Suppose you were not yet born, and you had to decide, under a Rawlsian veil of ignorance, whether you wanted to be born in Omelas. Honestly, it’s a good deal. Incredibly high standard of living… unless you’re the bloob. (Which you don’t know, because of the veil of ignorance.) Do you take the risk? Or do you take your chances in the wider world?
I feel like, if this deal were offered to unborn people generally, there’d be a huge waitlist to get into Omelas. In terms of mathematical expectation, you can’t do better. But man, think about it… one of these people waiting decades for the chance to be born into Omelas is gonna be the bloob. Sucks to be you!!
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