ABSTRACT
This chapter explores ideas on how readers can (and should) work to reduce global poverty. It challenges readers to consider their own obligations to poor people around the world, and explores why most people in high-income countries do not consider all human lives as equal. The chapter begins by introducing some fundamental principles of development ethics. These include the assistance principle and the restitution principle, both of which motivate action to reduce poverty. Then it outlines some basic assumptions of global justice, namely solidarity, non-elite participation, and decent sufficiency for all. The chapter summarizes some of ethicist Peter Singer’s work relevant to assistance, including the drowning toddler analogy. It also covers other controversial arguments in relation to poverty reduction, including the work of Thomas Pogge and Garret Hardin. Finally, the chapter offers a number of specific tasks that readers can consider integrating into their own lives, beginning with monetary donations and continuing through lifestyle choices, educational opportunities, careers, and activism.
