Our Values

EndPovertyToday.com has the explicit value of solidarity with the poor. It values pragmatic efforts to end poverty and research to improve programs helping the poor. It assumes political activism and fund raising, if done right, can make a difference in the world. It is inspired by previous political movements that changed culture, policy, and history such as the labor movement, the abolitionist movement, the civil rights movement, and the environmental movement. The international movement to end poverty will be the best remembered political movement of the 21st century and we wish to be at the forefront of that movement.

The organization, however, has a deep commitment to exploring deeper ethical considerations. We do not all agree on why we should help the poor, but we all care that there are convincing ethical arguments for the importance of our cause. Some members are utilitarians, supporting the greatest happiness principle which intuitively means no person should starve in a world of plenty. Some members are Christians and base their reasoning on the message of Jesus Christ, that the second most important commandment is to love your neighbor as your love yourself. Other members are influenced by Kantian philosophies that argue it is a human right to have enough food, clean water, basic medical treatment, maternal care, and protection from rape and war.

Fundamentally we take a position of George Orwell articulated in a famous essay written during World War II. He explored how throughout history no one could ever imagine a true utopia; it always only consisted in having some current problem resolved. He argued that perhaps no one knows what a true utopia is, and we certainly do not claim to at EndPovertyToday.com. We do not claim to have a grand unified theory of ethics with answers to every question. We only claim that ending poverty is a step in the right direction. It is a movement toward utopia, toward God, toward justice or whatever the ultimate goal is. To quote Orwell:

"One often has to aim at objectives which one can only very dimly see. At this moment, for instance, the world is at war and wants peace. Yet the world has no experience of peace. . . . The world wants something which it is dimly aware could exist, but cannot accurately define. This Christmas Day . . . homeless children will be scrabbling for food among the wreckage of German cities. To make that kind of thing impossible is a good objective.
Nearly all creators of Utopia have resembled the man who has toothache, and therefore thinks happiness consists in not having toothache. . . . The wider course would be to say that there are certain lines along which humanity must move, the grand strategy is mapped out, but detailed prophecy is not our business."

Ending poverty is the first step in that grand strategy. Let us ensure our generation achieves that goal and leaves the next generation better equipped to continue on that path.

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