ABSTRACT
It is a good fight, and one that deserves to be fought simply for its own sake. It has been reported that when mountaineer George Mallory was asked why he wanted to climb Mt. Everest, his reply was simply "Because it is there" Compassion and altruism are not dead in today's world, and they are worthwhile forces to channel toward the problem of poverty simply because it's a good fight. Knowledge and education are commodities that do not diminish over time like food stocks or medical supplies do. Doctors don't stop fighting illness because it's ineradicable; firefighters don't give up fighting fires because they can't prevent all fires. Nobody says those professions aren't worthwhile because they achieve their ends imperfectly. In short, the impossibility of stamping out all suffering in our own societies doesn't stop us from trying.
