks long term for humanity? You’re not exploiting the earth for personal gain. Sure.” said user @DJTezos.
“I feel like if I read this I’ll get the knowledge of the gods thanks Alvin,” user @splatstv quipped.