For the vast majority of people (including myself), there is a big difference between choosing not to have a child and choosing not to save a child who already exists. In the EA context, the meat-eating problem seems to come up in the context of the perceived downsides of saving existing lives.
There are many reasons for choosing not to have kids that are in no way similar to concerns in the poor meat eater problem.
However, I disagree that choosing not to have children specifically because you think humans are a net moral bad is so vastly different from choosing not to actively expend resources to save an existing human in terms of the logic underlying the motivation.
The two actions have different consequences but the two beliefs imply roughly the same sorts of things that JWS finds uncomfortable when followed to their logical conclusion.
My only point was that these beliefs both stem from a similar kind of misanthropy that is not unique to ea/utilitarianism/the meat eater problem/ poor people.
Some people think humans are on net bad and want to see fewer of them, future or existing. People who think that having a child is any way wrong because humans are on average a net moral bad are in my opinion pretty ideologically aligned with people who think it’s wrong to donate to human-focused charities for the same reason.
For the vast majority of people (including myself), there is a big difference between choosing not to have a child and choosing not to save a child who already exists. In the EA context, the meat-eating problem seems to come up in the context of the perceived downsides of saving existing lives.
There are many reasons for choosing not to have kids that are in no way similar to concerns in the poor meat eater problem.
However, I disagree that choosing not to have children specifically because you think humans are a net moral bad is so vastly different from choosing not to actively expend resources to save an existing human in terms of the logic underlying the motivation.
The two actions have different consequences but the two beliefs imply roughly the same sorts of things that JWS finds uncomfortable when followed to their logical conclusion.
My only point was that these beliefs both stem from a similar kind of misanthropy that is not unique to ea/utilitarianism/the meat eater problem/ poor people.
Some people think humans are on net bad and want to see fewer of them, future or existing. People who think that having a child is any way wrong because humans are on average a net moral bad are in my opinion pretty ideologically aligned with people who think it’s wrong to donate to human-focused charities for the same reason.