Jeremy Bentham, the founder of utilitarianism, referred to such sentiments as 'propinquity' and regarded them as entirely acceptable. Next, we have a stronger desire to help the people close to us than those on the other side of the world. The fairest way of providing charity to the bottom billion is if our government taxes all of us and hands the money over. It is to overcome such problems of collective action that we have taxation. Well, if you're not going to, I'm damned if I am. As Singer acknowledges, not many people will actually do what he suggests and give away large chunks of their money. So why do I feel uncomfortable with his argument? Quite possibly because to accept it would be a recipe for endless guilt however much I gave, others would gain more than I would lose if I handed over yet more.īut there are other reasons why I feel uneasy. Singer is surely right to say there are uses of our money that would change people's lives, indeed sometimes save their lives, without significantly affecting the quality of our own. What are we to make of this? First, there is no easy wriggling off the hook. The guts of his theory are that, since our money can save lives in these societies, we have a responsibility to hand it over.

Singer is not concerned with government policy, but with private charity and argues we can help individual people in the societies of the bottom billion simply by giving them our money.

I argued that ordinary people have a responsibility to understand the issue of global poverty only faced with informed citizens will our governments adopt effective policies. The Bottom Billion, but it is far more brutal.

Singer's thesis is loosely related to my own in The Bottom Billion, but it is far more brutal.

The book challenges us individually where it most hurts: in the pocket. It is not that you won't be able to put it down, but that once you've done so, you won't be able to get to sleep. A lthough this book is an easy read, I do not recommend it for bedtime.

The Life You Can Save by Peter Singer