World Poverty Is it unethical for wealthy citizens not to assist those who are less fortunate than they are? Or, should people be entitled to keep what they have rightfully earned? World Poverty

Children versus Adults in Poverty “I do not believe that children are more worth saving than adults, but since no one can argue that children have brought their poverty on themselves, focusing on them simplifies the issues.” World Poverty

World Poverty “Eight million people die each year because they are too poor to stay alive.” –Time Magazine (March 14th, 2005) Food Shelter Medical Care World Poverty

Challenging Prevailing Moral Views I shall argue that the way people in relatively affluent countries react to a situation like that in Bengal cannot be justified; indeed, the whole way we look at moral issues—our moral conceptual scheme—needs to be altered, and with it, the way of life that has come to be taken for granted in our society. World Poverty

Thought Experiment Suzie has an opportunity to pocket $1000. All she has to do is persuade a homeless 9-year old boy to follow her to an address she has been given. (She is told he will be adopted by wealthy foreigners.) She buys a new television with the money. World Poverty

Thought Experiment Most people would condemn Suzie if she didn’t try to get the boy back. But the average family in the United States spends almost one-third of its income on things that are no more necessary to them than Suzie’s new TV was to her. World Poverty

Question What is the ethical distinction between a Brazilian who sells a homeless child to organ peddlers and an American who already has a TV and upgrades to a better one—knowing that the money could be donated to an organization that would use it to save the lives of kids in need? World Poverty

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind? To be able to consign a child to death when he is standing right in front of you takes a chilling kind of heartlessness; it is much easier to ignore an appeal for money to help children you will never meet. World Poverty

Industrial Revolution “A few generations ago, almost everybody was poor. The Industrial Revolution led to new riches, but much of the world was left far behind.” www.cia.gov World Poverty

Three Degrees of Poverty Extreme Poverty Moderate Poverty Relative Poverty Jeffrey Sachs, p. 47 in Time Magazine World Poverty

Extreme Poverty “Poverty that kills.” Cannot meet basic needs for survival. Chronically hungry. Unable to get medical care. Lack safe drinking water and sanitation. Cannot afford education for children. Lack rudimentary shelter. Lack basic articles of clothing. World Poverty

Basic needs are met, but barely. Paycheck-to-paycheck existence. Moderate Poverty Basic needs are met, but barely. Paycheck-to-paycheck existence. World Poverty

Lack things that the middle class takes for granted. Relative Poverty Lack things that the middle class takes for granted. World Poverty

World Bank 1.1 billion people live in extreme poverty, down from 1.5 billion in 1981. Many parts of Asia and Africa are hit the hardest (while the rest of the world has grown more prosperous). World Poverty

Jeffrey Sachs Much of the one-sixth of humanity in extreme poverty suffers the ravages of AIDS, drought, isolation and civil wars, and is thereby trapped in a vicious cycle of deprivation and death. World Poverty

Faulty Social Theories? “When a society is economically dominant, it is easy for its members to assume that such dominance reflects a deeper superiority—whether religious, racial, genetic, ethnic, cultural or institutional—rather than an accident of timing or geography.” World Poverty

Assumption I begin with the assumption that suffering and death from lack of food, shelter, and medical care are bad. Those who disagree need read no further. World Poverty

Power to Prevent My next point is this: If it is in our power to prevent something bad from happening, without thereby sacrificing anything of comparable moral importance, we ought, morally, to do it. E.g., Drowning child in pond. World Poverty

Sin of Omission We are responsible not only for what we do but also for what we could have prevented. Compare: Sin of omission vs. Sin of commission World Poverty

Charity Because giving money is regarded as an act of charity, it is not thought that there is anything wrong with not giving. The charitable man may be praised, but the man who is not charitable is not condemned. World Poverty

Charity People do not feel in any way ashamed or guilty about spending money on new clothes or a new car instead of giving it to famine relief (e.g., Oxfam). World Poverty

An act which it would be good to do but not wrong not to do. Supererogatory An act which it would be good to do but not wrong not to do. World Poverty

We ought to give the money away, and it is wrong not to do so. On the Contrary We ought to give the money away, and it is wrong not to do so. But how much should we give? World Poverty

On the Contrary When we buy new clothes not to keep ourselves warm but to look “well-dressed,” we are not providing for any important need. We would not be sacrificing anything significant if we were to continue to wear our old clothes and give the money to famine relief. By doing so, we would be preventing another person from starving. World Poverty

