I’m not sure supporters of non-person-affecting views would endorse this exact claim, if only because a lot of people would likely be very upset if you killed their friend/family member.
I think this somewhat conflates people’s philosophical views and their gut instincts. (For what it’s worth, I support the non-person-affecting view, and I would endorse that moral claim.) The quote is similar to:
I’m not sure moral universalists would endorse the claim that “killing a stranger causes the same moral harm as killing my friend/family member”, because losing a friend would make them grieve for weeks, but strangers are murdered all the time, and they never cry about it.
I’m not sure utilitarians who care about animals would endorse the claim that “torturing and killing a billion chickens is objectively worse than killing my friend/family member”, because the latter would make them grieve for weeks, but they hardly shed a tear over the former, even though it happens on a weekly basis.
countries with very rapidly growing populations...contribute to increased political instability globally
I also have a weak intuition that a rapidly growing population contributes to political instability. However, population growth should increase our resilience to disasters, including nuclear war and bio-risk. Population growth also increases economic growth. This EA analysis of the long-term effects of population growth finds population growth to be net positive, mainly due to its economic effects. Overall, I think the evidence points to population growth being net positive.
I think this somewhat conflates people’s philosophical views and their gut instincts. (For what it’s worth, I support the non-person-affecting view, and I would endorse that moral claim.) The quote is similar to:
I’m not sure moral universalists would endorse the claim that “killing a stranger causes the same moral harm as killing my friend/family member”, because losing a friend would make them grieve for weeks, but strangers are murdered all the time, and they never cry about it.
I’m not sure utilitarians who care about animals would endorse the claim that “torturing and killing a billion chickens is objectively worse than killing my friend/family member”, because the latter would make them grieve for weeks, but they hardly shed a tear over the former, even though it happens on a weekly basis.
I also have a weak intuition that a rapidly growing population contributes to political instability. However, population growth should increase our resilience to disasters, including nuclear war and bio-risk. Population growth also increases economic growth. This EA analysis of the long-term effects of population growth finds population growth to be net positive, mainly due to its economic effects. Overall, I think the evidence points to population growth being net positive.