Global Egalitarianism: Can We Make Out a Case?

Why should global poverty concern the affluent? Why do the global poor have a claim on the sympathy, the political energy, and the economic resources of the rich?

These questions take on a new urgency as the dimensions of global poverty come to be widely recognized.’ Slowly, a consensus seems to be emerging that the affluent nations must undertake concerted action to help the “forgotten 40 percent” of the human population. This consensus finds an echo in the widesprea...