Money otherwise spent on luxuries should be donated to charity. Food Expensive Restaurant Clothes Brand Name Shelter Luxurious House Car Mercedes World Poverty

Necessities vs. Luxuries Going out to nice restaurants Buying new clothes, video game systems, car upgrades Vacationing at beach resorts Not essential to the preservation of our lives and health. 28 World Poverty 28

Objection: I Worked Hard If I work hard for my money, I ought to do with it what I want. World Poverty

Objection: Caring For One’s Family But what’s wrong with caring only for your immediate family? Nothing, but we should strive to expand our moral horizons to include people not related to us, (so long as our family is taken care of). World Poverty

The Challenge of Ethics To care for people who are not related to you. World Poverty

Objection: Counter-Evolution? Couldn’t an evolutionist argue that it’s unintelligent to expend resources helping people who do not carry our genes? Evolutionary psychologists tell us that human nature just isn't sufficiently altruistic to make it plausible that people will sacrifice so much for strangers. On the facts of human nature, they might be right, but they would be wrong to draw a moral conclusion from those facts. World Poverty

Evolutionary Psychology We need not be slaves to our biology. Besides, even nonhuman animals take care of their offsprings. We are rational creatures (or claim to be). Hence, we need not be slaves to our biology. 33 World Poverty 33

Objection: I’m Just One Person… But I’m just one person. How can I possibly make a difference? World Poverty

Response If my donation only helps just one person, it matters to him or her. That’s one less person that I’ve saved from poverty, starvation, and sickness. Schindler’s List German businessman who lost all his fortune, but saved 1,100 Jews from the death camps. World Poverty

Response Should I consider that I am less obliged to pull the drowning child out of the pond if on looking around I see other people, no further away than I am, who have also noticed the child but are doing nothing? World Poverty

Response That view serves as an ideal excuse for inactivity. Poverty, pollution, social injustices, etc. perpetuate because well-meaning people do nothing. World Poverty

Objection: Morality Only For Saints? Isn’t it counterproductive to ask people to do so much? Don’t we run the risk that many will shrug their shoulders and say that morality, so conceived, is fine for saints but not for them? World Poverty

Morality Only For Saints? Living an ethically virtuous life is not always publicly acknowledged or rewarded. But should that be our primary motivation for donating to charity? World Poverty

Societal Influence What it is possible for a man to do and what he is likely to do are both, I think, very greatly influenced by what people around him are doing and expecting him to do. World Poverty

Daniel Robinson, Ph.D. “We should mold a society that applauds excellence and which envy is deemed a vice because it is so destructive.” Should we also mold a society in which charity is considered a virtue and not donating to charity is considered a vice? Why or why not? World Poverty

But the people who need my help are geographically distant from me. Objection: Geography But the people who need my help are geographically distant from me. Shouldn’t we help the poor people in our country first? World Poverty

Geographical Discrimination The fact that a person is physically near to us, so that we have personal contact with him, may make it more likely that we shall assist him, but this does not show that we ought to help him rather than another who happens to be further away. World Poverty

Response The development of the world into a “global village” (through instant communication and swift transportation) should change our moral thinking. We can no longer discriminate on geographical grounds. World Poverty

Jeffrey Sachs “The task of ending extreme poverty is a collective one—for you as well as for me. The end of poverty will require a global network of cooperation among people who have never met and who do not necessarily trust one another.” -- from The End of Poverty World Poverty

Objection: Unnatural Thinking? Most people reserve their moral condemnation for those who violate some moral norm, such as the norm against taking another person’s property. They do not condemn those who indulge in luxury instead of giving to famine relief. Product of our past history. World Poverty

But how do I know that the money is wisely spent or distributed? Objection But how do I know that the money is wisely spent or distributed? World Poverty

Question But to what point do we give before we sacrifice a comparable moral good? World Poverty

Long-Term Prospects I accept that we are unlikely to see, in the near or even medium-term future, a world in which it is normal for wealthy Americans to give the bulk of their wealth to strangers. Conflict: self-interest & charity World Poverty

Morally Decent Life If we value the life of a child more than going to fancy restaurants, the next time we dine out we will know that we could have done something better with our money. If that makes living a morally decent life extremely arduous, well, then that is the way things are. World Poverty