Jón Ólafsson

Thomas Pogge argues that the sum needed for a serious offensive against poverty on a global scale is relatively small (300 billion USD). Yet too large for it to be realistic to raise the money in the traditional way by appealing to affluent donors, moral sensitivity etc. In other words it is an easy task through an international institutional reform, if such a reform could be achieved, where the global order would become “less burdensome” for the poor. These reforms would be minor adjustments to rules of international transactions, with an almost imperceptible effect on the lives of the affluent. We can all see that achieving much with a lower cost than achieving little, sharing contributions in a fair way and doing something about poverty that leads to change in structures, so that the same actions need not be repeated is desirable from all perspectives. So why is it so unrealistic? (See Pogge 2010, p. 53-56).