Just because my daughter will eventually get her driver’s license, that doesn’t mean I’ll hand over the keys to the car right now because she wants me to.
Why is “We’ll have to do it eventually” a terrible reason to do it now?
Because it is meaningless. It amounts to a blind guess. An unsubstantiated prediction built on assumptions. It isn’t a reason. It isn’t actually an argument for a thing.
It is an appeal to an uncertain future based on two very specific assumptions: that the difference between doing something now and doing it later is negligible and that a particular eventual outcome will have few intervening factors. In other words, it assumes doing a thing now is about the same as doing it later.
These assumptions, however, are precisely why there is a debate. There are factors that are intervening. And there is a clear difference between now and later.
For Example
During the pandemic nobody has been genuinely predicting 100% of people will be wearing masks 100% of the time for 100% of the future. But some are arguing for a future in which no masks are ever used. And neither represents the common understanding of a future in which masking is not a thing we think about.
However, whether we continue masking in the moment is a matter of conversation. And to what degree we will be masking in the short, medium, and long-terms is dependent on a whole host of factors.
This is why we’re arguing.
And this is what we’re arguing about. That there are present factors and that doing this now comes with a cost we must consider whether we are willing to pay.
So what “We’ll have to do it eventually” really does is take the entire conversation for granted, skipping to the end, assuming all things are predictable now, and saying, “eh, screw it. We might as well.”
There certainly are times in which now and later are negligible or that outcomes are far more predictably minor. When “normal” and “eventually” are not the material of the debate. In those cases, skipping to the end and getting it over with can be assumed.
But “eventually” is an excuse to skip ahead before we’ve settled. That’s all it is. A fast-forward button. A skip tracks button. It isn’t an argument for anything but silencing debate. Which makes it a powerful and useful tool when used wisely. And a source of dysfunction when we forget that it isn’t actually an argument.