# What we owe the future

- Link: https://fundraising.co.uk/books/what-we-owe-the-future/
- Published: 2022-08-11T10:38:14+01:00
- Author: Howard Lake

**The fate of the world is in our hands. Humanity’s written history spans only five
thousand years. Our yet-unwritten future could last for millions more – or it could
end tomorrow. Astonishing numbers of people could lead lives of great happiness 
or unimaginable suffering, or never live at all, depending on what we choose to 
do today.**

In _What We Owe The Future: A million year view_ , philosopher William MacAskill
argues for longtermism, the idea that positively influencing the distant future 
is a key moral priority of our time. From this perspective, it’s not enough to reverse
climate change or avert the next pandemic. We must ensure that civilisation would
rebound if it collapsed; counter the end of moral progress; and prepare for a planet
where the smartest beings are digital, not human.

If we put humanity’s course to right, our grandchildren’s grandchildren will thrive,
knowing we did everything we could to give them a world full of justice, hope and
beauty.

![What We Owe the Future - US and UK book covers. Promo.](https://wfay6x.infiniteuploads.
cloud/2022/08/what-we-owe-the-future-macaskill-promo.jpg)

## Reviews

“A monumental event. William MacAskill is one of the most important philosophers
alive today, and this is his magnum opus.”
**Rutger Bregman**, author of _Humankind_

“A book of great daring, clarity, insight and imagination. To be simultaneously 
so realistic and so optimistic, and always so damned readable… well that is a miracle
for which he should be greatly applauded.”
**Stephen Fry**